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 In the context of LGBTQ culture, pride (also known as LGBTQ pride, LGBTQIA pride, LGBT pride, queer pride, gay pride, or gay and lesbian pride) is the promotion of the rights, self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of ...

, 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 The San Francisco Public Library is the public library system of the city and county of San Francisco in United States. The Main Library is located at Civic Center, at 100 Larkin Street. The library system has won several awards, such as ''Libr ...

. An initial donation was made in 2005, and the library partnered with the

Bay Area Video Coalition BAVC Media, previously known as the Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC), is a nonprofit organization that works to connect independent producers and underrepresented communities to emerging media technologies. It was founded in 1976 in San Francisc ...

(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 NewFest: The New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film Festival, put on by NewFest (legal name The New Festival, Inc.), is the largest LGBTQ film festival in the United States and one of the most comprehensive forums of national and inte ...

and the

Inside Out Film and Video Festival The Inside Out Film and Video Festival (formerly, Inside Out Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival), also known as the Inside Out LGBT or LGBTQ Film Festival, is an annual Canadian film festival, which presents a program of LGBT-related film. Th ...

, 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 Pratibha Parmar is a British writer and filmmaker. She makes feminist documentaries such as '' Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth'' (2014) and '' My Name Is Andrea'' (2022). Early life and education Parmar was born in Nairobi, Kenya, to Indian paren ...

1994

Christine Vachon Christine Vachon (; born November 21, 1962) is an American film producer active in the American independent film sector. Vachon produced Todd Haynes' first feature, ''Poison'' (1991), which was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film ...

1995 Marcus Hu
1996

Peter Adair Peter Adair (November 25, 1943 – June 27, 1996) was a filmmaker and artist, best known for his pioneering gay and lesbian documentary '' Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives'' (1977). Early life Adair was born in Los Angeles County in 1943. ...

1997

Channel Four Television Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded entirely by its commercia ...

1998

Dolly Hall Dorothy Theresa Hall (born April 26, 1960) is an American film producer. Biography Hall has produced films including '' The Wedding Banquet'' (1993), '' The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love'' (1995), '' All Over Me'' (1997), ''Hig ...

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 Barbara Jean Hammer (May 15, 1939 – March 16, 2019) was an American feminist film director, producer, writer, and cinematographer. She is known for being one of the pioneers of the lesbian film genre, and her career spanned over 50 years. Ham ...

2001 The Festival’s Founders
2002

Isaac Julien Sir Isaac Julien (born 21 February 1960Annette Kuhn"Julien, Isaac (1960–)" BFI Screen Online.) is a British installation artist, filmmaker, and Distinguished Professor of the Arts at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Early life Juli ...

2003

Fenton Bailey World of Wonder Productions (WOW) is an American production company founded in 1991 by filmmakers Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey. Based in Los Angeles, California, the company specializes in Television documentary, documentary television and Doc ...

Randy Barbato World of Wonder Productions (WOW) is an American production company founded in 1991 by filmmakers Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey. Based in Los Angeles, California, the company specializes in Television documentary, documentary television and Doc ...

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 George Kuchar (August 31, 1942 – September 6, 2011) was an American underground film film director, director and video artist, known for his "low-fi" aesthetic. Early life and career Kuchar trained as a commercial artist at the School of Indust ...

Mike Kuchar Mike Kuchar (born August 31, 1942, in New York City) is an American underground filmmaker, actor, and artist. Kuchar is notable for his low-budget and camp films such as '' Sins of the Fleshapoids'' and ''The Craven Sluck''. Biography Raised in ...

2010

Wolfe Video Wolfe Video is the oldest and largest exclusive producer and distributor of LGBT films in North America. Founded in 1985 in New Almaden by Kathy Wolfe, the company began as a consumer mail order distribution company for lesbian VHS videos but ha ...

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 Jeffrey Schwarz is an American Emmy Award-winning film producer, director, and editor. He is known for an extensive body of documentary work including ''Commitment to Life'', '' Boulevard! A Hollywood Story'', '' The Fabulous Allan Carr'', '' Ta ...

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 Debra Chasnoff (October 12, 1957 – November 7, 2017) was an American documentary filmmaker and activist whose films address progressive social justice issues. Her production company GroundSpark produces and distributes films, educational resou ...

2019 Rodney Evans

Notes

References

External links

*
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