Get ready to see and be scene at the highly anticipated Frameline47.
Yes, it’s almost time to raise the curtain once again on the Frameline International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, the Bay Area’s largest annual film event. Organized by the San Francisco-based queer media arts foundation Frameline, the event returns this June 14 – 24, showcasing nearly 90 genre-spanning titles from all over the world.
As always, the festival lineup is an embarrassment of riches—a jaw-dropping collection of world premieres, centerpiece screenings, shorts programs, and so much more.
The 47th edition of Frameline welcomes film lovers from all over to the Bay Area, but will also offer up national streaming encores from June 24 to July 2 for many of its titles so that you can catch the best and the queerest of international cinema no matter where you are.
With that in mind, Queerty has assembled a preview of Frameline47, highlighting some of the most exciting films to screen at this year’s fest that you won’t want to miss. We have a feeling you’ll be hearing a lot more about these titles soon, so be sure to add them to your watch list!
Aristotle And Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe
A beloved YA novel comes to the big screen in this long-awaited coming-of-age feature from director Aitch Albano. After bonding over their unique names, Mexican-American teens Aristotle (Max Pelayo) and Dante (Reese Gonzales) become best friends over the summer of 1987 in El Paso, TX. But when Dante moves away, their pen pal letters make it clear one of them has lingering romantic feelings the other’s unsure about. Scored by pop hits of the era and co-starring Eva Longoria and Eugenio Derbez, this one’s sure to be a crowd-pleaser.
Bottoms
Bottoms is the tops—and we guarantee you’ve never seen anything like it. Re-teaming with Shiva Baby director Emma Seligman, Rachel Sennott (Bodies Bodies Bodies) links up with fellow comedic scene stealer Ayo Edebiri (The Bear) for this outrageous queer dark comedy. Unpopular seniors PJ and Josie (Sennott and Edebiri, respectively) scheme their way into starting a fight club at their high school—all in the hopes that it’ll help them hook up with cheerleaders. The only problem: They don’t know how to fight.
Fairyland
Adapted from Alysia Abbott’s memoir, Fairyland marks a perfect opening night presentation for Frameline47, as it tells a touching family story set against the backdrop of the LGBTQ+ liberation movement in San Francisco in the 1970s. When she was just 8 years old, Alysia moved to the city with her father Steve (Argo’‘s Scoot McNairy) and came of age among the city’s rapidly growing gay population. Directed by Andrew Durham, the film also stars Emilia Jones, Cody Fern, Maria Bakalova, and rock star Adam Lambert in a rare dramatic role.
Glitter And Doom
The music of Grammy Award-winning duo the Indigo Girls (you’re humming “Closer To Fine” right now, aren’t you?) provides the soundtrack to this original movie musical about two aspiring artists in love. Doom (Alan Cammish) has rockstar ambitions, while Glitter (Filipino pop star Alex Diaz) is a free-spirited circus performer, but they share an undeniable spark that makes this colorful romantic fantasy sing. Ming-Na Wen and Missi Pyle co-star, with cameos from queer icons like Peppermint, Tig Notaro, Lea DeLaria, and—yup!—the Indigo Girls.
Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History Of Popular Music
Following in the footsteps of Talking Heads’ groundbreaking concert doc Stop Making Sense, this entrancing film invites us into the theater where artist Taylor Mac and a team of musicians staged an all-day performance honoring the grand tradition of pop music. Harkening back to the days of “Yankee Doodle Dandy” up through Laura Branigan’s “Gloria” and beyond, Mac uses drag, elaborate costumes from Machine Dazzle, and dynamic staging to take us on a one-of-a-kind journey through musical history—like only the queers can.
The Trace Of Your Lips
Mexican director and Frameline alum Julián Hernández returns with this erotic and provocative drama about the limits of sex and love during a time of intense caution. Set during an unnamed pandemic that recalls both the AIDS crisis and the more recent COVID-19 quarantine, B-movie actor Román (Hugo Catalán) and dancer Aldo (Mauricio Rico) are neighbors who find themselves closer than ever before when everyone’s suddenly thrust into lockdown. Seeking any kind of connection even their attempts to stave off loneliness become taboo.
Screening Saturday, June 17.https://www.frameline.org/films/frameline47/the-trace-of-your-lips
Kangol2
There are really interesting-looking films this year, and I’m especially glad to see a number focusing on LGBTQ adults living in our current moment (or close to it). For the sake of those who want to see as many of these films as possible but cannot get to SF, it would be great if they made all of them streaming after their festival debuts.