The 42nd edition of the San Francisco International LGBTQ Film Festival (also called Frameline) is kicking off in less than a month, and 52 percent of the the narratives, documentaries, episodics, and short films screening this year are directed by women. “In a year in which the media community continues to wrestle with the necessary changes demanded by the #MeToo and #TimesUp groundswells, Frameline continues its historic mission to shine a light on the special challenges and opportunities facing queer women filmmakers,” a press release from the fest emphasizes.
By our count, 36 of 73 features in the program are women-directed or co-directed, amounting to 49 percent of the slate.
Among the titles screening are SXSW winner “TransMilitary,” a doc about four transgender troops co-directed by Fiona Dawson, Desiree Akhavan’s Sundance winner “The Miseducation of Cameron Post,” a coming-of-age story about a teen who gets sent to gay conversion camp, and “Yours in Sisterhood,” Irene Lusztig’s doc that sees women from around the U.S. reading letters sent to Ms. magazine 40 years ago.
Frameline runs from June 14-24. See below for all of the women-helmed and co-helmed features with synopses, courtesy of Frameline. Head over to the fest’s website to check out the complete program.
TRANSMILITARY
● Directed by Fiona Dawson & Gabriel Silverman
● The U.S. military is the nation’s largest employer of transgender people. But
now, the careers of some 15,000 transgender military personnel are in peril. This
captivating documentary—fresh off its premiere at the SXSW Film Festival
where it won the Audience Award—tells the inspiring stories of four transgender
troops who are the visible front lines of America’s fight for LGBTQ rights.
Supported by the Frameline Completion Fund , TRANSMILITARY is also the first
feature film to receive funding from GLAAD Media Institute .
WILD NIGHTS WITH EMILY
● Directed by Madeleine Olnek
● With sly wit, Molly Shannon embodies poet Emily Dickinson as a driven writer, a
target of obsessive envy, an ardent lover, and a woman who suffered no fools.
This delightful account of creative passion and longing tells only the truth but
tells it with an ingeniously subversive slant.
AND BREATHE NORMALLY
● Directed by Ísold Uggadóttir
● Lara is a struggling single mom whose life unexpectedly collides with that of a
female refugee in this intensely moving drama from Iceland. As the two women
find themselves falling outside society’s safety nets, they turn to one another to
find a way out of their predicaments. Winner of the Best Director – World
Cinema prize at Sundance.
IT’S ELEMENTARY: TALKING ABOUT GAY ISSUES IN SCHOOL
● Directed by Debra Chasnoff
● IT’S ELEMENTARY (1996), by Academy Award-winning director Debra Chasnoff
(winner of this year’s Frameline Award), is a profoundly heartwarming and
straightforward look at six elementary and middle schools (including San
Francisco’s Luther Burbank Middle School) that dared to include discussions on
LGBTQ issues in their curriculum at a time when that was a revolutionary act.
Preceded by an excerpt from PROGNOSIS, the film Chasnoff was working on
up until her death last November.
SNAPSHOTS
● Directed by Melanie Mayron
● In parallel stories unfolding in the present and in the late 1950s and early ’60s,
Rose hosts her squabbling daughter and granddaughter while secretly
remembering the love affair she had with her best friend, Louise, when both
were young married women.
LEZ BOMB
● Directed by Jenna Laurenzo
● In this heartfelt, star-studded comedy of misunderstandings, Lauren is serious
about her relationship with her girlfriend, but her plan to come out to her parents
and extended family at their Thanksgiving gathering is complicated by the
unexpected arrival of her male roommate.
THE LAST GOLDFISH
● Directed by Su Goldfish
● When queer Australian filmmaker Su Goldfish was a young woman, she
discovered that her enigmatic but charming father had just barely escaped the
Holocaust as a refugee. This revelation sets her on a decades-long mission to
uncover his story—and her own identity. Her journey is powerfully relayed in this
deeply affecting doc.
L’ANIMALE
● Directed by Katharina Mückstein
● When happenstance brings together thirtysomething Nina; her husband, Wojtek;
and Magda, a young, out lesbian, what begins as a search for a pregnancy
surrogate becomes an increasingly fraught tangle of desire, infidelity, and
self-discovery.
HIGH FANTASY
● Directed by Jenna Cato Bass
● Captured by four friends with smartphones, a camping trip deep in the South
African wilderness takes a sharp turn toward the weird when they wake to
discover they have switched bodies with one another, in this high-energy riff on
sexuality, gender, and race.
QUIET HEROES
● Directed by Jenny Mackenzie , Jared Ruga , & Amanda Stoddard
● While many documentaries about the AIDS crisis have focused on major cities,
Quiet Heroes turns a lens on a less obvious location: Salt Lake City. It’s an
inspiring story about a heroic doctor, Dr. Kristen Ries, and how she made a
huge difference in a community.
FISH BONES
● Directed by Joanne Mony Park
● In New York City, college student and part-time model Hana falls for music
producer Nico while on winter break. Despite their attraction, cultural and social
differences threaten to drive them apart, in this impressionistic and evocative
film.
CHEDENG & APPLE
● Directed by Rae Red & Fatrick Tabada
● In their sixties, longtime female friends take to the provinces, one to search for a
lost lesbian love and the other to escape arrest for the murder of her abusive
partner, whose head she carries in a Louis Vuitton bag. Veteran Filipina beauty
queen/actresses reunite for this gross-out—yet endearing—black road comedy.
● THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST (dir. Desiree Akhavan ) — Desiree
Akhavan’s exquisite follow-up to Appropriate Behavior follows a teenage orphan
( Chloë Grace Moretz ) whose guardians send her off to a Christian “gay
conversion” camp after she’s caught with her girlfriend after a school dance.
● NIGHT COMES ON (dir. Jordana Spiro ) — NIGHT COMES ON is a raw and
lyrical coming-of-age tale about a resourceful 18-year-old trying to find her
sister, get a gun, and take down her murderous father.
● MALILA: THE FAREWELL FLOWER (dir. Anucha Boonyawatana ) — A lyrical
meditation on love, loss, and the fragility of life, this new film from visionary
director Anucha Boonyawatana is also the story of a passionate romance and a
visually sumptuous exploration of Buddhist philosophy.
● BIXA TRAVESTY (dir. Kiko Goifman & Claudia Priscilla ) — This documentary is
a captivating, revealing view into the life and political artistry of Linn da
Quebrada, a transgender Brazilian singer and performance artist whose daring,
powerful style matches her equally daring social message of resistance and
inclusion.
● CLOSE-KNIT (dir. Naoko Ogigami ) — When 11-year-old Tomo’s mother
abandons her, she seeks refuge with her uncle and his new girlfriend, a
transwoman with a strong maternal instinct. In this poignant and affirming story,
the three characters must weave themselves into a family, despite forces that
strive to unravel them.
● REINVENTING MARVIN (dir. Anne Fontaine ) — Bullied at school, handsome
Marvin flees his boorish family for drama school in Paris, where he is nurtured by
a variety of mentors (including Isabelle Huppert!) and begins to reinvent himself,
● NARCISSISTER ORGAN PLAYER (dir. Narcissister ) — From crotch-baring TMZ
appearances with Marilyn Manson to an Absolutely Fabulous shout-out to
museum exhibitions, performance artist Narcissister is quite the provocateur.
But this fascinating documentary and performance art hybrid about her life
reveals the multifaceted artist behind the spectacle.
● SHAKEDOWN (dir. Leilah Weinraub ) — Craving their own space, a group of
black queer women start a party that dominated LA’s underground black lesbian
strip club scene for decades. This provocative, touching, and sexy film
celebrates this unique time and place.
● NOTHING TO LOSE (dir. Kelli Jean Drinkwater ) — A troupe of queer dancers of
size makes a big splash at Sydney Festival 2015 with the unexpected hit
NOTHING TO LOSE. This intimate portrait by their artistic associate follows the
performers reclaiming abundant bodies for pleasure, grandeur, and power.
● ALONE IN THE GAME (dir. Natalie Metzger & Michael Rohrbaugh ) — Despite
the recent acceptance of Olympians like Gus Kenworthy, coming out can still
have career-ending consequences for many athletes. This stirring documentary
explores the paths of trans, lesbian, and gay athletes through the often hostile
terrain of sports.
● FREELANCERS ANONYMOUS (dir. Sonia Sebastián ) — Launching an app that
matches freelancers with potential employers is an answered prayer for
desperate bride Billie. But making her startup happen means lying to both her
business partners and her fiancée, in this screwball romp that blends romantic
comedy and workplace politics.
● LEITIS IN WAITING (dir. Dean Hamer , Joe Wilson , & Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu )
— The island nation of Tonga is home to a vibrant community of transgender
women known as leitis. Activist Joey Joeleen Mataele guides us through the
challenges they face, despite support from the royal family, from anti-LGBTQ
Christian fundamentalists, in this poignant portrait of pride and poise.
● MAPPLETHORPE (dir. Ondi Timoner ) — Starring Matt Smith ( The Crown ,
Doctor Who ), this vibrant biography dramatizes the life and legacy of visionary
photographer and sexual outlaw Robert Mapplethorpe—from the early days of
his friendship with Patti Smith to his success as an artist and provocateur and
then to his ultimate struggle with AIDS.
● NINA (dir. Olga Chajdas ) — When happenstance brings together
thirtysomething Nina; her husband, Wojtek; and Magda, a young, out lesbian,
what begins as a search for a pregnancy surrogate becomes an increasingly
fraught tangle of desire, infidelity, and self-discovery.
● YOURS IN SISTERHOOD (dir. Irene Lusztig ) — The letters to Ms. magazine
were signed, “In sisterhood”—but never published. Forty years later, women
across the U.S. read them aloud and react, on camera, to their secrets, rants,
and pleas. The result is an extraordinary history of 1970s feminism:
intersectional, personal, political, and stunning.
● DYKES, CAMERA, ACTION! (dir. Caroline Berler ) — Lovers of lesbian film unite!
DYKES, CAMERA, ACTION! is a joyous trip down memory lane, featuring the
ultimate array of filmmakers and thinkers of the past 50 years as they examine
works from Go Fish to But I’m a Cheerleader .
● THE REST I MAKE UP (dir. Michelle Memran ) — This fascinating documentary
introduces viewers to award-winning Cuban playwright María Irene Fornés , an
integral member of New York’s experimental theater scene and former lover of
Susan Sontag. Even as she grapples with memory loss, Fornés radiates
inquisitive curiosity and unquenchable creativity.
● THE MARRIAGE (dir. Blerta Zeqiri ) — Charting the emotional predicament of a
Kosovan man who is engaged to marry a woman but who carries strong feelings
for a male friend from his past, THE MARRIAGE is a dynamic portrait of
romance and deception in the shadow of war.
● OF LOVE & LAW (dir. Hikaru Toda ) — With their Osaka law firm, openly gay life
partners Fumi and Kazu blaze new trails, as they promote expanded human
rights for outsiders suffering in Japan’s strictly conformist society while building
their own family. An award winner at both the Tokyo and Hong Kong
International Film Festivals.
● JUST FRIENDS (dir. Ellen Smit) — After moving back in with his parents, Yad
befriends a charming elderly woman he has started working for. When she
introduces him to her handsome grandson, sparks fly, but first they must win the
approval of their parents, in this winning romantic comedy.
● KISS ME! (dir. Océane & Cyprien Vial) — In this zany, joyous romcom,
serial-romantic Océanerosemarie falls hard for photographer Cécile, but she
keeps tripping over her ex-lovers as she pursues the woman of her dreams.
● MORONI FOR PRESIDENT (dir. Saila Huusko & Jasper Rischen) — Moroni
Benally, a young, gay, Mormon university professor, returns home to make a
quixotic run for president of Navajo Nation. Moroni’s campaign offers a rare
glimpse into Navajo politics, while his idealistic vision for radical change
challenges the status quo.
● SKATE KITCHEN (dir. Crystal Moselle) — Long Island teen Camille seems like a
fish out of water in the boys’ club macho world of skateboarding. When a fight
with her strict mother sends her to live with new friends on New York City’s
Lower East Side, she finds kin in an all-girl crew who call themselves Skate
Kitchen.
● THEY (dir. Anihita Ghazvinizade) — In the suburbs of Chicago, 14-year-old J
has been taking hormone blockers to prevent puberty. Over the course of a long
weekend with their sister and their sister’s boyfriend, J grapples with gender
identity and the possibility of transitioning, in this beguiling, thoughtful drama.
