Frameline 41: reviewed so far (running tally)

This is an alphabetical list of the feature-length films and shorts programs I’ve reviewed so far in Frameline 41, updated periodically during the festival. Updated 2017-07-08 21:45

After Louie

After Louie, dir. Vincent Gagliostro, 2017 USA, 100 min. 👏
Sunday, June 25, 7:00 p.m., Castro Theatre: West Coast première
Closing night film

After Louie: Alan Cumming as Sam

Rebels on Pointe

Rebels on Pointe, dir. Bobbi Jo Hart, 2016 Canada, 90 min. 💖
Friday, June 23, 6:30 p.m., Victoria Theatre: Bay Area première

Rebels on Pointe: Les Ballets
Trockadero de Monte Carlo

Frameline 41 premieres by category

Here is a list of films that premiered at Frameline 41, sorted by category and title
🌍 Worldly première
🍭 North American première
🇺🇸 U.S. première
🌊 West Coast première
🌁 San Francisco Bay Area première

Worldly Affairs (2017)

“Worldly Affairs” (shorts program)
Friday, June 23, 4:00 p.m., Castro Theatre

Up Close & Personal (2017) (shorts program)

“Up Close & Personal” (shorts program)
Friday, June 23, 1:30 p.m., Castro Theatre

Beach Rats

Beach Rats, dir. Eliza Hittman, 2017 USA, 95 min. 👍
Thursday, June 22, 7:00 p.m., Roxie Theatre

Beach Rats

Jours de France (4 Days in France)

Jours de France (4 Days in France), dir. Jérôme Reybaud, 2016 France, 141 min., in French with English subtitles 👎💤😞
Monday, June 19, 9:15 p.m., Castro Theatre: West Coast première
Thursday, June 22, 12:00 p.m., Castro Theatre

Abu (Father)

Abu (Father), dir. Arshad Khan, 2017 Canada, 95 min., in English and Urdu with English subtitles 💖
Thursday, June 22, 3:30 p.m., Castro Theatre: Bay Area première

Abu (Father)

Hello Again

Hello Again, dir. Tom Gustafson, 2017 USA, 105 min. 👌
Thursday, June 22, 9:30 p.m., Castro Theatre: West Coast première

Hello Again

Alaska is a Drag (feature film)

Alaska is a Drag, dir. Shaz Bennett, 2017 USA, 83 min. 👎
Friday, June 23, 9:15 p.m., Castro Theatre: WORLD PREMIÈRE
Saturday, June 24, 9:15 p.m., Piedmont Theatre, Oakland

Alaska is a Drag

There are people who like movies about drag queens. There are people who like movies about bare-knuckle brawling. If there is an intersection between those two groups, it does not include me. I enjoyed the short film from which this feature film grew, but the fight scenes in the longer version were far too graphic for me, so much so that I walked out more than an hour into the film. I couldn’t stomach the fight scene, even with probably less than 15 minutes left in the film, even to find out what happens to the protagonist. This film unequivocally takes the prize for biggest disappointment of Frameline 41. Definitely, definitely NOT RECOM­MENDED.

Warning: this film contains a graphic depiction of a gang fag-bashing the main character.

Die Mitte der Welt (Center of My World)

Die Mitte der Welt (Center of My World), dir. Jakob M. Erwa, 2016 Germany, 115 min., in German with English subtitles 💖
Wednesday, June 21, 9:15 p.m., Castro Theatre

Die Mitte der Welt (Center of My World): Kat, Nicholas, Phil

Patay Na Si Hesus (Jesus is Dead)

Patay Na Si Hesus (Jesus is Dead), dir. Victor Villanueva, 2016 Philippines, 90 min., in Tagalog with English subtitles 👌
Monday, June 19, 9:15 p.m., Roxie Theatre: North American première

Patay Na Si Hesus (Jesus is Dead): Iyay, Jay, Jude

100 Men

100 Men, dir. Paul Oremland, 2016 New Zealand, 95 min. 👏
Wednesday, June 21, 1:15 p.m., Castro Theatre: U.S. première

100 Men

My Friend Dahmer

My Friend Dahmer, dir. Marc Meyers, 2017 USA, 107 min. 👏
Tuesday, June 20, 9:15 p.m., Castro Theatre: Bay Area première

Ross Lynch (center) is My Friend Dahmer

Sueño en otro idioma / I Dream in Another Language

Sueño en otro idioma / I Dream in Another Language, dir. Ernesto Contreras, 2017 Mexico / Netherlands, 101 min., in Spanish with English subtitles 💖
Tuesday, June 20, 6:30 p.m., Castro Theatre: Bay Area première

Sueño en otro idioma / I Dream in Another Language

Chavela

Chavela, dirs. Catherine Gund & Daresha Kyi, 2017 USA, 90 min., in Spanish with English subtitles and in English without subtitles 👏
Monday, June 19, 6:30 p.m., Castro Theatre: Bay Area première
Thursday, June 22, 7:00 p.m., Piedmont Theatre, Oakland

Chavela

More than T

More than T, dir. Silas Howard, 2017 USA, 54 min.👏
Sunday, June 18, 4:00 p.m., Victoria Theatre: WORLD PREMIÈRE

More than T

Discreet

Discreet, dir. Travis Mathews, 2017 USA, 80 min. 💩👎
Monday, June 19, 9:15 p.m., Victoria Theatre

Discreet

Screwed (Pihalla)

Screwed, dir. Nils-Erik Ekblom, 2017 Finland, 100 min., in Finnish with English subtitles 💖
Monday, June 19, 6:30 p.m., Victoria Theatre: WORLD PREMIÈRE

Screwed (Pihalla)

Prom King, 2010

Prom King, 2010, dir. Christopher Schaap, 2017 USA, 102 min. 💖
Monday, June 19, 1:30 p.m., Castro Theatre

Prom King, 2010

Girl Unbound

Girl Unbound (a.k.a. Girl Unbound: the War to be Her), dir. Erin Heidenreich, 2016 Pakistan / Canada / USA, 80 min., in English and in Urdu and Pashto with English subtitles 💖
Sunday, June 18, 1:30 p.m., Castro Theatre: West Coast première

Girl Unbound

The Wound (Inxeba)

The Wound (Inxeba), dir. John Trengove, 2017 South Africa, 88 min., in Xhosa with English subtitles 👏
Sunday, June 18, 7:00 p.m., Castro Theatre: West Coast première

The Wound (Inxeba)

FL41: “TBA” screenings announced

Frameline 41 has named the titles for the two “to be announced” slots in the schedule:

TBA1: Saturday, June 24, 11:30 a.m., Roxie Theatre, “Woke Women Mixtape”

TBA2: Saturday, June 24, 9:15 p.m., Victoria Theatre, The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin

Nobody’s Watching / Nadie nos mira

Nobody’s Watching / Nadie nos mira, dir. Julia Solomonoff, 2017 Argentina, 102 min., in Spanish with English subtitles and English without subtitles 💤
Saturday, June 17, 9:30 p.m., Castro Theatre: West Coast première
Saturday, June 24, 1:30 p.m., Victoria Theatre

Nobody’s Watching / Nadie nos mira

God’s Own Country

God’s Own Country, dir. Francis Lee, 2017 UK, 104 min. 😐
Saturday, June 17, 6:30 p.m., Castro Theatre

God’s Own Country

Behind the Curtain: Todrick Hall

Behind the Curtain: Todrick Hall, dir. Katherine Fairfax Wright, 2017 USA, 100 min. 💖👑
Saturday, June 17, 3:45 p.m., Castro Theatre: Bay Area première

Behind the Curtain: Todrick Hall

The Archer

The Archer, dir. Valerie Weiss, 2017 USA, 86 min. 💖😱
Friday, June 16, 6:30 p.m., Castro Theatre: Bay Area première
Friday, June 23, 9:30 p.m., Piedmont Theatre, Oakland

The Archer

Saturday Church

Saturday Church, dir. Damon Cardasis, 2017 USA, 81 min. 💖💅👠
Friday, June 16, 9:15 p.m., Castro Theatre: West Coast première

Saturday Church

Transit Havana

Transit Havana, dir. Daniel Abma, 2016 Germany/Netherlands/Cuba, 88 min., in Spanish with English subtitles 👏

Transit Havana

Transtastic (2017)

“Transtastic” (shorts program)
Monday, June 19, 7:00 p.m., Roxie Theatre
update: all component short films reviewed

Second chances: shorts that run twice in Frameline 41

The Frameline 41 LGBTQ film festival has a dozen programs of short films, plus a half dozen more programs in the new category of “Episodics,” serial dramas and documentary series, mostly web-based, presenting a whole season worth of episodes at a time in most of these screenings. It is not always possible to pigeonhole a short film into just one category, so several of them appear in two of the shorts programs. Here is your guide to the short films you have two chances to see:

Britney-holics Anonymous: a Spear-itual Awakening	Fun in Boys Shorts
	Bi Candy
Brown Girls	Brown Girls (all 7 episodes)
	Fun in Girls Shorts (episode 4 only)
Encuentro	Homegrown
	Realness & Revelations
Étage X	The Devil is in the Details
	Fun in Girls Shorts
More Love, Less Prepackaged Bullshit	Realness & Revelations
	Bi Candy
Muxes	Transtastic
	Up Close & Personal
Al otro lado / The Other Side	Realness & Revelations
	Worldly Affairs
Umbrella	Transtastic
	Up Close & Personal
Walk for Me	Realness & Revelations
	Transtastic

Brown Girls (episodes 1 through 7)

Brown Girls, dir. Sam Bailey, 2017 USA, 7 episodes, total runtime 72 minutes 💖
part of Frameline’s new Episodics category
Sunday, June 18, 9:30 p.m., Elmwood Theatre in Berkeley
Tuesday, June 20, 7:00 p.m. Roxie Theatre

Brown Girls

So far, I’ve only seen Episode 4, which is in the “Fun in Girls Shorts” program this year, but on the strength of that snippet I have no hesitation in giving the whole series a MUST SEE. Okay, if you absolutely can’t make it to either festival screening, you can watch the whole series on vimeo, but this series should be especially fun to share with a full house. I’m schlepping to the East Bay for the screening on Sunday.

• watch on vimeo •

Here we go!

The Frameline 41 International LGBTQ Film Festival — the oldest, the biggest, and the best queer film festival — begins in less than 24 hours… I’m about to notch two dozen advance reviews, with more to come, tonight, tomorrow, and as I have spare time during the week. I changed the dates on the first few reviews so that they will all be grouped together under “June 2017,” but you can also look for the #Frameline41 tag. I have tags for various categories like shorts program, documentary, Must See, and World Premiere, among others. This year, my ratings are on an Emoji scale, with sparkle heart 💖at the top, followed by clapping 👏 hands, thumbs 👍 up, neutral 😐 face, thumbs 👎 down, and (hopefully remaining unused!) 💣💤💩😵 or other expressions of revulsion. So far this year, “must see” is easily outnumbering “not recommended,” which bodes well for the rest of the festival.

I expect to attend about 25 to 30 screenings in the festival proper, and have hopefully about the same number of reviews from “screeners” by the time all is said and done. I will also be Tweeting (@FilmQueenReview — notice that there’s no S at the end). Leave comments here on the blog, on Twitter, Facebook and/or Messenger.

Film Queen Facebook Events

I have created Facebook Events for two of the screenings I am most excited about:

• Brown Girls on Sunday, June 18 at 9:30 p.m. at the Elmwood Theatre in Berkeley. This is a wonderful web series — yes, you can watch it online for free any time — that I am really looking forward to seeing with an audience. It is the “brown girls” themselves making the story of people like them, and doing it with impressive production values to boot.
• Freak Show on Saturday, June 24 at 9:30 p.m. at the Castro Theatre. A fabulous teenage boy (played by the actor who was the boarding-school Alan Turing in The Imitation Game, the movie about deciphering the Nazi code machine) is forced to move to a small town in the Deep South and attend a deeply conservative high school. His reaction to the bullying is to run for Prom Queen. If you think “freak” is at least sometimes a very good word, you should see this film. Oh, and did I mention that his mother is played by Bette Midler? You will get out of this screening probably a little after 11:00, leaving you plenty of time to get to your choice of “night before the parade” parties.

You can get tickets ahead of time at the festival box office (at Strut on Castro, opposite the Castro Theatre a bit closer to 18th) or online at Frameline.ORG.  The day of, you can buy tickets at the venue unless the screening is “sold out” — in which case just show up as far ahead of time as possible and get in the “Rush” line for the last few reserved seats they release just before curtain. Back before I started getting the all-access pass, I was in the “Rush” line easily a dozen times and never once failed to get in.

Oh, and one random factoid: the movie Alaska is a Drag is about Alaska, the state, not Alaska, the RuPaul’s Drag Race alumna, but it does still involve drag queens.

Extra Terrestres (Extraterrestrials)

Extra Terrestres (Extraterrestrials), dir. Carla Cavina Meléndez, 2016 Venezuela/Puerto Rico, 113 min., in Spanish with English subtitles 😐
Saturday, June 17, 9:15 p.m., Roxie Theatre: West Coast première
Thursday, June 22, 9:30 p.m., Elmwood Theatre, Berkeley

Extra Terrestres (Extraterrestrials)

Quest (documentary)

Quest, dir. Jonathan Olshefski, 2017 USA, 106 min. 👍
Sunday, June 18, 9:15 p.m., Roxie Theatre

Quest

Frameline 41: East Bay highlights

I will be spending almost all of the festival in the three San Francisco venues this year, as I usually do, although this year I am planning to schlep across the vast and forbidding briny deep for one screening. However, for those of you who actually live east of Treasure Island, there are some exceptional films you can see this year without braving the sea monsters who live under the bridge and in the BART tube. 

 

The East Bay venues are the Elmwood Theatre, College & Ashby in Berkeley, from Sunday, June 18 through Thursday, June 22, and the Piedmont Theatre on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland, from Thursday, June 22 through Saturday, June 24. (Yes, that means there is one day that you have two venues competing for your eyeballs in the seats and your butts on the screen, or something like that.)

 

Here are my top picks:

Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution

Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution, dir. Yony Leyser, 2017 USA, 72 min. 👏
Saturday, June 17, 9:30 p.m., Victoria Theatre: North American première

Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution

Coming Up Queer (2017)

“Coming Up Queer” (shorts program), total runtime 75 min. 💖
Sunday, June 18, 1:30 p.m., Victoria Theatre
1 world première, 2 West Coast premières

QWOCFF 2017

I spent a good chunk of this weekend at the Queer Women of Color Film Festival, produced by QWOCMAP SF (QWOC Media Arts Project). Here are my impressions:

• Opening night shorts program, “Beloved Community”
• Centerpiece documentary, The Revival: Women and the Word
• Closing night shorts program, “Tenacious for Love”

I included some grainy photos of the shorts filmmakers (best I could do with a smartphone for a camera). Even though I identify as neither a woman nor a person of color, it’s still empowering to see people putting their own stories, in their own words, in their own images, out into the world. Kudos to Executive Director Madeleine Lim, Managing Directory Kebo Drew, Festival Coordinator Raquel López, the board and other volunteers, and most of all the filmmakers, for putting together a great festival.

• QWOCMAP website • Twitter: @QWOCMAPSF •

QWOCFF: Tenacious for Love

“Tenacious for Love” (shorts program) 👏
Queer Women of Color Film Festival
Sunday, June 11, 6:00 p.m., Brava Theater

Raquel López, Robin Cloud, Jai Lei Yee		Jay Roque, Raquel Stratton, Jay Gash		Monique Dismuke, Lorena Arriola
Erinn Carter, Monica James, Sabine Talaugon			Monica Ortiz, Denise W. Henderson, Tina Takemoto

The Lavender Scare

The Lavender Scare, dir. Josh Howard, 2016 USA, 88 min. 💖
Sunday, June 18, 11:00 a.m., Castro Theatre: Bay Area première
Saturday, June 24, 2:15 p.m., Piedmont Theatre (Oakland): East Bay première

The Lavender Scare

QWOCFF: The Revival: Women and the Word

The Revival: Women and the Word by Sekiya Dorsett, 2016 USA, 78 min. 💖
Queer Women of Color Film Festival 2017 Centerpiece Screening
Saturday, June 10, 4:00pm, Brava Theater

The Revival: Women and the Word

QWOCFF: Beloved Community

“Beloved Community” (shorts program)👏
Queer Women of Color Film Festival
Friday, June 9, 7:30pm, Brava! Theatre

Frameline isn’t the only LGBTQ film festival in town this month! QWOCMAP, the Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project, is holding its 13th annual festival this weekend at the Brava Theater. Opening night was a collection of 12 short films across a range of subjects and styles. These films are very much worth seeing if you get the opportunity. (Note: all of the films were presented with full subtitles.)

Bones of Contention

Bones of Contention, dir. Andrea Weiss, 2017 USA, 75 min., in English and Spanish with English subtitles 👏
Saturday, June 17, 4:00pm, Victoria Theatre: U.S. premiere

LGBTQ liberation in Spain, post-Franco

Siebzehn (Seventeen)

Siebzehn (Seventeen), dir. Monja Art, 2017 Austria, 104 min., in German with English subtitles 👌
Saturday, June 17, 3:45pm, Roxie Theatre: North American premiere

Paula (foreground) & Lilli (left) in Siebzehn (Seventeen)

Just Charlie

Just Charlie, dir. Rebekah Fortune, 2017 UK, 100 min. 💖
Saturday, June 17, 1:15pm, Roxie Theatre: U.S. premiere
contains a scene of transphobic/homophobic violence

Harry Gilby is Just Charlie

Handsome Devil

Handsome Devil (a.k.a. Piękny Drań), dir. John Butler, 2016 Ireland, 95 minutes 💖
Saturday, June 17, 1:30pm, Victoria Theatre
Tuesday, June 20, 9:15pm, Victoria Theatre

Ned (Fionn O’Shea) • Conor & Ned • Conor (Nicholas Galitzine)

Say it with me, now: “Go raibh maith flaithis do Bhord Scannan na hÉireann!”

Woke Women Mixtape

Woke Women Mixtape: 👏
BKPI, episodes 1–3, dir. Hye Yun Park, 2017 USA, total runtime 40 min. 😐 West Coast premiere
One Nine Five Lewis, ep. 1–5, dir. Chanelle Aponte-Pearson, 2016 USA, total runtime 47 min. 👏 Bay Area premiere
Saturday, June 17, 6:30 p.m., Roxie Theatre
Second screening added: Saturday, June 24, 11:30 a.m., Roxie Theatre

BKPI: Mo (Hye Yun Park) and Dawn (Celiné Justice) are on the case

Remembering the Man

Remembering the Man, dirs. Nickolas Bird & Eleanor Sharpe, 2015 Australia, 83 min. 💖

Friday, June 16, 7:00pm, Victoria Theatre: Bay Area Premiere

Wednesday, June 21, 4:00pm, Castro Theatre

Remembering the Man

Small Talk (日常對話)

日常對話

Small Talk (Rì Cháng Duì Huà) (日常對話) (日常对话), dir. Huì-Chēn HUÁNG (黃惠偵 • 黄惠侦), 2017 Taiwan, 88 min., in Taiwanese with English subtitles 👎
Saturday, June 17, 11:00am, Roxie Theatre

Realness & Revelations (shorts program)

“Realness & Revelations” (shorts program), total runtime 85 min. 👏
Friday, June 16, 7:00pm, Roxie Theatre
Wednesday, June 21, 7:00pm, Elmwood Theatre (East Bay Screening)
Note: 7 shorts: 4 world premieres, 1 US premiere, and 2 Bay Area premieres!

The Feels

The Feels

The Feels (feature), dir. Jenée Lemarque, 2017 USA, 88 min. 👏
Friday, June 16, 9:15pm, Victoria Theatre: Bay Area Premiere

Apricot Groves

Apricot Groves (ծիրանի այգիներ) (زردآلو نخلستان), dir. Pouria Heidary Oureh, 2016 Armenia, 80 min., in Armenian and Farsi (Persian) with English subtitles 👌
Friday, June 16, 9:30pm, Roxie Theatre: Bay Area Premiere

Santa y Andrés (Santa and Andres)

Santa y Andrés (Santa and Andres), dir. Carlos Lechuga, 2016 Colombia/France/Cuba, 105 min., in Spanish with (badly made) English subtitles, 👌
Thursday, June 15, 10:00pm, Castro Theatre: Bay Area Premiere
Sunday,  June 25, 4:00pm, Castro Theatre

Dating My Mother

Dating My Mother, dir. Mike Roma, 2017 USA, 84 min. 💖
Friday, June 16, 4:00pm, Castro Theatre • World Première
Saturday, June 24, 4:00pm, Victoria Theatre

Flirting with Disaster

Flirting with Disaster (shorts program), total runtime 87 min.
Friday, June 16, 1:30pm, Castro Theatre
Saturday, June 24, 11:00am, Victoria Theatre
update: additional shorts reviewed, links added

Fun in Girls Shorts (2017)

Fun in Girls Shorts 2017 (shorts program), total runtime 79 min.
Saturday, June 17, 1:15pm, Castro Theatre
Sunday, June 25, 11:00am, Castro Theatre
Saturday, June 24, 12:00 noon, Piedmont Theatre (East Bay screening!)

update: all shorts in this program reviewed below; links added

Fun in Boys Shorts (2017)

“Fun in Boys Shorts,” short films, total runtime 70 min.
Saturday, June 17, 11:00am, Castro Theatre
Sunday, June 25, 1:30pm, Castro Theatre

Freak Show

Freak Show, feature film, dir. Trudie Styler, 2017 USA, 91 min., 💖 US Premiere
Showcase Film, Saturday, June 24, 9:00pm, Castro Theatre

Billy Bloom (Alex Lawther, center right) announcing his fabulousness on TV

The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin

The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin, documentary, dir. Jennifer Kroot, editor/co-director Bill Weber, 2017 USA, 90 min.,👏
Opening Night Film, Thursday, June 15, 7:00 p.m., Castro Theatre Bay Area Premiere
Second screening added: Saturday, June 24, 9:15 p.m., Victoria Theatre

Armistead Maupin writing an installment of Tales of the City on his faithful IBM Selectric

Frameline 41 is almost here!

It’s the end of May, which means it’s almost time for the Frameline San Francisco International LGBTQ Film Festival! Stay tuned for reviews of feature films, documentaries, short films, and a new category, “Episodics.” Yes, you can now binge-watch a serial drama or a documentary series with a few hundred of your best friends, all without a Netflix password…

The theme for Frameline 41 is “Genre Queer,” and the lineup boasts 147 films from 19 countries. Fully 40% of the films were made by women — a new record. A fabulous 27 films are having their world premières, with dozens more having their North America, U.S., U.S. West Coast, or San Francisco Bay Area premières.

Check out the Frameline 41 festival website for all the details about times, tickets, and t-shirts.