The Frameline Film Festival (also known as San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival and formerly known as San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival; San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival) is an annual event that screens and celebrates films by and about LGBTQ people, established in 1976. The festival is organized by Frameline, a nonprofit media arts organization whose mission statement is "to change the world through the power of

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

cinema". It is the oldest LGBTQ+ film festival in the world. With annual attendance ranging from 60,000 to 80,000, it is the largest

LGBTQ+ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group i ...

film exhibition event. It is also the most well-attended LGBTQ+ arts event in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

. The festival is held every year in late June according to a schedule that allows the eleven-day event's closing night to coincide with the City's annual Gay Pride Day, which takes place on the last Sunday of the month.

History

The festival began as a storefront event in 1976. The first film festival, named the Gay Film Festival of Super-8 Films, was held in 1977. Films screened at the Frameline Film Festival have been donated to the Hormel Center at the San Francisco Public Library. An initial donation was made in 2005, and the library partnered with the Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC) for conservation of video recordings. In 2020 the festival was one of the key partners, alongside Outfest Los Angeles, the New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film Festival and the Inside Out Film and Video Festival, in launching the North American Queer Festival Alliance, an initiative to further publicize and promote LGBT film.

Awards

The festival's annual awards include the Frameline Award given to an individual who has played a key role in the history of LGBTQ+ cinema, Audience Awards for Best Feature, Best Documentary, Best Episodic, Best Short, and Juried Awards for First Feature, and Outstanding Documentary.

Frameline Award honorees

1986

Vito Russo Vito Russo (; July 11, 1946 – November 7, 1990) was an American LGBT activist, film historian, and author. He is best remembered as the author of the book '' The Celluloid Closet'' (1981, revised edition 1987), described in ''The New York Ti ...

1987 Alexandra von Grote
1988

Divine Divinity (from Latin ) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is divine—a term that, before the rise of monotheism, evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a singl ...

1989 Cinevista / Promovision
1990

Robert Epstein Robert Epstein (born June 19, 1953) is an American psychologist, professor, author, and journalist. He was awarded a Ph.D. in psychology by Harvard University in 1981, was editor-in-chief of ''Psychology Today'', and has held positions at sever ...

1991 Elfi Mikesch
1992

Marlon Riggs Marlon Troy Riggs (February 3, 1957 – April 5, 1994) was a Black gay filmmaker, educator, poet, and activist. He produced, wrote, and directed several documentary films, including '' Ethnic Notions'', '' Tongues Untied'', '' Color Adjustment'' ...

1993 Pratibha Parmar
1994 Christine Vachon
1995 Marcus Hu
1996 Peter Adair
1997 Channel Four Television
1998 Dolly Hall
1999

Stanley Kwan Stanley Kwan (traditional Chinese: 關錦鵬; simplified Chinese: 关锦鹏); born 9 October 1957) is a Hong Kong film director and producer. He first landed a job at TVB after receiving a mass communications degree at Hong Kong Baptist Colle ...

2000 Barbara Hammer
2001 The Festival’s Founders
2002 Isaac Julien
2003 Fenton Bailey & Randy Barbato
2004

Rose Troche Rose Troche (; ; born 1964) is an American film and television director, television producer, and screenwriter. Early life and education Troche was born to Puerto Rican parents and grew up on the north side of Chicago. In an interview she stated ...

2005

Gregg Araki Gregg Araki (born December 17, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is noted for his involvement with the New Queer Cinema movement. His ''Teenage Apocalypse'' film trilogy, consisting of ''Totally F***ed Up ''(1993), ''The Doom Generation ''(1995) ...

2006

François Ozon François Ozon (; born 15 November 1967) is a French film director and screenwriter. Ozon is considered one of the most important modern French filmmakers. His films are characterized by aesthetic beauty, sharp satirical humor and a free-wheeli ...

2007 Andrea Sperling
2008 Michael Lumpkin
2009 George Kuchar & Mike Kuchar
2010 Wolfe Video
2011

Margaret Cho Margaret Moran Cho (born December 5, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian, actress and musician. In her Stand-up comedy, stand-up routines she critiques social and political problems, especially about race and sexuality. She starred in the Ame ...

2012 B. Ruby Rich
2013

Jamie Babbit Jamie Merill Babbit (born November 16, 1970) is an American director, producer and screenwriter. She directed the films '' But I'm a Cheerleader'' (1999), '' The Quiet'' (2005), and '' Itty Bitty Titty Committee'' (2007). She has also directed ep ...

2014

George Takei George Takei ( ; born April20, 1937), born , is an American actor, author and activist known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the USS ''Enterprise'' in the ''Star Trek'' franchise. Takei was born to Japanese-American parents, with w ...

2015 Jeffrey Schwarz
2016 Bob Hawk
2017

Alan Cumming Alan Cumming (born 27 January 1965) is a Scottish actor, writer and presenter. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award, two Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, and an Olivier Award. He re ...

2018 Debra Chasnoff
2019 Rodney Evans

Notes

References

External links

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Frameline Program Guides

Frameline Film Festival Collection
at

Online Archive of California In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity, and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed as "on lin ...

San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
at

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

Frameline Film Festival Trailers YouTube Playlist
{{LGBT , culture=yes 1977 establishments in California Annual events in California Film festivals established in 1977 Film festivals in the San Francisco Bay Area LGBTQ film festivals in the United States LGBTQ culture in San Francisco LGBTQ events in California