48th San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival (Frameline48) runs June 19 through 29; First-ever Castro free outdoor block party event to open the festival followed by a screening of “Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero” documentary feature

By Oliver Carnay

The oldest and longest-running LGBTQ+ film festival in the world, the San Francisco International Film Festival (also known as the arts non-profit FRAMELINE), NOW ON ITS 48TH anniversary (Frameline48), will have its first-ever Juneteenth Film and Block Party in Castro neighborhood to kick-off the Opening Night. This FREE outdoor event, which starts at 6 p.m., will feature an evening of music, drag performances from Reparations, curated by winner of the Drag Queen of the Year Pageant, Nicki Jizz, it will be followed by a free outdoor screening of Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero at 8:00 p.m. (bring your chair and blankets!).

Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero is directed by Carlos Lopez Estrada and Zac Manuel. The film follows trailblazing rapper, singer and songwriter, Lil Nas X, as he embarks on his first ever tour – which culminates in San Francisco – after breaking Billboard records with his debut single, “Old Town Road.” Unapologetically queer and proudly Black, Lil Nas X navigates uncharted territory as a recording artist and cultural figure, offering him the freedom to build his own dreams but without the security of following anyone’s footstep.

The film spotlights the brave and controversial artist at the intersection of Blackness and queerness as he comes into his power and finds his voice – while shaping the current cultural narrative. It also introduces one of the major currents running through the Frameline48 program: celebrating queer creators and artists, past and present. This diaristic film is an intimate portrait of an artist navigating identity, family, expectations and acceptance.

Venues from the 11-day celebration of film and queerness will be in theaters across the San Francisco Bay Area, at the Roxie Theatre, the Palace of Fine Arts, the Herbst Theatre, the Vogue Theatre, and The New Parkway Theater in Oakland.

For a complete full program, how to order tickets, or get a “Palace PASS” badge (access to all public screenings at the Palace of Fine Arts Theater and the Herbst Theatre), details of the films included in the festival, and other information, please log on to www.frameline.org.

LGBTQ+ Films featured at recent Frameline48 to be released in theatres and other platforms

July 23, 2024

Docfilm “THE GRAB” is a powerful thriller about a nearly invisible conspiracy to control the world’s food and water, uncovering the money, and alarming rationale behind covert efforts to control the most vital resource on the earth, exposed and discovered by investigative journalist Nate Halverson.

June 7, 2024