FESTIVAL SEASON

Which Queer Films Grabbed Awards (And Attention) At Frameline36?

On Sunday, San Francisco’s Frameline film festival, one of the most prestigious queer-film fests in the world, wrapped up another year of premieres, screenings, after-parties and panels at the iconic Castro Theatre by handing out jury and audience-favorite awards.

Facing Mirrors
,
 Negar Azarbayjani’s groundbreaking film about a trans man in Iran looking to flee to Germany, snagged the jury’s Outstanding First Feature nod. Honorable mention went to My Brother the Devil, Sally El Hosaini’s acclaimed drama
about Egyptian brothers caught up in London gang life. Audiences, meanwhile, handed the Best Feature Film award to  Cloudburst, starring Oscar winners Olympia Dukakis and Brenda Fricker as an aging lesbian couple.

Other notable feature films that made a splash at Frameline include Naked as We Came (that’s director Richard LeMay and star Benjamin Weaver at right), the reproductive comedy Gayby and the surreal British thriller Unconditional, starring Christian Cooke and directed by Bryn Higgins (above). Japan’s Tsuyako—about a factory worker and mother torn between duty and love—took home the Best Short Film award.

Among pictures that explore the real world, The Invisible Men, Yariv Mozer’s look at the struggles of gay Palestinians, was named Outstanding Documentary, while Michiel van Erp’s I Am a Woman Now, documenting the lives of European transwomen of a certain age, got an honorable mention. The audience award for Best Documentary went to Call Me Kuchu, about the life-and-death situation faced by LGBTs in Uganda. And celebrity documentaries about Chris Crocker (Me @ the Zoo) and Lance Bass (Mississippi: I Am) were also screened to much fanfare. Mississippi: I Am, in fact, was honored with a grant from the Small Change Foundation.

That’s the news from Frameline36. Check back for more previews, reviews and updates about LGBT film festivals all summer long.

Photos: Frameline

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