Frameline has announced the awardees of the 2019 Frameline Completion Fund. Culled from 173 applications that included features and shorts in documentary, narrative, and episodic, the seven projects to receive funding include Patricia Vidal Delgado’s Sundance title “La Leyenda Negra” and Monica Zanetti’s “Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie’s Dead Aunt),” touted as Australia’s first lesbian coming-of-age rom com. According to a press release, a total of $30,000 was awarded in the 2019 Completion Fund cycle.
The world’s largest non-profit org dedicated solely to the funding, exhibition, distribution, and promotion of LGBTQ+ cinema, Frameline has awarded $570,000 to 163 film projects by and about the LGBTQ+ community since 1990.
Written by Vidal Delgado, “La Leyenda Negra,” which translates to “The Black Legend,” tells the story of a soon-to-be undocumented teenager in Compton who falls for a friend. The feature recently premiered in the NEXT program at Sundance Film Festival.
“Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie’s Dead Aunt)” centers on Ellie, a 12-year-old girl who develops feelings for a classmate. Her lesbian aunt — who died before Ellie was born — returns in the form of a fairy godmother to give her romantic advice.
Other winners include Niki Ang’s “Were You Gay in High School?,” a narrative short that sees two queer women jumping between the present-day and high school flashbacks, and Jen Rainin’s “Ahead of the Curve,” a doc about Fanco Stevens, the founding publisher of Curve Magazine.
Previous recipients of the Frameline Completion Fund include Dee Rees’ “Pariah,” Desiree Akhavan’s “Appropriate Behavior,” and Cynthia Wade’s “Freeheld.”
“This year’s grantees are a perfect mix of the challenges and joys LGBTQ+ people face today,” said Paul Struthers, Frameline’s Director of Programming.
Frameline43 San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival will take place June 20-30.
Check out all of the 2019 grantees below, courtesy of Frameline.
AHEAD OF THE CURVE
Directed by Jen Rainin | Documentary Feature | USA
AHEAD OF THE CURVE is the story of one of the most influential women in lesbian history you’ve never heard of: Franco Stevens, the founding publisher of Curve Magazine. Franco’s story unfolds through intimate interviews with magazine staff, celebrities, and cultural critics and features extraordinary footage from Franco’s personal collection and LGBTQ+ archives. Franco helped to lay the groundwork for intersectional movements being led by today’s activists in the face of accelerating threats to the LGBTQ+ community.
DISCLOSURE: TRANS LIVES ON SCREEN
Directed by Sam Feder | Documentary Feature | USA
Sam Feder (Queer Teen Romance, Frameline33) directs DISCLOSURE: TRANS LIVES ON SCREEN, an unprecedented look at the depiction of transgender people and experiences throughout the history of film and television. Over 100 years of footage is interwoven with the personal stories of celebrated trans creatives and thinkers, showing both the consequences of depicting marginalized communities without their participation, and the liberating potential of the medium when their voices are centered. Featuring interviews with Laverne Cox, Angelica Ross, Jen Richards and more.
MY MOM AND MY LITTLE SECRET
Directed by Runze Yu | Documentary Feature | USA
MY MOM AND MY LITTLE SECRET is an intimate portrait of the filmmaker—a closeted gay man—and his estranged mother, as they try to navigate the fast-changing culture of China today. As Runze puts effort into learning more about his mother, he finds that like all in China’s older generation, her number one focus is for her son to get his own apartment, marry, and have a child. As the director quotes, “If coming out is ever easy, that’s certainly not the case in China.”
ELLIE & ABBIE (& ELLIE’S DEAD AUNT)
Directed by Monica Zanetti | Narrative Feature | Australia
Australia’s first lesbian coming-of-age rom com, ELLIE & ABBIE (& ELLIE’S DEAD AUNT) tells the story of Ellie, a tenacious year 12 student and captain of her school, who has recently realized she has fallen for a girl in her class, Abbie. As the two grow closer, a parallel storyline of Tara (Ellie’s lesbian aunt who died before Ellie was born) plays out. Returning from the dead as Ellie’s “Fairy Godmother,” Tara’s romantic advice from the ‘80s has Ellie reluctant to listen.
LA LEYENDA NEGRA
Directed by Patricia Vidal Delgado | Narrative Feature | USA
LA LEYENDA NEGRA is a coming-of-age story set against a politically-charged backdrop within the South Central Hispanic community. Aleteia, a tough, intelligent activist, is new to Compton High School and has few friends. She unexpectedly befriends Rosarito, one of the more popular girls at school who is tired of being overshadowed by her clique. As the two grow closer, Aleteia’s temporary protection status becomes compromised. She resists the forces that wish to deport her from the US – which she has always called home.
BUCK
Directed by Elegance Bratton & Jovan James| Narrative Short | USA
Co-directed by Frameline alum Elegance Bratton (My House, Frameline42), BUCK is the story of Lynn, a young gay Black man in the midst of a depressive fugue who resorts to debauchery as a way to lift his mood. He soon discovers that his Blackness is the drug of choice for his lover and that there is no running away from one’s problems, only running into them.
WERE YOU GAY IN HIGH SCHOOL?
Directed by Niki Ang | Narrative Short | USA
Two queer women, Hannah and Kelly, recall their awkward, closeted high school days of kissing boys and crushing on straight girls. WERE YOU GAY IN HIGH SCHOOL? jumps between their present-day conversation and high school flashbacks, which are both cringeworthy and silly, hilarious and painful. With elements of bright, comic-like animation, we learn more about the defining moments of self-discovery in these women’s lives.
