FRAMELINE48 celebrates queer creators, past and present, among other festival highlights

By Oliver Carnay

Director Alessandra Lacorazza‘s debut feature, In the Summers (screening on 6/20 at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre) was awarded Frameline’s Completion Fund Grant and went to premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize (U.S. Dramatic). Thirty years ago, director/writer Rose Troche and writer Guinever Turner’s lesbian classic Go Fish (6/20 at the Palace of Fine Arts) also earned Frameline’s Completion Fund Grant and went on to have a history-making turn at Sundance. In a full-circle moment, In the Summers and Go Fish will both screen at Frameline48, with the latter having been restored in 4K, in part by Frameline, for its 30th anniversary.

There will be over 120 screenings at Frameline48. Among other highlights include the “Queer Premiere” of writer-director Anthony Schatteman‘s coming-of-age feature length debut Young Hearts (6/21 at the Palace of Fine Arts), which will be followed by Framline48’s First Friday Gala, hosted at Terra Gallery.

On June 29, the festival will also feature A Conversation with Lena Waithe (at the Herbst Theatre), the Emmy Award-winning and Tony-nominated writer, producer, and actor behind hit series and films like The Chi, Twenties, and Them. Moderated by Variety Senior Artisans Editor Jazz Tancay, the conversation with Waithe will also include the presentation of the Variety Creative Conscience Award, which honors an individual in the entertainment world who personifies the industry’s dedication to humanitarian, cultural, and charitable causes.

Lady Like (6/26 at the Vogue Theatre), features local talent Lady Camden, the San Francisco-based British drag queen who appeared on RuPaul’s Drag Race as well as various web series, including Give It to Me Straight. Frameline48 will also continue the Festival’s tradition of starting off Pride Weekend in style with a Pride Kickoff Party, hosted by Oasis. In conjunction with the screening of Don Hardy‘s Linda Perry: Let It Die Here (6/28 at the Herbst), legendary singer, songwriter, and producer Linda Perry will perform at Frameline48’s Pride Kickoff Party. In many ways, this is a homecoming performance for Perry, who wrote the classic 4 Non-Blondes song “What’s Up?” in San Francisco.

Frameline48 showcases a dynamic collection of LGBTQ+ films and hosts ground-breaking queer artists, placing an emphasis on the transformative power of art. “Film festivals are often seen as being by and for tastemakers in our industry, but Frameline deepens that perception by being by and for change-makers,” Allegra Madsen, Frameline’s Executive Director, said. “Queer and trans artists don’t just influence culture, they create it. Frameline48 celebrates and platforms that tireless innovation and spirit by bringing filmmakers and works from all over the world together in the Bay Area — a place that’s historically been on the pulse of propelling queer art forward, “ she continued.

Log on to https://www.frameline.org/ and purchase the “Palace Pass,” for $200, which grants holders access to all public screenings at the Palace of Fine Arts Theater and Herbst Theatre, and all other details, trailers of films screening in-person and streaming online.

Frameline48 is presented by returning Premier Sponsors Gilead and Bank of America, Premiere Hotel Sponsor Hilton San Francisco Union Square and Parc 55 Hotel, and new Premiere Transportation Sponsor Waymo. Frameline48’s “Intersections” theme was designed by San Francisco-based Premier Creative Sponsor, PACT Studio.