Frameline49 Sells Out 50 Screenings & Awards Genre-Defying Trans Films, Establishing That Queerness Is the Future of Independent Cinema

The following is a press release from EDGE OUTreach partner Frameline

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Today, Frameline announced the winners of the juried and Audience Awards at the 49th San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival (Frameline49). The world's largest and longest-running queer media festival presented nearly 150 films from 40 countries, brought 200 filmmakers from around the world to the Bay Area, and, across its 11-day run, sold out a remarkable 50 screenings.

"Festivals like Frameline are the vanguard of independent cinema," said Allegra Madsen, Frameline's Executive Director. "We're changing the face of art and culture at large, no matter the odds. Frameline49 spotlighted filmmakers who are committed to making their stories in the face of a harsh political and financial landscape. As a film festival, and a queer organization, Frameline is tasked with not only showing crucial works, but bringing filmmakers and audiences together to create community."

The Festival opened with a celebratory screening of Sophie Hyde's intergenerational family drama Jimpa, which played to an audience of 1,000 attendees. Just days after the Supreme Court of the United States issued its ruling in US v. Skrmetti, which upholds a bigoted and misinformed Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care for transgender youth, Sam Feder's Heightened Scrutiny played for another full house. Other notable at-capacity screenings included the North American Premiere (and Queer Premiere) of Emma Hough Hobbs and Leela Varghese's Teddy Award-winning Lesbian Space Princess; Kim A. Snyder's ever-salient documentary, The Librarians; Rowan Haber's pop culture critique We Are Pat; Annapurna Sriram's SXSW standout Fucktoys; Shatara Michelle Ford's lyrical Dreams in Nightmares; the hometown premiere of Angelo Madsen's A Body to Live In; and the World Premiere of Lily Plotkin's WICKET.

In addition to featuring a staggering 29 Queer Premieres, Frameline49 brought folks together for rare retrospective screenings and new, boundary-pushing films like James Bidgood's Pink Narcissus and Mike Thomas' The Meatrack; an outdoor screening of Yashaddai Owens' Jimmy; and the hometown premiere of Rashaad Newsome and Johnny Symons' Assembly. The Festival also hosted artist- and community-focused events like the Juneteenth screening of Daniel Junge and Sam Pollard's I Was Born This Way; spotlighted local artists and activists like the New Voices Bay Area TIGQ Choir, Honey Mahogany, and the San Francisco Pride Band; and found unique ways to bring Festival-goers together, from Industry Day to a mixer hosted during a shorts block.

"This year, we really played with the form of the Festival to see how we could strengthen our community and our connections to each other," Madsen added. "This is how movements are built. Frameline49 laid that groundwork by bringing artists, activists, and festival-goers together in productive ways. Now, we must continue that work and leverage these connections so that our queer and trans stories remain ours to tell."

During the Closing Night screening of James Sweeney's Twinless, Frameline49 recognized its jury award winners. For decades, Frameline has presented the Outstanding First Narrative Feature Award to a narrative film as well as honors in the Outstanding Documentary Feature, Outstanding Narrative Short, and Outstanding Documentary Short categories. Additionally, since 1984, festival-goers have been responsible for selecting the Audience Awards for Best Narrative Feature and Best Documentary Feature.

This year, Rafaela Camelo's The Nature of Invisible Things (A Natureza das Coisas Invisíveis) was recognized with the Outstanding First Narrative Feature Award. Presented to a notable narrative feature from an emerging voice in LGBTQ+ cinema, the recipient is determined by the San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle. Kangyu Garam's Lucky, Apartment (럭키, 아파트) and Carmen Emmi's Plainclothes received Honorable Mentions. Juried by industry experts, the Outstanding Documentary Feature Award was given to Kimberly Reed's I'm Your Venus, which was recently acquired by Netflix. Kim A. Snyder's The Librarians received an Honorable Mention.

Juries also convened to recognize May Kindred-Boothby's The Eating of an Orange with the Outstanding Narrative Short Award, with Francisco Lezama's An Odd Turn (Un movimiento extraño) receiving an Honorable Mention, and Lydia Cornett and Brit Fryer's Tessitura with the Outstanding Documentary Short Award, with Jeremy von Stilb's AutoErotica: We Buy Gay Stuff and Jen Rainin and Rivkah Beth Medow's Thanks, Babs! receiving Honorable Mentions.

The Festival's attendees also voted on Audience Award winners. Fresh off its World Premiere, Lily Plotkin's Bay Area-based WICKET, about San Francisco's legendary Bboy Wicket, won the Frameline49 Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature. In the other category, Louise Weard's uncompromising trans epic, Castration Movie: Pt. I, and Ivona Juka's Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day (Lijepa večer, lijep dan), which had its International Premiere at the Festival, shared the Frameline49 Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature.

"In their own ways, all of the Audience Award-winning films and our jury selections meet the moment," Madsen noted. "Some are more immediately obvious than others: Croatian Oscar contender Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day examines the intersection of art and activism in the face of authoritarian rule, while Castration Movie: Pt. I sees trans filmmakers coming together to make their film no matter what - and sharing their own stories in the face of harmful media bias and misinformation."

Prior to the Festival, Frameline announced the winner of the annual Out in the Silence Award. Generously underwritten by Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson, the award honors an outstanding film that highlights brave acts of LGBTQ+ visibility. This year's recipient is Grace Hughes-Hallet's The Secret of Me, which centers on Jim Ambrose, who, after learning he was born intersex, helps uncover the truth about a bigoted medical study that harmed thousands of children. Additionally, in partnership with the Colin Higgins Foundation, Frameline awarded Colin Higgins Youth Filmmaker Grants to A Bird Hit My Window and Now I'm a Lesbian by Carmela Murphy and AJ Dubler and Barbie Boy by Remi Gabriel, which both screened at the Festival alongside films by past grantees in the Outside Voices: New Leaders in Queer Cinema Supported by Colin Higgins Foundation showcase.

"This year has been challenging for the entire queer community, but when we show up for one another and lift up our fellow community members in solidarity, we can make lasting progress," added Matthew Ramsey, Frameline's new Director of Partnerships & Development. "As someone new to the organization and the Bay Area, I was blown away by the talent, creativity, and depth of storytelling, as well as the resilience and sheer joy expressed by all Frameline49 participants. Our ability to combine powerful storytelling with love and celebration is, quite simply, queer magic."

Frameline audiences showed their support by attending screenings as well as by contributing to the Festival's Queer2Queer campaign, which saw roughly 375 donors helping the organization raise over $34,000. At the same time, Frameline's Pay-It-Forward initiative ensured the right people were in the room for the Festival's First Friday programming, as highlighted by the nearly 150 tickets donated for trans and nonbinary attendees to see Heightened Scrutiny without any barriers to access.