THE ORIGINAL QUEER FILM FEST
JUNE 17–27, 2026
QUEERS ON SCREENS SINCE 1977
SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL LGBTQ+ FILM FESTIVAL
50 YEARS OF QUEER CINEMA ROXIE THEATER
THE CASTRO THEATRE
THE NEW PARKWAY THEATER
VOGUE THEATRE
BAMPFA
FRAMELINE DUBS SAN FRANCISCO “CINEMA CITY”
UNSOLVED MYSTERY! OUR SUPER SECRET CLOSING NIGHT
BE KIND, YOU DON’T HAVE TO REWIND — BECAUSE WE DID
"Lady Champagne," "Hunky Jesus" & "Barbara Forever" Hammer the Point Home
The Truth Is Indeed Out There... There Is Still Time to Find Out!
"Bound," "Cruising," "Desert Hearts," "Caravaggio" & More
San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival June 17–27, 2026
COOKING OR CRASHING OUT? DISCOVER HER SECRET
TWINK BAN LIFTED" QUEER CLASSIC SCREENS AGAIN
BUYER BEWARE" GAY EXORCISMS RECALLED!
O!cial Festival Sponsors
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MADDIE'S SECRET
FRAMELINE.ORG
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MACHO DANCER
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WE TEXTED OUR MOM & ASKED WHAT TIME WE WERE BORN P.7
LEVITICUS
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DIVE INTO THE ARCHIVES WITH US P.7
FRAMELINE PRESENTS
THE VARIETY CREATIVE CONSCIENCE AWARD
It is an unbelievable privilege to welcome you to the landmark 50th iteration of the Frameline San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival. I personally, along with my team and everyone who worked on the Festival, recognize that privilege always comes with responsibility. Responsibility to the people who came before us. To those who worked to lay the foundations of the community we have become. And responsibility to keep building, to insist that 50 years of people coming together in a dark room to share an experience, to be with each other, to understand the unfamiliar, to exist in time and space and dare to feel the same thing — even for a moment — is worth continuing. That it is, in fact, unstoppable. We accept that responsibility wholeheartedly.
There is a continuous line from those first festival iterations, where titles like Poodle Poo-Poo Miracle Mask and the simple-yet-evocatively-named The Blow Job were projected onto Marc Huestis' old bed sheet in an empty storefront, to now, where films play at The Castro Theatre, the Roxie Theater, and other cinemas in the Bay. That first bold, defiant act was a radical political statement against a mainstream culture that refused to acknowledge our existence. A declaration of solidarity among people united by the very thing they had been taught to hide: their queerness.
documentary about Mary Oliver, let’s answer her most enduring question: What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? My answer: Let’s continue to build the world we want to see. And let’s have a good goddamn time doing it.
Allegra Madsen Executive Director
THE KEYS TO 50 YEARS OF QUEER CINEMA
Today, that revolution is 50 years on, which means it’s time to start planning the next five decades and beyond. Taking inspiration from this year’s
GO ES TH EA W AR D
A CONVERSATION WITH COLMAN DOMINGO FRI JUN 19 4!30 PM CASTRO
Leave it to the gays to start a revolution with Poodle Poo-Poo Miracle Mask.
TO ...
Frameline began as a free community event, born from word of mouth, handmade notices, and a drive to assemble diverse perspectives united by the love of filmmaking and the necessity of community. It is no mistake that this impulse was born in San Francisco — a city where the desire to communicate through art, to tell stories on film, feels woven into the very fabric
of the place. And now, with our 50th anniversary, we return to our roots. The cornerstone screenings of this year's festival tell the story of San Francisco: the wild hijinks of Lady Champagne, the irreverent spirit of Hunky Jesus, and the prolific insistence to be seen embodied by Barbara Hammer. This is San Francisco, and it’s laced through our 50th year.
RESISTANCE
ACTION
PROGRESS
Join us for a conversation with Emmy-winning actor, filmmaker, and playwright Colman Domingo (Sing Sing, Rustin, Euphoria) and Variety’s Jazz Tangcay, as they discuss Domingo’s illustrious career, Bay Area connections, and today’s queer media landscape.
OUT IN THE SILENCE AWARD Frameline’s annual Out in the Silence Award — generously underwritten by Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson — honors an outstanding film that highlights brave acts of LGBTQ+ visibility. This year’s recipient is Trial of Hein by Kai Stänicke.
FOR MEMBERS
JURY AWARDS Each year, juries convene during the Festival to select winners in the following categories: Outstanding First Narrative Feature; Outstanding Documentary Feature; Outstanding Narrative Short; and Outstanding Documentary Short.
AUDIENCE AWARDS Since 1984, our audience has been responsible for selecting the Audience Awards for Narrative Feature and Documentary Feature. After attending a qualifying screening, don’t forget to vote for your favorites!
COLIN HIGGINS YOUTH FILMMAKER GRANTS
AN D
The recipients of the 2026 Colin Higgins Youth Filmmaker Grants are Babaylan by franny trinidad and Kelly Liu, So Be It by Matthew Sorgie, and Sweat by Edward Nguyen.
FRAMELINE COMPLETION FUND GRANTS The 2026 Frameline Completion Fund grantees are Adam’s Apple by Amy Jenkins; Barbara Forever by Brydie O’Connor; Hunky Jesus by Jennifer M. Kroot; Jaripeo by Efraín Mojica and Rebecca Zweig; Lady Champagne by D’Arcy Drollinger; and But Still, We Move by Theo Angel.
THE FRAMELINE50 TEAM
Allegra Madsen, Executive Director Matthew Ramsey, Director of Partnerships & Development Esme Agilar, Development Manager Kate Bove, Associate Director of Programs Joe Bowman, Programming & Publications Manager Aidan Dick, Marketing & Communications Manager Cali Guisto, Distribution & Community Outreach Coordinator Diego Leon, Development Associate
Sam Berliner, Gabi Grossman, Kegan Marling, Jorge Molina, Kathleen Mullen, Ariel Ottey, Elizabeth Purchell, Kristal Sotomayor, Peter L. Stein, Programmers Ryan Delgado, Managing Director (LogicFlare) Kaitlyn Ryan, Producer, Operations & Events Paco Aschwanden, Technical Coordinator Jesse Dubus, Exhibition Media Manager Kris Fleming, Hospitality Manager Alex Murphy, Box Office Manager
HOURS (JUNE 18–26)
Cicily Singh, Volunteer Manager Ris Tena, Production Events Manager LogicFlare, Theater Managers, Production & Box Office Operations Andrew Sheets, Trailer Editor The Grass Agency, Program Design PACT Studio, Festival Identity & Design Territory Studio, Motion Graphics
Catering & Beverage Partners
6/18–6/21: 9:30 AM—6 PM 6/22: 1:30–6 PM 6/23–6/26: 9:30 AM–6 PM
BOX OFFICE PRE-FESTIVAL Pick up your Member t-shirt, buy tickets and merch, and ask us questions! FESTIVAL HUB
531 Castro Street San Francisco, CA 94114 Located at the historic Hamburger Mary’s. HOURS (MAY 14–JUNE 14):
SPONSORS Official Festival Partners
HOW TO FEST FESTIVAL HUB 531 Castro Street San Francisco, CA 94114 Located at the historic Hamburger Mary’s.
IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY... THE FRAMELINE TEAM
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Open Thursdays & Fridays from 3–7 PM Open Saturdays & Sundays from 1–7 PM
Venue Partners
Please Note: The Festival Hub is not open Monday– Wednesday during this period.
DURING FESTIVAL ONSITE BOX OFFICES
Onsite Box Office locations open one (1) hour prior to the start time of each screening at the film’s venue. Please Note: The Festival Hub will not sell tickets during the Festival. Please visit our website or an onsite Box Office at one of the Festival venues.
NEED SUPPORT? Phone: 415.273.0606 Monday–Friday, 10 AM–5 PM PT For after-hours support please email:
boxoffice@frameline.org Event Sponsors
Event Production Partners
Media Partners
RUSH LINE When advance tickets are no longer available, screenings will be marked “At-Rush.” At venues for “AtRush” screenings, join the designated Rush Line for a chance to purchase a ticket just before showtime. We always try our best to find seats for everyone, but joining the Rush Line does not guarantee entry. TICKET DROPS The Box Office may release tickets each day at noon for high-demand screenings that are marked as “At-Rush.” Please visit frameline.org daily for a chance to score day-of tickets.
Friends of Frameline
Industry Partners
ACCESSIBILITY All Frameline50 venues are wheelchair accessible. For more information about accessibility, including information about venue accessibility and Festival screenings with closed captions, open captions, audio description, and/or ASL Interpretation, please visit frameline.org/accessibility or contact boxoffice@ frameline.org.
Hospitality Partners
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SCAN TO BUY TICKETS
FILMS
OPENING NIGHT
LEGEND
QUEER PREMIERE
EROTIC EVENINGS
CASTRO THEATRE FRAMELINE FANGS
Starring, written, and directed by San Francisco’s own D’Arcy Drollinger, this riotous sequel to Shit & Champagne sees its titular dancing queen framed for her husband’s murder, leading to even more madcap hijinks.
10s ACROSS THE BORDERS
BEFORE I DO
WED JUN 24 2!00 PM ROXIE
Gay chaos ensues when groom-to-be John Michael (Cole Doman) reunites with his best man and old flame Alex (Michael Hsu Rosen) at a lakeside bachelor party weekend that draws the whole wedding party into the drama.
In this bold and intimate pan-Asian queer doc packed with mesmerizing performances, director Sze-Wei Chan imagines a world where Ballroom communities in Thailand, the Philippines, and Malaysia can also score a perfect 10.
Gary Ja$e
FRI JUN 26 3!30 PM CASTRO
PRECEDED BY: All Change by Joe Molander
ACTING LIKE WOMEN
BLACK BURNS FAST
SUN JUN 21 3!30 PM BAMPFA
FRI JUN 19 5!30 PM NEW PARKWAY FRI JUN 26 3!00 PM ROXIE
Cheri Gaulke
Art, activism, and female-powered performance ignite in 1970s Los Angeles. At the Woman’s Building, a tight-knit community, including director Cheri Gaulke and executive producer Lily Tomlin, created bold, groundbreaking work that reshaped the art world.
D’Arcy Drollinger
WED JUN 17 7!30 PM
RETROS
Sze-Wei Chan
LADY CHAMPAGNE
Sandulela Asanda
CASTRATION MOVIE CHAPTER III. JUNIOR GHOSTS— PREMORPHIC DRIFT Louise Weard
SAT JUN 20 8!15 PM NEW PARKWAY
In this standalone preview of the latest installment of Louise Weard’s Audience Award-winning Castration Movie series, Izzy (CAMP filmmaker Avalon Fast) does everything in her power to stop her newly-out partner from transitioning.
SUN JUN 21 6!30 PM CASTRO
Argentine auteur Lucio Castro explores four chapters in the life of handsome art student Adnan, each depicting his intimate encounters at the height of summer with a stunning dose of magical realism.
ENZO
FRI JUN 19 2!45 PM ROXIE
Recalling Call Me by Your Name, this coming-ofage story sees Enzo grappling with his burgeoning sexuality and wealthy family’s expectations when he develops a crush on Vlad, a Ukrainian bricklayer escaping the war.
Nicholas Eliopoulos
Featuring a star-studded cast that includes Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin, Dom DeLuise, Charles Durning, and more, this documentary tells the story of the man behind classics like 9 to 5, Harold and Maude, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
ADAM’S APPLE
BOOKENDS
CRUISING
FRI JUN 19 5!30 PM ROXIE
MON JUN 22 8!30 PM VOGUE
WED JUN 24 7!45 PM ROXIE
Mike Doyle
Lucio Castro
CELEBRATING LAUGHTER! THE LIFE & FILMS OF COLIN HIGGINS
Star student Luthando’s world is turned upside down when the charismatic Aydana arrives at her elite all-girls boarding school in this delightfully inventive coming-of-age story that brings its protagonist’s comic book-loving inner world to life.
Amy Jenkins
DRUNKEN NOODLES
William Friedkin
Robin Campillo
TUE JUN 23 5!30 PM VOGUE
FIRE WITHIN
Laetitia Jacquart & Corinne Sullivan
Always with a camera in hand, director Amy Jenkins has been documenting time unfolding and seasons changing over the course of eight years as she films her transgender child, Adam, growing up.
Suddenly single and without a dime to his name, quirky young urbanite Nate must move into a Jewish retirement community with his offbeat grandparents (F. Murray Abraham and Caroline Aaron) in this funny fish-out-of-water comedy.
Still as provocative and controversial as it was when it hit theaters in 1980, William Friedkin’s lurid thriller stars Al Pacino as a rookie cop who goes undercover in NYC’s gay leather scene to hunt a serial killer.
MON JUN 22 2!00 PM ROXIE
ALL OVER THE GUY
BOUND
DESERT HEARTS
GIRLS LIKE GIRLS
THU JUN 18 8!45 PM CASTRO
THU JUN 18 5!45 PM CASTRO
Julie Davis
FRI JUN 26 1!00 PM CASTRO
Lana Wachowski & Lilly Wachowski
Donna Deitch
This powerful story of resistance and resilience follows Dawn and Tony, two unhoused San Franciscans who find support at Glide Memorial Church, a radical sanctuary in the heart of the city’s Tenderloin district.
Hayley Kiyoko
Featuring memorable turns from Andrea Martin, Christina Ricci, and Lisa Kudrow, writer and star Dan Bucatinsky’s beloved gay rom-com about a man’s quest to find the “one” returns to Frameline 25 years after its debut.
SAT JUN 20 8!45 PM CASTRO
ANTIDIVA! THE CAROLE POPE CONFESSIONS THU JUN 25 5!45 PM ROXIE
In this atmospheric, landmark work of new queer horror, a grieving young woman becomes a counselor at a camp for troubled youth who, in turn, welcome outcasts and screw-ups into their literal coven.
Amsterdam, 1986. This film follows three gay men who meet at a downtown nightclub and sees them through love, loss, and survival. Three decades later, the trio is reunited, older and irrevocably changed, during a fateful dinner party.
With charismatic narration from Billie Jean King herself, this unflinching and intimate documentary captures the tennis star and lesbian icon’s lifelong fight to achieve equality for all women, both on and off the court.
AT THE PLACE OF GHOSTS
CARAVAGGIO
DREAMBOI
GUGU’S WORLD
SAT JUN 20 8!30 PM ROXIE
THU JUN 25 12!30 PM CASTRO
TUE JUN 23 7!15 PM ROXIE
FRI JUN 19 7!00 PM BAMPFA
Michelle Mama
This bold, darkly funny portrait of Canada’s original queer rock icon traces the height of Carole Pope’s fame with the band Rough Trade, which delivered thrilling, subversive, and genre-defying anthems to queer and mainstream audiences alike.
Bretten Hannam
This poetic supernatural horror film follows two estranged Mi’kmaq brothers who venture into the wilderness to exorcise a demon and confront ghosts of the past.
Donna Deitch’s iconic lesbian romantic drama has it all: An age-gap romance, a road trip that ends in a rain-soaked kiss, and charmer Cay Rivvers (Patricia Charbonneau) seducing uptight Vivian Bell (Helen Shaver). Need we say more?
Musician-turned-filmmaker Hayley Kiyoko aptly captures the complicated swirl of emotions that come with first love in this sun-drenched and heartfelt directorial debut based on her young adult novel of the same name.
CAMP
DOWNTOWN
GIVE ME THE BALL!
MON JUN 22 7!30 PM ROXIE
SUN JUN 21 1!15 PM CASTRO
SAT JUN 27 5!30 PM CASTRO
Thirty years after its historic Castro Theatre screening at Frameline20, Lilly and Lana Wachowski’s dazzling debut returns to the Festival. And like all of the greatest sapphic delights, Bound somehow manages to get better (and hotter) with age.
Avalon Fast
Derek Jarman
Starring Nigel Terry, Sean Bean, and Tilda Swinton, Derek Jarman’s fictionalized look at Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio’s life is visually striking, deliciously queer, and lovingly restored.
Michiel van Erp
Rodina Singh
Rodina Singh effortlessly blends the visual styles of impressionistic horror and the pages of Blueboy magazine to create a bold fever dream of trans desire, through the experience of Diwa and her obsession with the audio erotica of content creator Dreamboi.
Liz Garbus & Elizabeth Wol$
Allan Deberton
Caught between a magical upbringing with his grandmother and an uncertain future, 11-year-old Gugu plays soccer fabulously, glitter and all, until his world is turned upside down in this sweet-yetpowerful coming-of-age story. PRECEDED BY: The Emancipation of Mimi by Marcelo Pereira
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JUNETEENTH CASTRO THEATRE
THE BRITTNEY GRINER STORY
CENTERPIECE
Alexandria Stapleton
BARBARA FOREVER
In this riveting doc, WNBA star and Olympian Brittney Griner recounts her time as an international political prisoner and explores the pay inequities in professional women’s sports that led to the saga.
Beautifully intimate and exquisitely edited, Brydie O’Connor’s Teddy Awardwinning portrait of pioneering lesbian filmmaker Barbara Hammer is a singular ode to one of queer cinema’s great visual poets.
CASTRO THEATRE
Brydie O’Connor
SAT JUN 20 5!45 PM
THE HOCKEY PLAYER
THU JUN 25 8!45 PM
JASON & SHIRLEY REVISITED
LOVE LETTERS
On the heels of the ever-popular Heated Rivalry, this intimate documentary follows Luke Prokop as he becomes the first openly gay professional men’s hockey player to step into the spotlight of a sport still grappling with queerness.
SUN JUN 21 3!00 PM NEW PARKWAY
Céline sets out to collect a series of letters in order to adopt her soon-to-be-born child and, in the process, must reevaluate her feelings about becoming a parent and confront her own estranged mother.
FRI JUN 19 8!00 PM ROXIE
I WANT YOUR SEX
JULIAN
LOVES COMPANY
MICKEY & RICHARD
FRI JUN 19 6!15 PM CASTRO
SAT JUN 20 3!30 PM ROXIE
SAT JUN 27 2!00 PM CASTRO
TUE JUN 23 10!00 PM ROXIE
Jacqueline Doorey
SAT JUN 20 1!00 PM CASTRO
Gregg Araki
A bored, frustrated, and horny Gen Z-er (Cooper Hoffman) lands his first real job assisting anti-woke art star Erika Tracy (Olivia Wilde), quickly becoming her erotic muse and sex slave in legendary auteur Gregg Araki’s irreverent sex comedy.
Stephen Winter
Recut and remastered for its 10th anniversary, Jason and Shirley Revisited explores the intersection of art and exploitation, race and privilege, and gender and power through a fictionalized retelling of the making of Shirley Clarke’s controversial Portrait of Jason.
Cato Kusters
Fleur arrives late for the recital, brushing past Julian — fleeting contact that inflames passions between the women at the center of this moving drama. Their white-hot affair inspires a plan to tie the knot in each of the countries where same-sex marriage is legal.
Alice Douard
THU JUN 18 8!30 PM NEW PARKWAY
Jason Laurits
When washed-up actor Blake de Troy (Jack Plotnick) crashes in the Florida swamps near the ever-lonely Antoinette’s (Rachel Dratch) home, she decides to kidnap her Hollywood fave in this hilarious twist on Misery.
MASPALOMAS
Aitor Arregi & Jose Mari Goenaga
While enjoying the debaucherous queer enclave of Maspalomas, 76-year-old Vicente’s (José Ramón Soroiz) life takes a sudden turn, forcing him to reckon with his long-buried past and confront his identity.
Ryan A. White & A.P. Pickle
Meet Mickey Squires, legendary porn star and notorious alter ego to Richard Bernstein. This intimate documentary portrait traces Richard’s evolution from a lanky high school nerd to fantasy dream daddy Mickey, charting the joys and tribulations along the way. PRECEDED BY: Vibrations by Miguel Soll
IN A WHISPER
LA BELLE ANNÉE
MACHO DANCER
SUN JUN 21 8!30 PM ROXIE TUE JUN 23 5!30 PM NEW PARKWAY
MON JUN 22 6!00 PM NEW PARKWAY
THU JUN 18 8!30 PM ROXIE
Leyla Bouzid
When her uncle dies under somewhat mysterious and sudden circumstances, Lilia returns to Tunisia where she navigates being queer around her traditional family and uncovers more about her uncle’s story.
Angelica Ruffier
Lino Brocka
MINESHAFT! THE CRUISING MURDERS Je$rey Schwarz
Set in Manila’s red-light district, Lino Brocka’s 1988 gay drama was bold and boundary-pushing‚ so much so that the director had to smuggle an uncensored version of his film out of the Philippines.
WED JUN 24 5!15 PM ROXIE
LABRADOR — AUTOPSY OF SILENCE
MADDIE’S SECRET
MONTREAL, MY BEAUTIFUL
THU JUN 25 3!OO PM CASTRO
THU JUN 25 5!30 PM VOGUE
TUE JUN 23 8!30 PM NEW PARKWAY
Seamlessly blending comedy and melodrama, writer/director John Early stars as wannabe chef Maddie Ralph, whose secret struggle with an eating disorder returns after she becomes an overnight viral success.
Joan Chen delivers a powerful, award-winning performance in this slow-burn sapphic romantic drama about a woman exploring her queer desire later in life and deciding to accept the costs of finally putting herself first.
In this sensuous and dreamy meditation on young love and fantasy, director Angelica Ruffier rediscovers her teenage diaries and, in them, her secret infatuation with her history teacher, Mademoiselle B., whom she hopes to track down.
Once maligned by gay rights activists, the Al Pacinoled thriller Cruising has since become a classic. Delve into the fascinating — and incredibly shocking — true story behind the events that inspired the film.
PRECEDED BY: Dreams of Passion and Spin Cycle by Aarin Burch
INVISIBLE BOYS Nicholas Verso
EPISODES 1–5! SAT JUN 20 6!00 PM ROXIE EPISODES 6–10! SAT JUN 27 3!00 PM ROXIE
Rodrigue Jean
John Early
Xiaodan He
A group of gay teens living in a remote Australian coastal town contend with a series of challenges after one of them is outed on social media following a hookup in this critically acclaimed TV series.
A murder at sea. A story told in reverse. As suspicion closes in, an Inuit mechanic must confront hidden truths and shifting perspectives in this tense Arctic thriller exploring identity, desire, and race.
IVÁN & HADOUM
THE LAST GUEST OF THE HOLLOWAY MOTEL
MADFABULOUS
ON THE ROAD
SUN JUN 21 8!45 PM CASTRO
THU JUN 25 8!30 PM VOUGE
Stolen moments of love bloom between two workers in a Spanish greenhouse, until a labor uprising pulls them apart, in this tender, award-winning romance about desire, loyalty, and the cost of choosing each other.
THU JUN 25 3!00 PM VOGUE
In this fizzy historical biopic, the flamboyant and determined next Marquess of Anglesey (Callum Scott Howells) puts his extravagant self first, creating a stir when he takes over his father’s Welsh estate.
A young drifter hitches a ride with a lonesome trucker on the dusty, desolate highways of northern Mexico. A dangerous, carnal bond develops between the two men just as their troubled pasts start to catch up with them.
JARIPEO
LEVITICUS
MARY OLIVER! SAVED BY THE BEAUTY OF THE WORLD
ON THE SEA
Ian de la Rosa
THU JUN 18 5!45 PM NEW PARKWAY
Efraín Mojica & Rebecca Zweig
SAT JUN 20 3!30 PM CASTRO
Stolen glances, fleeting encounters, and queer lust take center stage in this beautifully lensed, dream-like portrait of Michoacán’s hypermasculine rodeos and the queer rancheros and macho cowboys who attend them.
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Ramiel Petros & Nicholas Freeman After disappearing 40 years earlier amid a swirl of rumors, British futbol star Tony Powell is found by a pair of filmmakers in a West Hollywood motel, a gay man with a story to tell.
Adrian Chiarella
WED JUN 17 9!00 PM ROXIE
Two teenagers are stalked by a violent entity that takes on the form of the person they desire most in this queer horror film that blends the star-crossed passion of Heated Rivalry with the unsettling atmosphere of It Follows.
Celyn Jones
Sasha Waters
TUE JUN 23 5!00 PM ROXIE FRI JUN 26 7!OO PM BAMPFA
This illuminating doc weaves poet Mary Oliver’s own words through rare archival materials and candid reflections from those who knew and admired her, including John Waters, Stephen Colbert, and Oprah Winfrey.
David Pablos
Helen Walsh
SAT JUN 27 11!00 AM CASTRO
Off the coast of Wales, closeted fisherman Jack is a sensitive husband and father but a fateful meeting with a hunky, younger seasonal worker named Daniel throws his complacent life into a tailspin in this stormy, sexy romance.
PRIDE KICKOFF
CASTRO THEATRE
HUNKY JESUS
CLOSING NIGHT
CASTRO THEATRE
Jennifer M. Kroot
FRI JUN 26 6!00 PM Bless us, Sisters, for we are in need of joy, and perhaps a loincloth or two! Hunky Jesus blends the activism, radical resistance, and hilarity of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence from their beginnings to the present.
OUR EFFED UP WORLD Alice Maio Mackay
FRI JUN 19 8!45 PM CASTRO
After Sheri begins to have strange dreams that coincide with a meteor shower and local disappearances, she discovers an otherworldly evil that goes all the way back to her father’s youth.
SAN FRANCISCO ON THE QUEER SCREEN! 50+ YEARS OF GAY BY THE BAY MON JUN 22 5!15 PM ROXIE
Queer filmmakers have long told their own fabulous stories of Bay Area life, far outside the mainstream. Join filmmaker and longtime Frameline programmer Peter L. Stein for a unique clip-filled journey through a highly unofficial archive of local queer self-reflection.
SUPER SECRET SCREENING We Know (But You Don't) SAT JUN 27 8!15 PM
Frameline50’s Closing Night film is so epic that they won’t let us tell you about it yet. We’re all going to this super secret mystery movie and, if you can hack it, you should be there too. Trust us: You don’t want to miss out on a history-defining moment like this one.
STRANGE RIVER Jaume Claret Muxart
WED JUN 24 5!30 PM VOGUE
While on a bicycle trip along the Danube, a teenager explores his sexuality and desire when he comes upon a mysterious boy in the water in this beautifully lensed and achingly poetic coming-of-age story.
TOMORROW’S TOO LATE Terry Loane
SUN JUN 21 4!00 PM ROXIE
Through intimate, tear-soaked video diaries and archival footage, this inspiring documentary follows trans pop star Dylan Holloway, who changes the game by performing a vocal duet with a recording of his pre-transitioned self onstage.
OUT IN THE SILENCE AWARD
PARIS IS BURNING
SCORE
FRI JUN 19 1!30 PM CASTRO
WED JUN 24 10!00 PM ROXIE
Jennie Livingston
Radley Metzger
Winner of the Audience Award at Frameline14 and still as vital, entertaining, and moving 35 years later, Jennie Livingston’s seminal ballroom doc is a profound record of the experiences, ambitions, and talent of an underrepresented culture.
Elvira bets her husband Jack that she can bed her new friend Betsy by midnight or else Jack can make it with Betsy’s husband Eddie in filmmaker Radley Metzger and screenwriter Jerry Douglas’s classic sex comedy that puts the "X" in bisexual.
THE PASSION ACCORDING TO G.H.B.
SKIFF
MON JUN 22 10!00 PM ROXIE
Androgynous teen Malou lives in a small town and idolizes her older brother Max, but complicated feelings arise when she starts crushing on his new girlfriend Nouria in this striking and beautifully acted coming-of-age film.
Gustavo Vinagre & Vinícius Couto In this steamy self-described “magical realist gay bedroom odyssey," Matias reminisces about past encounters, lust- and drug-fueled nights, and what his future might hold.
Cecilia Verheyden
FRI JUN 26 12!30 PM ROXIE
PRECEDED BY: Hangar by Joaquin Wall
PUBLIC ACCESS
A TALE OF TWO DOGS! A HENRY HANSON DOUBLE FEATURE
SAT JUN 20 5!30 PM NEW PARKWAY
He/they underground filmmaker Henry Hanson presents Dog Movie and Puppygirl, a pair of bite-size features exposing two of the greatest scourges facing trans people today: housing drama and puppygirls. Good girls and bad dogs only.
A TASTE OF HEAVEN! THE ECSTATIC SONG & GOSPEL OF MAESTRO RAYMOND ANTHONY MYLES Leo Sacks
SUN JUN 21 1!45 PM ROXIE
Electrifying music, an uncompromising vision, a vibrant community, and Big Freedia come together in this transcendent window into the life and legacy of the “Gospel Genius of New Orleans."
TRIAL OF HEIN Kai Stänicke
THU JUN 25 5!45 PM CASTRO
After 14 years away, Hein (Paul Boche) returns to his home on a North Sea island only to realize the tightknit community doesn’t recognize him in this taut Out in the Silence Award winner.
UNCLE ROY Keri Pickett
THU JUN 18 3!00 PM ROXIE
As Roy Blakey, a legendary photographer of the male nude and celebrated figure skater with the world’s largest collection of theatrical skating memorabilia, turns 93, his filmmaker niece brings her camera to document the wild legacy of this gay pioneer. PRECEDED BY: Doug + Me by Cecile Fountain-Jardim
SOMETHING YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ME
TEST
VIRGINA
THU JUN 25 2!30 PM ROXIE
SUN JUN 21 6!00 PM NEW PARKWAY
WED JUN 24 7!00 PM BAMPFA
Decades before content creators came to rule our screens, one of America’s greatest free-speech experiments was born: public-access television. And while this community-made media reshaped pop culture, it also sparked heated First Amendment debates.
In this sexy and visceral feature, small-town dreamer Eddie (Brock Yurich) pursues physical perfection and a career in bodybuilding, all while navigating a demanding mother (Tammy Blanchard), religious guilt, and a looming competition.
Long unavailable, this newly restored period drama by writer/director Srđan Karanović — made during the outbreak of the Yugoslavian civil war in June 1991 — depicts the travails of a girl raised as a boy in early 19th-century Serbia.
ROCK OUT
SPARKS
TIGER
WE’LL FIND HAPPINESS
FRI JUN 26 8!45 PM CASTRO
THU JUN 25 8!30 PM ROXIE
TUE JUN 23 8!45 PM VOGUE
WED JUN 24 8!00 PM VOGUE
David Shadrack Smith
SUN JUN 21 3!30 PM CASTRO
Dustin Lance Black
Andy Fidoten
When nerdy trans guy Al and the oblivious best friend he’s in love with become roommates at a queer cartoonist camp full of alcohol, hormones, and midnight skinny dipping, who knows what could happen?
Fergus Campbell
Sam McConnell
Anshul Chauhan
Oscar-winning filmmaker Dustin Lance Black (Milk) dives into the hidden queer history, influences, and subtext thrumming beneath the surface of the rock, heavy metal, and punk music genres.
Looking to escape the teenage wasteland known as Sparks, Nevada, a bohemian group of misfits plot to go back in time through a mystical reservoir in this visually striking and surreal debut feature.
A neon-lit snapshot of queer life in contemporary Japan, Tiger centers on a 35-year-old erotic masseur attempting to parlay his skills into on-camera sex work while trying to revive his unsatisfying love life and navigate complicated family dynamics.
A SAFE DISTANCE
STILL BLACK! A PORTRAIT OF BLACK TRANSMEN
TIME WARP
Gloria Mercer
SUN JUN 21 8!30 PM NEW PARKWAY
Left in the woods by her boyfriend, Alex falls in with an enigmatic off-grid couple. Seduced by Kianna and Matt, she’s pulled into a web of desire and secrets in this tense, feminist psychological thriller.
Kortney Ryan Ziegler
FRI JUN 19 2!45 PM NEW PARKWAY
A profoundly moving and intimate chronicle, Kortney Ryan Ziegler’s 2008 experimental film explores the lives of six Black transgender men by having them share their lived experiences in their own words. PRECEDED BY: in the interval by æryka jourdaine hollis o’neil
Sr&an Karanovi'
Léa Pool
Moroccan refugee Saad faces the deportation of his Iranian lover Reza and begins a deceptive relationship with a high-ranking immigration official in order to make a better life for the man he loves and save his life.
Allison Berg
THU JUN 18 3!00 PM CASTRO
The Rocky Horror Picture Show’s lasting impact on both queer culture and subversive cinema is undeniable, and this documentary underscores why, exactly, we’re all doing the “Time Warp” again (and again and again).
5
FILM SCHEDULE WED JUNE 17 CASTRO THEATRE
FRI JUNE 19
THU JUNE 18
ROXIE THEATER
CASTRO THEATRE
ROXIE THEATER
10:30 am
NEW CASTRO PARKWAY THEATRE THEATER
ROXIE THEATER
NEW PARKWAY THEATER
VENUES
SAT JUNE 20 BAMPFA
CASTRO THEATRE
ROXIE THEATER
NEW PARKWAY THEATER
10:30 am
10:30 AM
Homegrown
11 am
SAN FRANCISCO
FESTIVAL HUB
11 am
ROXIE THEATER 3117 16TH STREET
12 pm
VOGUE THEATRE 3290 SACRAMENTO STREET
S 12 pm 12:30 PM
Doc Shorts
1 pm
Paris Is Burning
2 pm 3 pm
3:00 PM
2:45 PM
3:00 PM
The Hockey Player
S
1:30 PM
4 pm
2 pm
2:45 PM
3 pm
Celebrating Still Black: Laughter A Portrait of Black Transmen
Time Warp Uncle Roy
1 pm
1:00 PM
3:30 PM
3:30 PM
Jaripeo
Julian
Conversation with Colman Domingo
Frameline from the 6 Beginning
pm
5:45PM
Girls Like Girls
S
5:30 PM
5:45 PM
4 pm
ObjectionIván & able Hadoum Content S
6:15 PM
5:00 PM 5:30 PM
Adam’s Apple
5:30 PM
Black Burns Fast
I Want Your Sex
7 pm
The Brittney Griner Story
7:00 PM
8 Lady pm Champagne
8:00 PM
9:00 PM
Leviticus
8:45 PM
Desert Hearts
8:30 PM
8:30 PM
6:00 PM
Invisible Boys: Ep 1–5
Macho Dancer
Love Letters
8:00 PM
Maspalomas We Belong
Together (Except When We S Don’t)
8:45 PM
Our Effed Up World
8:45 PM
Bound
8:30 PM
At the Place of Ghosts
10 pm
SUN JUNE 21 CASTRO THEATRE
ROXIE THEATER
NEW PARKWAY THEATER
MON JUNE 22 BAMPFA
ROXIE THEATER THEATRE
VOGUE THEATRE
TUE JUNE 23 NEW ROXIE PARKWAY THEATER THEATER
Located at the historic Hamburger Mary’s
OAKLAND THE NEW PARKWAY THEATER 474 24TH STREET
5 pm
BERKELEY ART MUSEUM AND PACIFIC FILM ARCHIVE (BAMPFA) 2155 CENTER STREET
.99 Cent Queer Tale of Video Fest 6 Two Dogs: S pm A Henry Hanson Double 7 Feature pm 5:30 PM
Gugu’s World
7:30 PM
9 pm
5:45 PM
FESTIVAL HUB 531 CASTRO STREET
BERKELEY
4:30 PM 5 5:00 PM pm
THE CASTRO THEATRE 429 CASTRO STREET
8 pm
8:15 PM
Castration Movie Chapter iii. Junior Ghosts— Premorphic Drift
9 pm 10 pm
THU JUNE 25
WED JUNE 24
VOGUE THEATRE
ROXIE NEW PARKWAY THEATER THEATER
10:30 am 10:30 AM
VOGUE THEATRE
BAMPFA
CASTRO THEATRE
ROXIE THEATER
VOGUE THEATRE 10:30 am
11 Fun in am Shorts
11 am
S
12 pm
12 pm 12:30 PM
1 pm
Caravaggio Downtown
2 pm
1:45 PM
A Taste of Heaven
3 pm
2:00 PM
2:00 PM
2:00 PM
Fire Within
Meet Me at the Crossroads S 3:00 PM A Good Long Cry
10s Across the Borders
3:00 PM 3:30 PM
4 Public pm Access
4:00 PM
Jason & Shirley Revisited
Tomorrow’s Too Late
3:30 PM
Acting Like Women
5 pm
6:00 PM
Nineties & Something Zeros Fucks You Should S Know
6:30 PM 7 Drunken pm Noodles
Mary Oliver 6:00 PM
In a 9 pm Madfabulous Whisper
8:30 PM
8:30 PM
A Safe Distance
Bookends
Trans New Weird S
CASTRO THEATRE
ROXIE THEATER
BAMPFA
CASTRO THEATRE
10 am
12 pm 1 pm 1:00 PM
SHORTS S 11
am
12:30 PM
12:30 PM
Skiff
Fun in Shorts
1 pm 2 pm
Loves Company
4 Before I pm Do
S
3:00 PM
3:00 PM
Black Burns Fast
Invisible Boys: Ep 6–10
5 pm
3 pm 4 pm
5:30 PM
Give Me the Ball!
6 pm 6:00 PM
Hunky Jesus
8:15 PM
9 pm Rock Out
Thirty-five years ago in the early days of New Queer Cinema, THE spot to gather and watch cutting-edge queer shorts was a run-down Mission district bar that hosted .99 Cent Queer Video Fest. Let the original curator (and bartender!) Jeffrey Winter of The Film Collaborative take you back!
Super Secret Closing
5:30 PM
8 pm 9 pm
Oh Paulo
Jasper De Maeseneer
Three Times Mina
Nans Laborde-Jourdàa
Maya Avidov
FRAMELINE FROM THE BEGINNING! IT’S ALL COMING BACK TO ME NOW
WED JUN 17 5!00 PM CASTRO
SUN JUN 21 10!30 AM CASTRO SAT JUN 27 12!30 PM ROXIE
Dr. Poppers Arthur Morard
Sleazy Tiger
The Motorcycle
Matteo Giampetruzzi
The Pleasure Dome Valter Pereira
Talk Me
Joecar Hanna
DOC SHORTS
FRI JUN 19 12!30 PM ROXIE
Communion Pétala Lopes
Cruising Lesbiana
Joyce Victoria Newrzella
Here, Queer, and On TV
Cassandra Herrman & Kelly Whalen
Making It Fit Mariana Leal
8:30 PM
8:30 PM
Sparks
On the Road
Mohammad Awad
Minister Chucky
Graham Kolbeins & Jonathan Andre Culliton James Ley
Sunday Lunch
Ethernet Wang Aron Kantor
The Motive
Jorge Molina
MEET ME AT THE CROSSROADS
TUE JUN 23 2!00 PM ROXIE
Sai Karan Talwar Edward Nguyen
Wildflowers Akira Kamiki
Yellow Bucket Simon Brooke
NINETIES & ZEROS FUCKS! SEXY FRAMELINE SHORTS OF THE 1990’S & 2000’S SUN JUN 21 6!00 PM ROXIE
Sara Werner
Forever Bottom!
HOMEGROWN
Ifé
SAT JUN 20 10!30 AM CASTRO SAT JUN 27 1O!00 AM ROXIE
Babaylan
franny trinidad & Kelly Liu
Callback
Matthew Puccini
Femme Release
Sarah Taborga & Aïma Paule
THU JUN 18 5!30 PM ROXIE
TRANS NEW WEIRD
Theo Angel
All You Can Eat
Wife Wife
OBJECTIONABLE CONTENT! BANNED RETRO SHORTS
Sweat
But Still, We Move
Max Jenkins
The Waddles
Who’s the Top?
I Am the Prize
Kamila Boichenko
Matt Campanella
Sunday Sauce
Susan Muska
Featuring Jack Smith’s Flaming Creatures, Jean Genet’s Un chant d’amour, and a rarely seen classic from recent Frameline guest Todd Haynes, this is a must-see lineup for queer cinephiles.
Black Shawl
Curated by Jenni Olson, this block is a wild tangle of hot, hilarious, and seldom-seen rarities from Frameline’s history.
Lyndon Henley Hanrahan
6 pm 7 pm
9 pm 10 pm
Jennie Livingston
Flight Risk
Morpheus and Charon
8:45 PM
Infinity Mirror
AFTERNOON DELIGHT
FRI JUN 26 11!00 AM CASTRO
We’ll Find Happiness
Matthew Sorgie
Too Disgusting to Be Confused
4 pm
8 pm
8:00 PM
Stafford’s Story
So Be It
3 pm
5:30 PM
Montreal, Antidiva: My The Carole Beautiful Pope Confessions
How to Find a Career That Loves You Back
FUN IN SHORTS
Arnaud Delmarle
Trial of Hein
Cam Archer
Taxi Moto
Big Boys Don’t Cry
5:45 PM
All shorts are listed in alphabetical order instead of order of play. S denotes shorts programs on the schedule.
Shutterspeed
A GOOD LONG CRY
5:45 PM
Strange River
Barbara Forever
An assortment of classic Frameline trailers and short films from key moments in the Festival’s fivedecade history that highlight the evolution of the world’s longestrunning LGBTQ+ film exhibition.
Luiz Ulian & Jocimar Dias Jr.
Mary Oliver
8:45 PM
6 pm 7 pm
7:00 PM
8 pm
SAT JUN 20 5!00 PM HUB
Gaël Kamilindi
5 pm
7 pm
.99 CENT QUEER VIDEO FEST
TUE JUN 23 3!00 PM VOGUE
2:00 PM
3:30 PM
10 am
12 pm
2 pm 3 pm
Tiger
Score
On the Sea
All Over the Guy
Labrador — Autopsy of Silence
Mickey & Richard
11:00 AM
S
8:30 PM
8:45 PM
The Passion According to G.H.B .
Homegrown
Afternoon Delight
The Last Guest of the Holloway Motel
Virgina 7:45 PM
10:00 PM
ROXIE THEATER
3:00 PM
5 pm
7:00 PM
10:00 PM
10:00 AM
11 am 11:00 AM
Mineshaft
10:00 PM
SAT JUNE 27
FRI JUNE 26
5:15 PM
Cruising
8:30 PM
10 pm
In a Whisper
Enzo
Dreamboi
CAMP 8:30 PM
Test
3:00 PM
7:15 PM
7:30 PM
8:45 PM
5:30 PM
5:30 PM
La belle année
About Me
8 pm
2:30 PM
Maddie’s Secret
5:00 PM
50+ Years of Gay by the Bay
6:00 PM
2 pm
S
5:15 PM
6 pm
6
1 pm
1:15 PM
Michael Brynntrup Nguyen Tan Hoang H. Lenn Keller
Impact Zone
Sophie Constantinou & K.K.
Law & Order
Gay Men’s Health Crisis
Matzo Maidels
Jenni Olson, Julie Dorf & Monica Nolan
Phineas Slipped Cary Cronenwett
Pussy Buffet
K.K. & Ursula Rodriguez
MON JUN 22 8!30 PM NP
Artifice
Theo Rose
The Beach Boys Milo Talwani
Choked
Travis Alabanza
if you know you know Bonita Rajpurohit
My Structuralist Film Angelo Madsen
Smooth
Sepi Mashiahof
WE BELONG TOGETHER (EXCEPT WHEN WE DON’T) FRI JUN 19 8!00 PM NP
First Death
Alyssa Lerner
Kiloran Bay
Michael Bruce
The Long Con Aitch Alberto
Method Cowboy Carlos Valdivia
Never Never Never John Sheedy
Notice Me
Amy Leonard
Static
Ali “Attila” Tayefeh Ghalehbegi
REWIND
50 F*CKING YEARS OF MAKING GAY HISTORY
FRAMELINE1
FRAMELINE11
1977
FRAMELINE26
1987
FRAMELINE30
2002
FRAMELINE41
2006
2017
IT WAS WRITTEN IN THE STARS CHANI READS OUR BIRTH CHART!
FIRST SCREENING: February 9, 1977 at 8 PM in San Francisco, California Frameline was born with a meticulous Virgo ascendant, a free-thinking Aquarius Sun, and a deep-feeling Scorpio Moon. But what does that tell us? The ascendant (or rising sign) represents what Frameline is here to do, and because it’s in the sign of Virgo, that means a big part of the festival’s mission is serving its community. The placement of Virgo’s planetary ruler, Mercury (the cosmic communicator), illustrates how it does this. In the festival’s chart, Mercury is located in Capricorn the sign of the elder. That gives the event an energy that’s ambitious, wise, and built to last which adds up for the oldest queer film festival in the world. And since Capricorn is Frameline’s 5th House of art and sexuality, it serves others by sharing stories that grapple with creativity, desire, and love. The festival’s systems-oriented Aquarius Sun supports this too. Positioned in the 6th House
of practical responsibilities and hustle, this placement uses strategic thinking to challenge oppressive powers and build community. But with that no-such-thing-as-TMI Scorpio Moon in the 3rd House of communication, the art it showcases is naturally a little provocative. Saying the things that polite society deems taboo is what the Frameline Film Festival was quite literally born to do. As for what’s next astrologically let’s just say the festival is entering a new seven-year chapter, as Uranus (the planet of radical thinking) moves into the most visible part of Frameline’s chart. Iconoclast era: loading. CHANI is a queer, feminist-led team on a mission to support everyone in living their purpose through the #1 astrology app for manifestation, self-discovery, mindfulness, and healing.
THE KEYS TO FRAMELINE’S CHART
EXCLUSIVE GIFT! Get your personalized birth chart reading and hyper-accurate forecasts. Get 30 days of all-access to the CHANI app with code: FRAMELINE30 (Valid through July 27th)
MEMBERS & DONORS
FRAMELINE FOUNDERS
We are grateful to our incredible individuals and foundations who are dedicated to expanding Frameline’s resources, enriching existing programs and outreach strategies, and meeting the future needs of the LGBTQ+ community.
Thank you to the people who paved the way 50 years ago.
This list includes donations of $500 and above received by April 1, 2026. $100,000+
$50,000-$99,999
$25,000-$49,999
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
The Colin Higgins Foundation
BABSCon
Bob Dockendorff
William + Flora Hewlett Foundation
Grants for the Arts
The Williams & Hart Rainbow Fund of Horizons Foundation
Ruha Devanesan* & Kristina Loring
The Hurst Family Fund $10,000*$24,999
Steven Abbott* & Jim Stephens Anonymous Nancy Lynn Baker & Cathy Hauer
Christopher Dobbins-Callahan* Calvin B. Doucet Martin Fung & Michael Hughes Russell Kaltschmidt*
Jason Blackwell*
Alex Lau* & David Broockman
Lukas Blakk* & Tammy Rae Carland
John M. Lobato
Brian Bonds* & Jeff Farris Bob Ross Foundation The Campbell Foundation Jennifer Keay Davidson Meggy Gotuaco & Dipti Ghosh Jeffery Grimes* Steve Clark Hall Michael R. Hulton & David Stewart Nadir Joshua Michael Lumpkin & Mark Page Patrick McCabe Scott E. Miller* & J. Douglas Piper John Schlesinger & Richard Starkeson A gift in memory of Allen A. Schuh, forever a fan Brian Thompson Walter & Elise Haas Fund Eric Whitney & Richard Bae $5,500*$9,999
Mark Andrews & John Blazek Anonymous Aaron Babst Kenneth Bukowski & Peter Altman Tom Burke & Axel Brunger Jen Carter*
Brent Lok & J. Wade French
Patrick Batt on behalf of the Castro Community Meeting Room Michael F. Belisle & Paul McCullough Mario Bertucci, Jr. Donald Bird & David Young Ryan Boswell Ross Boucher David Bulanda
Pilar Lorenzana
Clara Basile Charitable Fund
Ryan McNeill
Gizelle Cadogan
Scott Montgomery & Marc Rand
Greg Clinton & Greg Morris
Vince Morgante & Mel Stenger
Isabelle Corset & Eva Nieves
Norway House Foundation Bill Owen, MD William Powell & Don Wilson Greg Rasalan Rick Ross
Community Thrift Store Brad Crowell & Gary Koehler James Davis-Ford & Stephen Blumenthal Curtis Dennison & Julio Garay Garcia Dennison Tim Eicher & Jeff Eubanks Naomi Evans-Jalloh
Pam Farmer & Bev Benson
FilmADE Marketing Innovations Fund The Future Fund of Horizons Foundation
BERN BOYLE
BILLY MIGGINS
GREG GONZALES
DANIEL NICOLETTA
MARC HUESTIS
WAYNE SMOLEN
RIC MEARS
DAVID WAGGONER
Horizons Foundation
San Francisco Foundation
Terence O’Brien
Alex Youn*
Aaron Raphel*
Alan Madsen
Anonymous
David King & George Palis
Bruce Westland & Greg Fritz
Lewis Lehman
Hector Maldonado & Louis Banks
Robert Barnum
A. Landucci
Geof Worcester
Roy Bateman
Forrest Laureano
Yeong Jang Family
Scott Leonard & Maki Sugimoto
Ignatius Bau
The Libra Project LLC
Alexander Zanellato
Lesbians Helping Others
Edward Bedock
Stella Lim
Ron Zuckerman
Perry Logan
Lulu Biedak
Roger M. Low
Victor P. Bonfilio, JD, PhD
Linc Madison
Andrew C. & John Boulter
Lynn Magnet
Robert Browne
Robert Maier
Ron ‘Moose’ Casey
Richard Mazzarisi
Charles Cassell
Patrick McCleskey & Santiago Suanes
Jan Marks & Cindy Humphreys Andrew Nance & Jim Maloney Missy Nery & Mirna Rivera Robert Newbold & Tiago Pinto Jeanine Nicholson Ron Norris & Jason Douglass Kate O’Hanlan & Léonie Walker Evelyn Oltman Dave Oppenheim & Ray Spears
Peter Chase & Fernando Castano Jennifer R. Clark
Marguerite Pakozdi & Amy Toder
Lee Dawn
Doug Paxton & Joe Vassallo
Ross Fox
Nitin Rao & Tommy Hayes
Gale Richards & Ruth Dawson Family Fund
Julia Reinstein & Jo Laine White
JD Flynn
Jenni Olson
Reginald Dugard & Sean Brient
Kevin Patsel
Morris Paterson Joel Perlstein
Kevin Gardner & Paul Morrell
Liz Pesch
Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation
Give Now Fund of Horizons Foundation
Steven Schmidbauer
Stefan Gruenwedel
Kathleen Quenneville/Diane Allen
Cyrus Beagley & Tai-Yu Lin
Gary Grossman, PhD & Matt Dahlberg
Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation
Victoria Hall
Cathy Rice & Dominic Tsang
Paul Herman & Ed Swanson
Sam Sirko & Lou Smith
Teresa Hernandez
James Woolley
Kathleen Hurley
Claude Wynne
Michael Jennis & Michael Butler
Dawn Zemo & Stephanie Stehling
Anna Karydas & Lindy Koll
Edwin Merideth III
Jan Pardoe & Cathy McIntosh
David Goldsmith
Richard A. Haley
Glenne McElhinney
Beatriz Datangel
Diane Sabin & Jewelle Gomez
Brett Moyer
Traci Burleigh
Maria Manigbas
Tim Odom
Linda Gebroe
Harold Hagen & Stephen Hiller
Dennis Berry
Kim Makoi
Matt Pagel & Corey Revilla
$3,000*$5,499
Drs. Dee Mosbacher & Nanette Gartrell
Gino Belleci
Valerie Maestas
Cary McBride Fund
Peter Philipp
Ted Guggenheim & Brian Davis
Patrick Batt
Doug MacKay & Steve Gibson
John Newmeyer
Cheri Gillies & Kathleen Gilbert
Gerald LaBuda & Daniel Healy
Anonymous
Candace Lopez
Lawrence C. Button & Stephen E. Leach
Mark Reisman, MD & Rogelio Chapa
Amy Kindrick & Ramona Doyle
$500*$934
Carl F. Merritt, Pharm. D. & Andy Rodriguez
Marsha Gale & Liz Hoadley
Rick Solomon & Steven Saylor
* Current Frameline Board Members
Jack Powelson
Alan R. Ratliff
Jack Eidson Barry Eisenberg & Edmond Babin Al Elhaj Deborah Farkas & Mary Faria Vincent Flores & Mark Morris Eric Gelino & Rodel Borja
Cedric Ng
PFLAG San Francisco Ken Prag & Steve Collins Michael Rabanal & Alfredo Victorio Debbie Rice & Steve Soldano B. Ruby Rich & Mary Peelen William Robinson Evaristo Lito Sandoval
Judy Schultz & Glenna Dowling
Ernest Hammond III & Paul Weyker
Howard Simons & Oriol Pi Miloro
Dee Hampton
Richard Ridgeway & Milan Petkovic
Timothy Hancock
Roger Ritland & Virgil Mathis
Adam Hardy
Ernest Patrick Rodriguez
Linda Harrison & Ellen Anderson
Wendy Rustay
Dylan Hatch
David Shimabukuro
Andrew Hattori & Evan Kuluk David Haugland
Silicon Valley Community Foundation
John Hensala
Seneca Spurling
Roy Hom
Robert Sullivan Sharon Tanenbaum
Rachel Kamen & Ariane Marcus
Tim Tune & David Pinch
Tom Jarman Connie Jeung-Mills
Elena Thomas
Jon Kilcrease
Eric Wallner
Lee Jewell
Jeff Thomas
Laura Kinley & Kelli Lent
Oliver C. Vogel
The Knittel-Steinard Family
Kathy Wolfe & Barbara Verhage
David R Weissman
Noel & Marc Legorburu
Roy V. Zemlicka & Scott Martin
Daniel Slaughter & Stephan Blachowski Bryn R. Smith & Kevin B. Voccia Andrew Utiger & Joseph Tally Randy Weled & Moshe Rozdział David Wertheimer Maryann Wolfe & Francine Masiello William J. Woods
Cole Kinney & Dale Becherer
$935*$1,749
Gary Demyen & Les Partridge
$1,750*$2,999
Lesbians for Good
Amalia Aboitiz
Bill Dickey & Matthew Huyck
Daniel Bao
Lisa Ellen Lippincott
The Alex Gutow Fund
Bianca Kaprielian & Deborah Koski
Ashley Selman
Matthew Gray Paul Gross
Jody Sanford & Sharon Schrank
Dawn Hatch & Julie DeVincenzi
Mal Shakter
Dave Hayes Helander Woods Charitable Fund Kirk Hinman & Ramon Santos Jason Holstein & Ryan Keyt Gregory Hunt & Steven Contreras
Philip Shecter Scott Sidorsky & Vince Thomas Karlin Sorenson & Krista Lucchesi Martin C. Soto & Reggie Johnson Sound Law Group
Jared Vincenti
7
Illustration by: ANNA FIRTH
INDUSTRY DAY
SAT JUN 20, 2026
Every summer for nearly half a century, icons of the silver screen have flooded the gold coast in celebration of queer cinema. As we enter our 50th rotation, we're taking a look back at the stars that have made Frameline THE GAYEST FILM FESTIVAL ON PLANET EARTH. TOP ROW (FROM LEFT): Lena Waithe, Margaret Cho, Beth Grant, Ann Walker, Linda Perry, Trixie Mattel, Jennifer Beals, Lisa Loeb. SECOND ROW: George Takei, Alan Cumming, Wilson Cruz, Zackary Drucker, Angelica Ross, John Waters, Harry Dodge, Alaska Thunderfuck, Armistead Maupin. THIRD ROW: Alice Wu, Cheryl Dunye, Alok Vaid-Menon, Rosie O'Donnell, Fawzia Mirza, Clea DuVall, Natasha Lyonne. FOURTH ROW: Russell Tovey, Murray Bartlett, Daniel Franzese, Frankie J. Alvarez, Jonathan Groff.
MISSED CONNECTIONS STEM GIRL
Pant suit, red hair – MISSION DOLORES PARK You looked like you were investigating something??? idk I tried to eavesdrop. You seem like a skeptic (my type).
FILTHY DADDY
Mature, pencil mustache – THE CASTRO THEATRE People were taking pictures and asking questions. I don’t know a lot about movies, but you're hot and I love a man in power…
HUNCHED & HAUNTED
Ghostly gay – TWIN PEAKS TAVERN Your mouth was agape the whole time, but so was mine. Really into your top hat, and the whole vibe, honestly.
HAIRY SITUATION
Seeking Producer/HMUA – SF BAY AREA I need a line producer for my short film who can braid a banging fishtail.
CHANI SAYS: IT'S TIME TO REFLECT Gemini season is coming to a close, but it isn’t over yet. The past few weeks have spotlighted your communication style and playful side. Now it’s time to cut through the chatter and focus on your key lessons from the month. HERE'S YOUR SIGN AND RISING HOROSCOPE FOR JUNE 20, 2026:
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 19 What could you yap about all night long? The topics you can’t get enough of reveal clues about you. Make a list of what excites you most. No story, comment thread, or bit of trivia is too weird or too random. Go down all the rabbit holes that call to you. Following your interests can stretch your creativity in surprising ways. You never know where those open tabs might lead you.
LEO
JUL 23 - AUG 22 Give your social butterfly wings a day off. There’s nothing wrong with having a full calendar. But right now, it’s easy to stretch yourself too thin. You don’t have to be available to your circle 24/7. Taking occasional time-outs from your gatherings and group chats can help you avoid burnout. And scheduling some solo downtime gives your nervous system a chance to reboot.
SAGGITARIUS NOV 22 - DEC 21
What keeps your relationships exciting? Staying curious. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve known your besties, loved ones, or business partners. If your conversations are getting stale, come up with some new questions to ask each other. Even the people closest to you have secrets and surprises to share. You just have to find the magic words to coax them out.
TAURUS
APR 20 - MAY 20 Your curiosity is your key to success. Today, brainstorm wildly about new ways to work with your money or other resources. Come up with a list of as many financial plans, business opportunities, or potential income streams as possible. Throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. No, you don’t need to act on every silly scheme. But it helps to remind yourself how imaginative you can be.
VIRGO
AUG 23 - SEP 22 You’ve got news to share, and the world is waiting for it. Today, make a list of every big topic on your mind. Keep it casual. Keep it cute. No one’s testing you on this. Then brainstorm ways to contribute more of your expertise in your career or leadership roles. The less pressure you put on yourself, the easier it’ll be to spread the word about what you have to offer.
CAPRICORN DEC 22 - JAN 19
Yes, you’re allowed to take a breath. And no, you don’t need to listen to every single influencer and so-called expert telling you how to calm down. When life gets busy, it’s easy to scatter your attention and energy. But sometimes less input is more. You can learn new ways to improve your daily routines without drowning in unhelpful noise. Take notes from the friends, mentors, and role models you actually trust.
GEMINI
CANCER
MAY 21 - JUNE 20 You were born to be clever. That’s one of your greatest strengths, but sometimes it can throw you off. When your mind is in overdrive, it’s harder to listen to your body. Rushing to answer all your emails, achieve all your goals, and act on all your brilliant ideas? Pause and take a deep breath. Your thoughts get sharper when you slow down. And taking time to recharge will make it easier to follow through.
JUN 21 - JUL 22 You can change the stories you tell yourself. Pinpoint one message your mind plays on loop, and ask whether it really makes sense. When your inner critic’s voice gets louder, it’s not necessarily telling you the truth. If self-doubt or overthinking is limiting your creativity, meet these blocks head-on. But there’s no rush to move past them. Talking to yourself more gently and patiently can get you unstuck.
LIBRA
SCORPIO
SEP 23- OCT 22 Your future is calling. Pick up, babe — it wants to have a word with you. What long-term goals are you working on bringing to life right now? Cast a wide net. Don’t limit yourself. All the subjects you want to study, books you want to read, and places you want to explore deserve your attention. Dream a little bigger about the many different paths you can take.
OCT 23 - NOV 21 Don’t settle for less than you deserve. Ask for what you want, and be honest about what you can give in return. Whether you’re sharing time, money, emotional support, or creative ideas with other people, be upfront. And don’t limit your options by making up stories about what is or isn’t possible. How will you know unless you try? Spell out what you need. Clarity is your best negotiation strategy.
AQUARIUS
PISCES
JAN 20 - FEB 18 Forget picking a lane. Let yourself be multi-passionate. Hype up all the films, books, or songs that are exciting you right now, and try out all the creative projects or fun hobbies that call to you. If you can’t decide between two equally intriguing options, do both. It’s a myth that you have to limit yourself to do your best work. Staying open to variety makes things more interesting for everyone.
FEB 19 - MAR 20 You have a vivid imagination. Don’t try to tone it down — let your expressive side come out to play. What are the stories you’re aching to tell? Who are the characters living rent-free in your mind? Your acts of creativity don’t need a big audience, though. They can just be for you. Finding any outlet for your ideas can help you come home to yourself.
WANT YOUR OWN PERSONAL POCKET ASTROLOGER?
Frameline guests get a free, 30-day, all-access pass to CHANI — the #1 astrology app for manifestation, self-discovery, mindfulness, and healing. Download the app and use code FRAMELINE30 to explore your birth chart, unlock hyper-accurate transit forecasts, and tap into your purpose. CHANI is a queer, feminist-led team on a mission to support everyone in living their purpose through the #1 astrology app for manifestation, self-discovery, mindfulness, and healing.
Illustration by: FINNIGAN BARRETT
TRANS NEW WEIRD
TRANS NEW WEIRD
TUE JUN 23, 2026
(/tranz/ /noo/ /wird/)
BY GABI GROSSMAN
Like their New Queer Cinema forebears, filmmakers in the Trans New Weird do not share a specific aesthetic mode, but they embrace formal and structural playfulness that often defies conventional production models to evoke questions of embodiment, ownership, subjectivity, and dissociation. In doing so, they’re rewilding trans cinema. “If this is your path, as it is mine, let me offer whatever solace you may find in this monstrous benediction: May you discover the enlivening power of darkness within yourself. May it nourish your rage. May your rage inform your actions, and your actions transform you as you struggle to transform your world.“ – Susan Stryker, My Words to Victor Frankenstein Above the Village of Chamounix: Performing Transgender Rage
In the early 1990s, a new lineage of filmmakers emerged on the film festival circuit, altering the trajectory of independent film and the very question of queer cinematic representation. Dubbed “The New Queer Cinema” by critic B. Ruby Rich, it was a movement shaped by the first decade of the AIDS epidemic; the right-ward shift of political power embodied by the governments of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Margaret Thatcher; and the further democratization of film and video technology with the advent of the camcorder. Rich observed that its films “don’t share a single aesthetic vocabulary, strategy, or concern. Nonetheless they are united by a common style: call it ‘Homo Pomo.’ In all of them, there are traces of appropriation,
pastiche, and irony, as well as a reworking of history with social constructionism very much in mind. Definitively breaking with older humanist approaches and the films and tapes that accompanied identity politics, these works are irreverent, energetic, alternately minimalist, and excessive. Above all, they’re full of pleasure.”1 The parallels to the contemporary moment are striking, but there is one crucial difference: the social acceptance of queer and trans people and their stories — provided their stories follow a familiar style. Since the landmark ruling of Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015, which codified the constitutional right of same-sex couples to marry, much of the last decade of popular culture has been marked by a shift in focus to the trans community that gestures toward inclusion. Hollywood welcomed trans people in from the cold of the street corner or the cemetery, and the work that followed focused largely on cultivating empathy for the trans character in a form that would be recognizable to a mainstream audience. But alongside this new representation rose an internationally ascendant right-wing that defined itself in opposition to trans people, just as it did against gays and lesbians in the 1980s and ‘90s. In the last few years — in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, shifting political winds, industry consolidation, and historic labor disputes — Hollywood’s openness toward trans films has largely stalled out. Faced with this political and artistic reality, trans filmmakers are given an impossible choice: to seek conventional financing and audience support by conforming to positive representation — and
all the narrative responsibilities that it entails — or to confront the fraught reality of trans life in the 2020s, when news reports of rights being rescinded or healthcare being discontinued are always one refresh away? These are not only questions of production, of course, but they are also questions of audience: Just who is a trans film for? Rather than force themselves to decide, a new generation of trans filmmakers is embracing the playfulness and rebelliousness of their forebears of New Queer Cinema. The filmmakers of the Trans New Weird do not share a specific aesthetic mode, either, but they do share focuses. They redefine the relationship between the viewing subject and the film through an embrace of playful recontextualization of visual forms, a reimagination of concepts of autonomy and subjectivity, and the sensual exploration of embodiment and dissociation. They defy conventions of genre, convention, and good-taste, and wear society’s label of their monstrosity as a badge of pride. And, together, they are rewilding trans narratives, and building a community of filmmakers and filmgoers that is all their own. 1
B. Ruby Rich, “New Queer Cinema: Director’s Cut,” in New Queer Cinema: The Director’s Cut. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, p. 18.
FILMS WHY WEIRD?
We are living in a time that increasingly polices what is "normal". As the legal boundaries of gender deviation narrow (aesthetically or biologically), what if we resist the urge to justify ourselves and claw our way back to “normal"?
What if we embrace the weird? These films and filmmakers take the negative space transness is relegated to and shape it into something truer. Uglier. Realer. Prettier. Rawer. Fuller. Campier. Slimier. Sexier. Sadder. Freer. Weirder.
CASTRATION MOVIE CHAPTER III. JUNIOR GHOSTS— PREMORPHIC DRIFT
OUR EFFED UP WORLD Alice Maio Mackay
FRI JUN 19 8:45 PM CASTRO
Louise Weard
A TALE OF TWO DOGS: A HENRY HANSON DOUBLE FEATURE
STILL BLACK: A PORTRAIT OF BLACK TRANSMEN
SAT JUN 20 5:30 PM NEW PARKWAY
FRI JUN 19 2:45 PM NEW PARKWAY
FEATURING: DOG MOVIE & PUPPYGIRL
SAT JUN 20 8:15 PM NEW PARKWAY
CAMP
DREAMBOI
AT THE PLACE OF GHOSTS
MON JUN 22 7:30 PM ROXIE
TUE JUN 23 7:15 PM ROXIE
SAT JUN 20 8:30 PM ROXIE
Avalon Fast
Rodina Singh
Kortney Ryan Ziegler
TEENAGE SEX AND DEATH AT CAMP MIASMA
Bretten Hannam
Jane Schoenbrun
SAT JUN 27 8:15 PM CASTRO
SHORTS
ARTIFICE
THE BEACH BOYS
CHOKED
MON JUN 22 8:30 PM NP
MON JUN 22 8:30 PM NP
MON JUN 22 8:30 PM NP
Theo Rose
Milo Talwani
Travis Alabanza
IF YOU KNOW YOU KNOW
MY STRUCTURALIST FILM
MON JUN 22 8:30 PM NP
MON JUN 22 8:30 PM NP
Bonita Rajpurohit
Angelo Madsen
SMOOTH
Sepi Mashiahof
MON JUN 22 8:30 PM NP
CHANI SAYS: GO EASY ON YOURSELF Mars (the planet of action and aggression) is plodding through slow, steady, stubborn Taurus. Where in your life are you learning to ground yourself and be patient with your progress? HERE'S YOUR SIGN AND RISING HOROSCOPE FOR JUNE 23, 2026:
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 19 Make some smart moves with your money. But resist the urge to rush or get competitive. Instead, give yourself permission to slow down before acting on your financial plans or business schemes. When you ditch the need for insta-results, you can figure out wiser ways to channel your energy. There’s more than enough abundance to go around, so take your time.
LEO
JUL 23 - AUG 22 Slowing down doesn’t make you less ambitious — it makes you smart. Whatever big projects you’ve been dreaming up, don’t rush to get them off the ground. When you feel pressured to pick up the pace, do a quick body scan and ask yourself what’s most important to you at this moment. Is that email actually an emergency, or can it wait a second? If you want your work to make a lasting impact, patience is key.
SAGGITARIUS NOV 22 - DEC 21
Your routines don’t have to be glamorous — but they should improve your quality of life. Forget about what the wellness influencers are doing, and consult your own body. What would boost your energy? What would put you at ease? Where could you slow down and take some pressure off yourself? Trust your instincts for the choices that support your wellbeing.
TAURUS
APR 20 - MAY 20 You’re the MVP of your life, so act like it. Today, pinpoint one personal goal that fires you up. Then follow through. But don’t overcomplicate things. Keep it simple, and just get going. If you feel stuck, listening to your body can help you get out of a rut and back on track. Even taking a few deep breaths can do wonders for your progress.
VIRGO
AUG 23 - SEP 22 No one magically starts living their best life overnight. When you accept your timeline for what it is, things tend to flow more smoothly. Today, be honest about where you’re moving slowly or getting stuck in your long-term projects. Sure, you may not have your book drafted, your trip planned, or all your future goals mapped out (yet). But you’ll make a lot more progress in the long run if you pace yourself.
CAPRICORN DEC 22 - JAN 19
What are you most excited to create right now? If a project’s been calling your name or a bright idea’s been inspiring you, go all in. Don’t get caught up in overthinking. You don’t need a flawless plan before you start. Instead, trust your gut hunches to guide you exactly where you’re meant to go. If any doubts or insecurities try to slow you down, show your inner critic who’s boss and just keep moving.
GEMINI
CANCER
MAY 21 - JUNE 20 What’s been secretly pissing you off lately? Write it down. Make a list of whatever or whoever is getting on your last nerve, and don’t censor yourself. Your frustrations aren’t distractions; they’re helpful messengers. So pay more attention to your anger. It’s showing you what really matters to you — and how you can protect it by reinforcing a boundary or two.
JUN 21 - JUL 22 Your community helps you stay grounded. They keep you centered. They rekindle your creativity. And they remind you of what’s worth fighting for. Today, identify one group project or social movement that gets you fired up. Then do something practical to support the cause. Overthinking will only hold you back, so stay focused. Just take one action that makes a tangible difference, no matter how small.
LIBRA
SCORPIO
SEP 23- OCT 22 Do you want to be happy, or do you want to be right? You can’t always have it both ways, so check yourself when you get defensive in your collaborations or negotiations. You don’t have to sacrifice your needs just to please someone else, but you also don’t have to dig in your heels just to prove your point. For best results, pick your battles wisely, and figure out where you can find a middle ground.
OCT 23 - NOV 21 Hello, stubbornness, your old friend. Today, notice when you tend to shut down or put a wall up in your closest relationships. It’s not easy to be real about your role in a conflict, especially with your besties or loved ones. But if you realize you’re being cranky for no good reason, owning up to it can be a big relief. There’s no shame in admitting you actually just need a snack, a nap, or a little space.
AQUARIUS
PISCES
JAN 20 - FEB 18 You’re allowed to enjoy what feels cozy and familiar — but if you’re not careful, it can become a trap. What’s keeping you stuck in your comfort zone? What are you afraid will happen if you mix things up? Make a list of the habits that are holding you back. If they don’t make sense for you anymore, don’t get sentimental. Letting go of your old ways and trying something new can be healing.
FEB 19 - MAR 20 There’s no perfect time to get the word out. So why not begin now? Start acting on your ideas for the books, articles, podcasts, or films you want to share with the world — or even just draft that email you’ve been meaning to send. If you’re dealing with writer’s block or dancing around a difficult conversation, simplify. When the going gets tough, just focus on the next sentence.
WANT YOUR OWN PERSONAL POCKET ASTROLOGER?
Frameline guests get a free, 30-day, all-access pass to CHANI — the #1 astrology app for manifestation, self-discovery, mindfulness, and healing. Download the app and use code FRAMELINE30 to explore your birth chart, unlock hyper-accurate transit forecasts, and tap into your purpose. CHANI is a queer, feminist-led team on a mission to support everyone in living their purpose through the #1 astrology app for manifestation, self-discovery, mindfulness, and healing.
IIllustration by: SETH BOGART
50 F*CKING YEARS
FRI JUN 26, 2026
LAVENDER IMAGES & POETIC LANDSCAPES MY 30 YEARS IN THE QUEER FILM ECOSYSTEM BY JENNI OLSON Excerpted from Olson’s chapter in the Oxford Handbook of Queer Cinema.
were primarily run by white programmers) to be more thoughtful in their programming of QPOC work. This discussion and pressure had certainly been evolving since the mid-1980s, spurred on by a long list of pioneering QPOC makers, including Arthur Dong, Richard Fung, Isaac Julien, Michelle Parkerson, Pratibha Parmar, Marlon Riggs, and so many others. In an essay in the 1991 Amsterdam Gay and Lesbian Film Festival catalog, British South Asian lesbian filmmaker Pratibha Parmar (who had been making work since the early ‘80s) offered a perfect rallying cry for this evolving zeitgeist:
In June of 1989 I finally got to attend the San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival to actually see the films I wanted to program in Minneapolis [for my Lavender Images Lesbian & Gay Film Series]. With my annual trips to San Francisco in 1989, 1990, and 1991, I felt myself becoming part of a much larger community, a whole world of LGBT filmmakers and film professionals — colleagues and friends. The organization that presented the festival, Frameline, also had various other programmatic activities, including Frameline Distribution and the Frameline Completion Fund — both of which are still going strong today.
“I do not speak from a position of marginalization but more crucially from the resistance to that marginalization.”
THE LESBIAN RIOT
Speaking out about the history of overt and subtle racism that characterized the LGBT film festival circuit to-date, these filmmakers called for an end to the marginalizing and segregation of QPOC works (which at the time often tended to be lumped into a single QPOC shorts program rather than being integrated across the full breadth of festival programming). These POC shorts programs also tended to be slotted into smaller or less prestigious venues. During my tenure in 1993, San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival guest curator Aarin Burch finally broke this pattern and presented the first program of shorts by lesbians of color at the 1400-seat Castro Theatre, rather than at the 230-seat Roxie Cinema venue (in addition to Burch, Festival director Mark Finch deserves credit for this as well, the Castro venue selection arose out of his leadership). In addition to being presented in that Sistah Action! shorts program, all of the shorts were also included in my other lesbian shorts programs across the rest of the festival’s programming. Sistah Action! was followed by a panel discussion — called Sistah Said What? — with several of the filmmakers who had work in the 1993 Festival, including Dawn Suggs, Azian Nurudin, and Yvonne Welbon as well as Frameline Distribution manager Desi del Valle and that year’s Frameline Award recipient, Pratibha Parmar, and moderated by filmmaker Shari Frilot. Finding the way forward to creating LGBT film festivals with authentic intersectional commitments to serving diverse audiences has been a patchy process across the years. Hiring programmers and staff who are women, people of color, youth, disabled, and trans is, of course, a great start. Building an organization that all individuals and communities truly feel connected to is an even greater challenge.
It’s worth mentioning here that the history of LGBT community institutions — organizations, publications, etc. — has often been characterized by the dominance of white cis gay men’s perspectives and concerns while issues of more relevance to LBT and POC folks tend to fall to the margins (there is no shortage of other under-represented perspectives including: people with disabilities, individuals of nonChristian faiths, the working class, older people, etc.). Righteous allies notwithstanding, the aspiration to true intersectionality remains an ongoing tension in LGBT movements and presumably always will. One of the watershed moments that prompted a meaningful new awareness and corresponding power shift in the larger LGBT film festival landscape was the “lesbian riot” that shook the San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival in 1986. Legend has it that women in attendance for a lesbian shorts program stormed the projection booth at the Roxie Theater because they were so upset over the program’s inclusion of a film called Ten Cents a Dance, by Canadian lesbian filmmaker Midi Onodera. Onodera’s short depicts three split-screen short scenes of sexualized encounters: two lesbians on a dinner date, two gay men having sex in a public bathroom, and a heterosexual phone sex encounter. The scene with the gay men proved a flashpoint last straw for women who were fed up with there not being enough good programming for lesbians in the Festival. The outbreak prompted a soul-searching on behalf of the organization, and Frameline’s Board of Directors instituted a series of new policies including the creation of the Completion Fund (with the understanding that it would primarily help support the completion of films by and about women and people of color) and a mandate for 50% women’s programming in the Festival (a benchmark ideal that seems to have faded into memory). The organization began hiring more women for the staff, and in 1991 created a women’s guest curator position (Dutch programmer Annette Forster filled the role in 1991, and I was hired the following year).
TRANSITIONS & TRAGEDY
THE NEW QUEER CINEMA
B. Ruby Rich’s catchy appellation was meant to sum up a certain kind of energy and ethos that she identified in a handful of gay films that had premiered in September 1991 and January 1992 at the Toronto International and Sundance Film Festivals, respectively. First in the pages of the Village Voice (“A Queer Sensation,” March 24, 1992), Rich explained that “the new queer films and videos aren’t all the same and don’t share a single aesthetic vocabulary, strategy, or concern. Nonetheless, they are united by a common style; call it ‘Homo Pomo.’ In all of them, there are traces of appropriation, pastiche, and irony, as well as a reworking of history with social constructionism very much in mind.” At the San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, we were overjoyed to have such a sexy and cool hook for our 1992 Festival. At that point, Mark Finch and I were co-curating the Festival and we showcased the trio of popular NQC hits that had played at Sundance that previous January. Hosting the casts and directors of Swoon (1992), The Living End (1992), and The Hours and Times (1991) that June, we experienced a palpable sense of mainstream interest from the straight Bay Area media, who gave the Festival more coverage than ever before. And, yes, for the most part the phenomenon was mainly about gay
men. It wasn’t until 1994 that the mainstream decided to give a shit about lesbian cinema — when Go Fish premiered at Sundance. That was the “New Queer Cinema” turning point for lesbian film and the beginning of at least a small wave of lesbian releases that may or may not have actually met the definition of Ruby’s term as she originally meant it. Films like The Watermelon Woman (1996), All Over Me (1997), and High Art (1998). Go Fish (1994) was a Frameline Completion Fund recipient, which means we can trace a line directly back to the lesbian riot and express our gratitude to those unhappy women at the Roxie. It was a tremendous victory when Go Fish was presented at the Castro Theatre as our opening night film for the 1994 Festival.
THE RESISTANCE & THE MARGINS: THE NEW QPOC CINEMA
One of the aspects of this era that never gets as much attetion as the New Queer Cinema is the emergence of more and more work by queer filmmakers of color, as well as a simultaneous concerted community effort by makers of color to get LGBT film festivals (which at the time
My tenure at Frameline was brief but formative — my position there evolved from guest curator in 1992 to Festival co-director in 1993 and 1994. I announced my departure from co-programming the Festival, and Frameline agreed to let me stay on as director of the new Archive and Resource Center. I planned to fulfill various archival and resource-y duties while simultaneously completing my database of all eighteen years of films shown in the Festival and crafting it into a book, The Ultimate Guide to Lesbian & Gay Film and Video (which was published by Serpent’s Tail in 1995). Having just hired Jennifer Junkyard Morris as the new Festival codirector, Frameline and the entire LGBT film community was stunned and devastated by Mark Finch’s suicide on January 14, 1995. Mark had spent the morning in the Frameline office — coordinating the Festival screening committee, and composing an agonizing array of suicide notes. That afternoon, he took a cab to the Golden Gate Bridge, left his briefcase on the sidewalk at mid-span, and climbed over the bridge’s four and a half foot railing where he fell to his death below. During our three glorious years at the helm of the oldest and largest LGBT film festival on the planet Mark was colleague, friend, mentor, neighbor, copyeditor/co-writer, and… my fictional twin sister, Bree — short for Sabrina, his favorite Charlie’s Angel (really he just adored Kate Jackson). And I was his twin brother Jim — short for Jimbo Stark, James Dean’s character in Rebel Without a Cause. With his loving, effusive support of everything I did in my work and my personal life, he made it feel like he was also my biggest fan. All these years later, Mark’s suicide is still incomprehensible to me.
FILMS
.99 CENT QUEER VIDEO FEST SAT JUN 20 5:00 PM HUB
FRAMELINE FROM THE BEGINNING: IT’S ALL COMING BACK TO ME NOW WED JUN 17 5:00 PM CASTRO
NINETIES & ZEROS FUCKS: SEXY FRAMELINE SHORTS OF THE ‘90S & 2000S
OBJECTIONABLE CONTENT: BANNED RETRO SHORTS THU JUN 18 5:30 PM ROXIE
SUN JUN 21 6:00 PM ROXIE
CHANI SAYS: COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS For the past year, Jupiter (the planet of growth and good fortune) has been in Cancer, dishing out gifts. As we wrap up the last few days of this transit before Jupiter shifts signs, ask yourself: Where in your life have you been extra blessed? And where could you extend more compassion for yourself or others? HERE'S YOUR SIGN AND RISING HOROSCOPE FOR JUNE 26, 2026:
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 19 Celebrate your roots. Over the past year, you’ve been getting an abundance of support from your home and chosen family. Today, pay attention to the strong foundations — both literal and figurative — that help you feel safe and secure as you move through the world. Discover what shifts when you remind yourself of everyone and everything that uplifts you.
LEO
JUL 23 - AUG 22 You’ve got plenty of wisdom to spare. But to tap into it, you have to hold still and pay attention. Over the past year, you’ve learned and grown the most when you’ve claimed some solo time to rest, reflect, and heal. Today, take a moment to connect with yourself, and notice what clicks into place. Remember: Not all insights are loud or flashy. Sometimes the best ones arrive quietly.
SAGGITARIUS NOV 22 - DEC 21
You’ve got more support than you realize. When life gets tough, it can be hard to remember how much help is available to you, but it’s never out of reach. What’s given you strength over the past year? Whose shoulders have you cried on? What gifts of time, energy, or money have you received? Asking for what you need doesn’t make you weak — it makes you more resilient.
TAURUS
APR 20 - MAY 20 Your vulnerability makes you magnetic. Over the past year, you’ve been healing the wounds that block you from speaking your mind and sharing your message with a wider audience. Notice where you’re still holding back your thoughts. Challenge yourself to be more open in your writing, chatting, and teaching. The world needs your raw, unfiltered emotions.
VIRGO
AUG 23 - SEP 22 Don’t play it cool with your friends. Over the past year, good luck has been flowing through your social circles, and you’ve been learning to show your people how much you care about them. Keep reminding yourself that you’re not alone, and go all in on the group projects and collective causes that matter to you. Discover what you can accomplish together when you release the need to be the main character.
CAPRICORN DEC 22 - JAN 19
If you want to build a lasting relationship, you have to take some risks. You could get hurt or heartbroken; you could also be blessed beyond your wildest dreams. But you’ll never find out if you keep your guard up. Today, recognize all the ways you’ve healed and grown in your close partnerships over the past year. Then find a small way to open up to your loved ones. A little vulnerability can do wonders for your bonds.
GEMINI
CANCER
MAY 21 - JUNE 20 Forget everyone else’s definition of wealth. You get to decide what makes your life richer. Over the past year, you’ve been reimagining what abundance means to you. How do you create it? What have you learned about what fills your cup? What helps you feel safe, secure, and fulfilled? Take this opportunity to count your blessings — then keep sharing your gifts as generously as possible.
JUN 21 - JUL 22 You’re glowing. Don’t try to hide it. This past year has reminded you to show off your sensitivity, which is one of your greatest superpowers. Today, give an honest answer when someone asks how you’re doing. You don’t have to hide behind a mask, censor yourself, or act tougher than you are. People are more drawn to you when you’re open and real.
LIBRA
SCORPIO
SEP 23- OCT 22 Drop the poker face. Your work makes a bigger impact when you lead with emotional honesty. Over the past year, you’ve been expanding your reach in your career and leadership roles. You’ve learned that you have to risk being vulnerable to achieve your goals and get where you want to go. Keep wearing your heart on your sleeve so your ideal audience can find you.
OCT 23 - NOV 21 You can learn a lot from your emotions — and the messy ones are often the best teachers. Over the past year, you’ve made your biggest breakthroughs when you’ve listened to your feelings. As you map out your future plans, keep following your instincts, and take plenty of field notes. It’s okay if you don’t yet know where you’re headed. You’ll grow wiser when you accept that you don’t have all the answers.
AQUARIUS
PISCES
JAN 20 - FEB 18 It’s okay to admit that you have needs. No one has unlimited energy, and no one can hustle nonstop. Over the past year, honoring your limits has been your key to success. How have you learned to accept your growth edges? How have you leveled up the ways you take care of yourself? What would improve your wellbeing? If you want support, ask for it. Life isn’t meant to be a solo project.
FEB 19 - MAR 20 Quit waiting for permission to flex your creativity and express your imagination. You’ve been overflowing with ideas for your passion projects over the past year. Today, notice where you’re still letting self-doubt or perfectionism hold you back. Prioritize what feels fun, exciting, and inspiring — even if it scares you a little, and even if you make a mess. What’s the worst that could happen? Try it and find out for yourself.
WANT YOUR OWN PERSONAL POCKET ASTROLOGER?
Frameline guests get a free, 30-day, all-access pass to CHANI — the #1 astrology app for manifestation, self-discovery, mindfulness, and healing. Download the app and use code FRAMELINE30 to explore your birth chart, unlock hyper-accurate transit forecasts, and tap into your purpose. CHANI is a queer, feminist-led team on a mission to support everyone in living their purpose through the #1 astrology app for manifestation, self-discovery, mindfulness, and healing.
THE ORIGINAL QUEER FILM FEST
JUNE 17–27, 2026
QUEERS ON SCREENS SINCE 1977
SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL LGBTQ+ FILM FESTIVAL
50 YEARS OF QUEER CINEMA ROXIE THEATER
THE CASTRO THEATRE
THE NEW PARKWAY THEATER
VOGUE THEATRE
BAMPFA
FRAMELINE DUBS SAN FRANCISCO “CINEMA CITY”
UNSOLVED MYSTERY! OUR SUPER SECRET CLOSING NIGHT
BE KIND, YOU DON’T HAVE TO REWIND — BECAUSE WE DID
"Lady Champagne," "Hunky Jesus" & "Barbara Forever" Hammer the Point Home
The Truth Is Indeed Out There... There Is Still Time to Find Out!
"Bound," "Cruising," "Desert Hearts," "Caravaggio" & More
San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival June 17–27, 2026
COOKING OR CRASHING OUT? DISCOVER HER SECRET
TWINK BAN LIFTED" QUEER CLASSIC SCREENS AGAIN
BUYER BEWARE" GAY EXORCISMS RECALLED!
O!cial Festival Sponsors
FIND GAY MOVIES AND BUY TICKETS
MADDIE'S SECRET
FRAMELINE.ORG
P.4
MACHO DANCER
P.4
WE TEXTED OUR MOM & ASKED WHAT TIME WE WERE BORN P.7
LEVITICUS
P.4
DIVE INTO THE ARCHIVES WITH US P.7