Film Queen Review: 2022

Friday, July 15, 2022

Anything’s Possible

Anything’s Possible, dir. Billy Porter, 2022, USA, 96m.

Friday, July 15, 2022, 6:30pm Castro

Available on Amazon Prime beginning July 22, 2022

Billy Porter has won a couple of Tonys and an Emmy, acted on and off Broadway, put out four albums, been all over television from Pose to RuPaul’s Drag Race to The Simpsons and SNL, written a play and a memoir … and now has directed a feature film.

Anything’s Possible, written by Ximena García Lecuona, is basically a teen coming-of-age rom-com, very much in the vein of John Hughes movies of the 1980s, but with a significant difference: the main character is a young black transwoman, Kelsa, played by Eva Reign (pictured), who is herself a transwoman. Kelsa’s identity as an out transwoman in high school is very much in the story, but it isn’t the point around which all action revolves: mostly she is a high school kid dealing with classes, classmates, friends, and family … and just maybe a boyfriend. Certainly there are clashes with other characters and a certain amount of drama, but Anything’s Possible is a romantic comedy, so it keeps the story light-hearted and filled with more joy than heartbreak. It’s a delight to watch, coming soon to Amazon Prime. Enthusiastically highly recommended.

• IMDb page • Official website • Trailer •

• Facebook/Instagram/Twitter: @AnythingIsMovie •

• Facebook/Instagram/Twitter/TikTok: @TheeBillyPorter •

Thursday, June 30, 2022

Frameline46 index and cross-reference

The films listed below are all from the Frameline46 San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, except two feature documentaries marked [QWOCMAP], which are from the 18th annual Queer Women of Color Film Festival. Click the ▶︎ to see each sub-listing. The title of each film is a link to the Film Queen review, which in turn links to the Frameline description, the IMDb page, the official website, and the trailer.

Documentary Features

Narrative Features

Shorts Programs

Live Events

Michael Urie in Conversation

Documentary Shorts

Narrative Shorts

Frameline 46: that’s a wrap!

Frameline’s 46th annual San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival has come to a close, both in theaters and online. This year, I saw and reviewed 50 feature-length films plus 8 programs of short films — and all that without any advance screeners! See the index and cross-reference.

Here are the winners of the Frameline46 awards, with links to my reviews:

Outstanding First Feature: Så jävla easy going (So Damn Easy Going)

Honorable mention: Unidentified Objects [not reviewed], Les meilleures (Besties)

Jury award, best narrative short: Tank Fairy

Honorable mention: Monsieur Le Butch

Jury award, best documentary short: Holding Moses [not reviewed]

Honorable mention: I Just Wanna Dance

Amazon Audience Awards:

Narrative Feature: Vulveeta [not reviewed]

Documentary Feature: Uýra - A Retomada la Floresta (Uýra: The Rising Forest)

Out in the Silence Award: BLACK AS U R

#TheCoastIsQueer

(Re)Counting (Wo)Man

(Re)Counting (Wo)Man, spoken word/multimedia, dir. Jennifer Lisa Vest, 2021, USA, 52m., fully closed captioned

Dr. Jennifer Lisa Vest, a self-described mixed-blood Florida Mikasuki Seminole poet, philosopher, performance artist, and healer, recorded their one-person show about indigeneity, sexuality, queerness, history, ancestral traditions, anti-black racism, and strategies of survival. The show is a blend of poetry, storytelling, still images, and film, weaving a rich tapestry, starting with people telling her, “There’s something not quite right about you.” To the contrary, there is something profoundly right about her, and what she has to say, everyone should hear. Definitely a must see.

This film screened as part of QWOCMAP’s 18th annual international Queer Women of Color Film Festival. It is now available to watch in its entirety on YouTube.

• IMDb page • Official website [link unreliable] • Facebook: @JenniferLisaVest • Watch online (full film) •

Gemmel and Tim

Gemmel and Tim, dir. Michiel Thomas, 2021, USA, 91m. 👍

Saturday, June 18, 2022, 1:30pm Roxie

+Streaming

Gemmel Moore (left)
Timothy Dean (right)

Gemmel and Tim is the story of two Black men who died of drug overdoses in the home of Ed Buck, a gay white man who was a power player in Democratic Party politics in West Hollywood and nationally, and the years-long effort to bring Buck to justice. Gemmel was part of the ballroom community, walking “pretty boy” to considerable success. Tim was a skilled basketball player who competed in the Gay Games. We hear from their families and friends, giving us a picture of who they were as individuals, rather than lifeless statistics.

Ed Buck was a white gay conservative Republican until 1986, when he led the effort to recall Arizona Governor Evan Mecham. Shortly after, Buck switched his registration to Democratic, and became a power player in party politics, relocating to West Hollywood. He also had a particular fondness for bringing Black men to his modest WeHo apartment and shooting them up with crystal meth. That is the point where Buck’s life intersected with Gemmel’s and Tim’s lives. Gemmel and Tim are only two of the men who died in Buck’s home under circumstances the police insisted were “not suspicious,” but it took years of determined action, and another similar death, to finally convict Buck on multiple federal felony charges. The mobilization for justice continued, working to defeat several local politicians who downplayed the case.

Gemmel and Tim is an eloquent memorial to two victims and a testament to the determination to see their killer brought to justice. Highly recommended.

• IMDb page • Official website • Trailer •

Bambi, une nouvelle femme (Bambi: A French Woman)

Bambi, une nouvelle femme (Bambi: A French Woman), dir. Sébastien Lifshitz, 2021, France, 83m., in French with full English subtitles

Saturday, June 18, 2022, 8:15pm SFMOMA

+Streaming

woman wearing a hat, looking in a mirror

In the early post-World War II years, 17-year-old Marie-Pierre joined Le Carrousel de Paris, a cabaret of female impersonators. She created the persona of “Bambi,” and was quickly one of the star attractions. She was among the first people in France to go through the medical process of changing gender, and she’s still around to tell us about it, complete with Super-8 home movies from many points in her life, on and off stage. After her stage career came to a close, she shifted dramatically, becoming a school teacher for 29 years. Although she had always identified as a heterosexual woman, she unexpectedly fell in love with a woman. Bambi is a fascinating firsthand account of a trailblazing pioneer in the trans world. Must see.

• IMDb page: Lifshitz 2013 film • Official website •

Blitzed

Blitzed, dir. Bruce Ashley & Michael Donald, 2020, UK, 89m. 🤘

Saturday, June 18, 2022, 6:45pm Roxie

+Streaming

photo: Homer Sykes

In the 1970s, a small group of club-goers wanted a departure from the mainstream music scene. They wanted glam rock, à la David Bowie, and went to extremes to dress to impress, even with no money. A weekly Bowie night at a club turned into The Blitz, a small London nightclub, putting together in one room the likes of Boy George, Spandau Ballet, and Princess Julia, people who went on to have a major impact in the worlds of music, fashion, and art. The doorman only let in the most outrageously dressed, even at one point turning away Mick Jagger.

It’s a fascinating glimpse at a scene that was before my time in London (and which I wouldn’t have been able to get in the door of, even had I been there) and the effects one tiny nightclub had worldwide, even with a run of less than two years. Recommended generally, but highly recommended for fans of David Bowie, Culture Club, Spandau Ballet (whose first performance was at The Blitz), and the like.

• IMDb page • Official website • Trailer •

Três Tigres Tristes (Three Tidy Tigers Tied a Tie Tighter)

Três Tigres Tristes (Three Tidy Tigers Tied a Tie Tighter), dir. Gustavo Vinagre, 2022, Brazil, 86m., in Portuguese with full English subtitles

Friday, June 24, 2022, 6:00pm New Parkway

+Streaming

The title of the film, Três Tigres Tristes, is a reference to a Portuguese tongue twister. The literal translation is Three Sad Tigers, but the filmmaker opted for keeping the alliteration over the exact meaning. We meet three young people in São Paulo in the throes of a viral pandemic that causes amnesia. As they wander the city, they talk about old lovers and HIV, meet an online makeup star (who makes a video for her channel of giving one of them a new look), tag along as Pedro, who does online erotic shows, meets one of his few in-person clients. They then go on an errand for the client, finding themselves in the surreal salon of a cabaret singer, complete with a hairless guinea pig in drag, an adult baby dispensing cash from his diapers, and visits from the living and the dead.

The film starts off with a fairly matter-of-fact tone, but gets deeper and deeper into the dream state to an otherworldly, positively psychedelic ending, suggestive of having a fever dream while tripping balls on shrooms. Definitely not for everyone, but highly recommended if you’re into absurd weirdness.

• IMDb page • Instagram: @Gustavo.Vinagre • Trailer •

Mama Bears

Mama Bears, dir. Daresha Kyi, 2022, USA, 90m. 💝

Friday, June 17, 2022, 6:30pm Roxie

+Streaming

adult stands behind child with trans pride flag

Devout Christian parents struggle to overcome deeply ingrained prejudices, reinforced by their religion, to embrace their children. Some of them formed a group on Facebook, Mama Bears, now with over 32,000 members, to offer support. Documentarian Daresha Kyi (Chavela, Audience Award winner at Frameline41) focuses on three moms, chronicling their journeys to not only love and accept but to actively advocate for their LGBTQ+ children in the face of headwinds like the cynical anti-trans political backlash currently gripping many parts of the United States.

Due to time constraints (only so many films I can stream in a day!), I only watched the first half hour, but it was clear that the film and the parents were determined to reconcile their Christian faith and their love and acceptance of their children. Highly recommended for all audiences, definitely a must see for any parents struggling to embrace their faith and their LGBTQ+ children.

• IMDb page • Official website • Twitter/Facebook/Instagram: @MamaBearsDoc •

Do You Really Want to Hurt Me (2022 shorts)

“Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?” (2022 narrative shorts program)

Friday, June 17, 2022, 8:45pm Roxie

+Streaming

I Wish I Never Fucking Met You 💝
Naufrágio (Shipwreck) 👎
Lucky Fish 💝
Split Sole 🙂
One Like Him 💝
Firsts 💝
Keep/Delete 👍

When Doves Cry (2022 shorts)

“When Doves Cry” (2022 shorts program)

Friday, June 24, 2022, 3:45pm Castro

+Streaming

Monsieur le Butch 👍
My Mother’s Girlfriend (Mazhya Aaichi Girlfriend/‌‌माझ्या आईची Girlfriend) 👍
Neuzeit (Boom and Bloom) 👍
Blunt 💝
Rosa 💝
無地自容 (无地自容) (Wúdìzìróng) (Frozen Out) 🫤

Oh! You Pretty Things (2022 shorts)

Monday, June 20, 2022, 9:15pm Roxie

+Streaming

At Water’s Edge 🙂
Bi the Way 👍
Mama Has a Mustache 💝
How Not to Date While Trans 💝
Code Switch 💝
Warsha (ورشة) 👍
Hello My Name is Sarah 👍
Nathan Joe: Homecoming Poems 💝
Fernanda 🙂 (see also Fun in Shorts: Tutti Frutti)

Homegrown: Perfect Day (2022 shorts program)

Tuesday, June 21, 2022, 8:30pm New Parkway

+Streaming

From X to Z 👍
Rex Ray: A Portrait 😀
Edvard Takes a Lover 😑
Chaac and Yum 🙂
I Just Wanna Dance 🙂
Pete 👍
Prittyboy 👍
Inside the Beauty Bubble 💖
Holding Moses (not reviewed)

Wild Combination (2022 shorts program)

+Streaming (only); 3 narrative shorts + 3 documentary shorts

Un corps brûlant (A Free Run) 🙂
Weckuwapasihtit (Those Yet to Come) 👏
Bro (داداش) 😑
CANS Can’t Stand 👏
Jeudi, vendredi, samedi (Thursday, Friday, Saturday) 👍
Terminal Norte (North Terminal) 🙂

Wildhood

Wildhood, dir. Bretten Hannam, 2021, Canada, 99m., in English and Mi’kmaw, mostly without English subtitles or closed captions 👍

Saturday, June 18, 2022, 4:00pm Roxie

+Streaming

I am in general favorably predisposed to films in which a major character is named Linc (The Delta, Encino Man, The Mod Squad), even if he spells it Link. In Wildhood, Link is a Mi’kmaw teenager with bleached blond hair, on the run from his abusive father, searching for a mother he thought was long dead. His half-brother Travis is reluctantly along for the ride, having nowhere else to go but back to the abusive father. Along the way, they meet Pasmay, a drifter who is also Mi’kmaw, making his way from pow wow to pow wow as a ceremonial dancer. As the trio travel across Nova Scotia, Link and Pasmay begin to bond over Mi’kmaw language and culture, and over being two-spirits.

Wildhood is a glimpse into the life of a First Nations teenager in rural Atlantic Canada, struggling to come to terms with his heritage and his identity. Well done, highly recommended.

• IMDb page • Official website (links to watch on demand) • Trailer •

Kam motýli nelétají (Where Butterflies Don’t Fly)

Kam motýli nelétají (Where Butterflies Don’t Fly), dir. Roman Němec, 2022, Czech Republic, 126m., in Czech with full English subtitles

Sunday, June 19, 2022, 6:30pm Roxie

+Streaming

Daniel (Daniel Krejčík, pictured left) is a student in his last year of public school before university. He is something of a loner, with few if any friends. He paints his nails and generally has little interest in school. Adam (Jiří Vojta, right) teaches literature and P.E., and is chosen as one of the chaperone’s for a school camping trip. Due to a mixup, the group is hiking off to alternate accomodations after nightfall. Daniel gets separated from the group, having fallen into a cave; Adam sets out to find him, but also falls into the cave. With little hope of being found, the two must try to find a way out. As hours stretch into days, Daniel and Adam open up gradually as they learn to rely on each other for survival.

Both characters are three-dimensional human beings, unfolding themselves bit by bit. Exquisitely written and performed, must see.

• IMDb page • Official website [English] [Czech] • Facebook: @KamMotyliNeletaji • Trailer [English subtitles] [with subtitles in Czech, German, Spanish, or English] •

Framing Agnes

Framing Agnes, dir. Chase Joynt, 2022, USA/‌‌‌Canada, 75m.

Saturday, June 18, 2022, 4:00pm Castro 👍

+Streaming

Transmasculine documentary filmmaker Chase Joynt and his collaborators found an old, forgotten file cabinet, rusted shut to the point it literally had to be pried open with a crowbar, containing transcripts of interviews by researchers with transgender subjects, including Agnes, who famously tricked the researchers into believing that she had an intersex condition in order to obtain gender-affirming surgery — and then returned, after multiple scholarly papers had been published, to reveal that she was in fact a transwoman. The file cabinet with Agnes’ interviews also held interviews with people whose stories had not been told publicly: a black transwoman, a teenage transman, and many more. The documentarians decided to stage the interviews, some in an academic setting and others on a TV talk show, to breathe life into the words on the page. Interspersed with those recreations are conversations with the reenactors about their own stories and their reactions to the transcript material. It’s a time capsule from the mid-20th century, wrapped with the thought process of how to relate to and how to present that history. Highly recommended.

• IMDb page • Official website • Trailer •

Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Så jävla easy going (So Damn Easy Going)

Så jävla easy going (So Damn Easy Going), dir. Christoffer Sandler, 2022, Sweden/Norway, 91m., in Swedish with full English subtitles

Thursday, June 23, 2022, 6:00pm New Parkway

+Streaming

Joanna’s life is a non-stop tightrope walk. She has severe ADHD, feeling like lights are flashing in her head. Her pills have run out, but the pharmacy won’t give her a refill because she still owes for a previous order. Her mother is gone and her father has such crippling depression that he sits and watches TV game shows all day and can’t even keep the light bill paid. The only way that Joanna can clear her mind is by swimming, the pool acting as her own private little world.

That’s all pretty heavy stuff, ripe with potential for drama, but surprisingly enough, this is a comedy. Astoundingly, it all kinds of works. Joanna is in a bad place when she meets the new girl at school, Audrey, but now we have the makings of a proper coming-of-age comedy. Through twists and turns, some dramatic and others comedic, Joanna comes to grip with herself so that she can connect with Audrey. We get to feel almost (but mercifully not quite) like we’re inside Joanna’s head as she pushes through, and we laugh with Joanna, not at her. Well done, highly recommended.

• IMDb page • Official website • Trailer •

It Is in Us All

It Is in Us All, dir. Antonia Campbell-Hughes, 2022, Ireland, 92m.

Thursday, June 23, 2022, 8:30pm Kabuki

+Streaming

Neither Hamish nor
Evan, dancing

Hamish, an English businessman, has returned to Dungloe, County Donegal, in the northwest of the Republic of Ireland, to see a house that his aunt has left to him. On the way to the village, Something Very Bad happens. In the aftermath, Hamish finds himself strangely connected to Evan, a local boy who was at the scene. Hamish’s visit of a couple of days to sign the papers to sell the house, turns into a much longer stay, and Hamish and Evan dance (occasionally literally) around issues of family and connection to the land.

The whole thing made absolutely zero sense to me. I didn’t see any reason for Hamish and Evan to be drawn together in the first place, I didn’t see any reason for that connection to endure, and I certainly didn’t see any reason for much of the action that ensued. Add in a grisly extended scene of Hamish actively exacerbating his serious wounds from the SVB (thank goodness for fast forward!), and I have to give this one a Not Recommended, despite its having won “Special Jury Recognition for Extraordinary Cinematic Vision” at SXSW.

• IMDb page • Twitter: @ACampbellHughes •

Deserto Particular (Private Desert)

Deserto Particular (Private Desert), dir. Aly Muritiba, 2021, Brazil/‌Portugal, 121m., in Portuguese with full English subtitles 👎

Sunday, June 26, 2022, 4:00pm Castro

+Streaming

Daniel is a cop who has been suspended from duty, without pay, and will likely face criminal charges, for a violent incident. He’s also stuck caring for his father, a senile retired police officer. Daniel responds by obsessively trying to contact Sara, a woman he has been sexting; when she doesn’t respond, he sets off in search of her, even though she lives thousands of kilometers away. (By way of distance comparison, imagine driving from San Francisco to South Dakota, mostly on back roads.) Daniel goes full stalker, putting up posters of Sara all over town and even stalking her friends.

I never felt like I had any insight into Daniel’s character. Most of his motivation stems from things that happened off-screen before the film starts (note: the violent incident is alluded to, but not shown). Mostly he just seems to be a poster boy for toxic masculinity with anger management issues, not someone whose story I have any interest in seeing. Sara is a much more nuanced character, with much better backstory, and she is much more sympathetic, especially her entirely sensible hesitance to meet Daniel in person after seeing the violent incident all over the news. But the bottom line is, if I don’t give a rat’s ass about the main character, I don’t like the movie.

Deserto Particular was Brazil’s official entry for the Best International Feature Oscar®, and friends of mine loved it, but I have to say Not Recommended.

• IMDb page • Official website • Trailer •

Finlandia

Finlandia, dir. Horacio Alcalá, 2021, Spain/Mexico, 92m., in Spanish with full English subtitles 🙂

Saturday, June 25, 2022, 6:00pm New Parkway

+Streaming (note: only available within California)

We meet several muxes (pronounced “moo-shay”; a third gender) in Oaxaca, Mexico, plus a Spanish tourist (who is really there to steal the colorful clothing designs to then outsource them to Bangladesh). We start with an earthquake at the end of the chronology of the story and jump back and forth in time and flit between characters and story lines in a confusing jumble. There are many threads of story, but nothing really weaving them together. The muxes are a fascinating culture, the subject of a 2016 short film Muxes (Frameline41) and a 2005 feature-length documentary Muxes: Auténticas, intrépidas y buscadoras de peligro, but Finlandia, this narrative feature, doesn’t do them justice. Interesting but unsatisfying. Recommended.

• IMDb page • Official website • Trailer •

Monday, June 27, 2022

Mi vacío y yo (My Emptiness and I)

Mi vacío y yo (My Emptiness and I), dir. Adrián Silvestre, 2022, Spain, 98m., in Spanish and French with English subtitles 💝

Friday, June 24, 2022, 6:00pm Roxie

+Streaming (ends Thursday night!)

Raphi (Raphaëlle Pérez, pictured front right, in the red and blue dress) is a newly out transwoman living in Barcelona. She fumbles her way through the maze of medical doctors, support groups, friends, and online dates. Her therapist diagnoses “gender dysphoria” and wants her to sign up for bottom surgery right away. She’s not sure she’s ready for that step yet, but has to face the reality that a pre-op transwoman may be treated as a fetish object. She struggles to define herself in a world eager to pigeonhole her, but she remains true to herself and manages to maintain an optimistic view of life and love, hoping for that great romance.

Pérez herself co-wrote the film, and she is one of several transwomen who were involved in the film, giving the characters the authenticity of real lived experiences. There is a scene of Raphi in a support group, sharing her doubts and fears about transition, witnessing the feelings of others in the transition process, and hearing from others who have been through it, talking about the joys and the risks with remarkable openness and honesty.

There are a few scenes I would categorize as “R-rated sex scenes,” including scenes of sexual encounters that do not go well. Some viewers may find those scenes uncomfortable or distasteful, but that’s what the fast forward button is for; if you stay for those scenes, they do shed real light on the character and her experiences, never played for shock value or titillation, and the depth of the emotional life of the main character is unparalleled. Seldom will you see any film that so profoundly gets inside the life of its characters, especially with a transgender main character.

I hope that a great many young transwomen will see this film, but its appeal is by no means limited to that demographic. This film is a must see for young and old, cis and trans, gay and straight.

• IMDb page • Official website • filmmaker • Trailer •

Jimmy in Saigon

Jimmy in Saigon, dir. Peter McDowell, 2022, USA, 89m.

Sunday, June 19, 2022, 1:15pm Castro 🙂

+Streaming

In 1972, when gay filmmaker Peter McDowell was only 5, his older brother Jimmy died in Vietnam. The family said very little about Jimmy, and even less about his death, leaving a lingering sense of unfinished business and a loss not yet properly grieved. Jimmy was drafted into the army to fight in Vietnam, but after his tour of duty ended and he was sent home to the United States, he returned there to live as a civilian, saying that he wanted to escape the soulless colonialist capitalism of America, but also that he wanted to enjoy the “hedonistic pleasures” of Vietnam, including sex, drugs, food, and music.

Many years later, as an adult, Peter resolved to try to track down what had happened to his brother and what his life had been like in Vietnam after he got out of the army. In particular, there were tantalizing clues that perhaps Jimmy, too, was gay, despite references to his “girlfriend.” Peter manages to track down the woman who was the supposed girlfriend, as well as a few other people who knew Jimmy, and gradually pieces together at least some of the reality of the brother he never really knew.

Unfortunately, the process is painfully slow on screen, feeling at times like watching in real time as someone tries to solve a literal jigsaw puzzle. There is certainly some deeply moving content, but rather an excess of exposition. Recommended.

• IMDb page • Official website • Trailer •

Uýra - A Retomada da Floresta (Uýra: The Rising Forest)

Uýra - A Retomada da Floresta (Uýra: The Rising Forest), dir. Juliana Curi, 2022, Brazil/USA, 63m., in Portuguese with full English subtitles 🙂

Wednesday, June 22, 2022, 8:30pm New Parkway World premiere

Winner: Amazon Audience Award, Best Documentary

Self-described non-binary LGBT performance artist Emerson, descendant of both colonial miners and the indigenous people they displaced, has created an alter-ego, Uýra Sodoma, an indigenous, queer, trans person living on the outskirts of Manaus, in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. Uýra travels throughout the Amazon, visiting indigenous villages to share ancestral knowledge of both nature and culture, in the midst of a horrible political situation under the Trumpian president Jair Bolsonaro, whose government is utterly dismissive of both indigenous cultures and ecological concerns, with policy guided by the economic bottom line.

Unfortunately, the documentary often lags, most notably in the last 15 minutes of the film, which are almost entirely closing credits, which is a lot for a film that’s under an hour. Uýra is a look into a corner of the forest that refuses to be forgotten, but I found it only intermittently engaging. Recommended.

• IMDb page • Official website • Trailer •

Doc Shorts: The Art of Realization (2022)

Doc Shorts: The Art of Realization (2022 shorts program)

Saturday, June 25, 2022, 11:00am Roxie

+Streaming

Surviving Voices: The Black Community & AIDS 💝
Body Politics 💝
Vikken 👍
Small Congratulations 👍
Saintmaking 👍
Salman Toor’s Emerald Green 👍

Peter von Kant

Peter von Kant, dir. François Ozon, 2022, France, 85m., in French with full English subtitles 👎🙄🥱

Sunday, June 26, 2022, 7:00pm Castro

Fifty years ago, German playwright/‌filmmaker Werner Rainer Fassbinder made Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant (The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant), a miserable and pretentious film about miserable and pretentious characters doing miserable and pretentious things. Then French filmmaker François Ozon decided he wanted a piece of that miserable and pretentious action for himself, so he reimagined miserable and pretentious Petra von Kant as the perhaps even more miserable and pretentious Peter von Kant, moved the setting of the film from Bremen to Köln for no apparent reason, and made his own miserable and pretentious film.

You may have guessed by this point that I am a fan of neither Fassbinder nor Ozon. Fassbinder’s 1982 Querelle, the last film he directed, is considered by some to be a classic of queer cinema, but I saw it as a bad B-movie with cheesy costumes. One of Ozon’s first features was Gouttes d’eau sur pierres brûlantes (Water Drops on Burning Rocks), based on the unproduced Fassbinder play Tropfen auf heiße Steine. In my lexicon, it would be better titled Acid Drops on Burning Eyeballs. The previous year, Ozon made Les amants criminels (Criminal Lovers), which I also reviled. So clearly I came into Peter von Kant not expecting much, but Ozon undercut even those low expectations.

Khalil Ben Gharbia as Amir Ben Salem, the ingénu, taking the place of Karin in the original, was certainly beautiful and played his part well. Stefan Crepon as Karl, von Kant’s silently suffering assistant, managed to convey volumes simply by his facial expressions, cleverly framed in strategically placed mirrors. But Denis Ménochet as Peter von Kant lacked the presence of Margit Car(s)tensen’s Petra, and the story was lacking in authenticity and interest. Petra at least followed an arc, moving from wanting to possess Karin to being possessed by her; Peter just kind of leaps from one to the other. Fassbinder fans will delight in seeing Hanna Schygulla (Karin, the ingénue) as von Kant’s mother, but for anyone but a diehard devotee of Fassbinder and Ozon, I give this one an emphatically heartfelt NOT RECOMMENDED.

• IMDb page • Official website • Trailer •

Gabi, 8 till 13 år (Gabi: Between Ages 8 and 13)

Gabi, 8 till 13 år (Gabi: Between Ages 8 and 13), dir. Engeli Broberg, 2021, Sweden/Denmark/Norway, 79m., in Swedish and English with English subtitles 👍

Saturday, June 25, 2022, 3:45pm Roxie

+Streaming

We meet Gabi as an 8-year-old child, living in Stockholm, and check in with her throughout the following five years, as they move to Dalarna (well inland; as the crow flies, roughly halfway to Trondheim, Norway). Gabi is interested in all the usual kid stuff: superheroes and video games and football (soccer), but they are not interested in conforming to any sort of prescribed gender roles. At age 13, Gabi writes a letter to their future self, telling a little about what their life is like now and wondering aloud what the future will bring.

The first thing that strikes you is that this 8-year-old speaks flawless English. Although the Swedish education system does teach English early and quite well, there is also the fact that Gabi’s mother is from England, so they had a bit of a head start. The other thing that is immediately apparent is that this kid is charting their own course, deciding how to express their gender, feeling free to adopt some bits of “boys” clothing and behavior and other bits of “girls,” while holding to the idea that the two are more similar than different. It’s a glimpse into a world very different from my childhood, to be sure; highly recommended.

• IMDb page • Instagram: @Gabi_Documentary • Trailer •

Jewelle: A Just Vision

Jewelle: A Just Vision, dir. Madeleine Lim, 2022, USA, 64m. 💝

Saturday, June 11, 2022, 3:00pm, Presidio

+Streaming

Jewelle Gomez’s career spans multiple genres, including writing poetry, writing plays, appearing in lesbian erotic film, and being a named plaintiff in a major marriage equality case, just to name a few. She has been involved in QWOCMAP for many years, among many other organizations and causes — truly a major presence in the Bay Area arts scene as well as many flavors of activism.

Jewelle: A Just Vision tells her life story, including a great many parts she doesn’t often share publicly, giving context to her life and her activism, and honoring our living ancestor while she’s still here to receive the kudos. (Don’t worry, though: Jewelle shows no signs of slowing down any time soon!) Jewelle’s ancestry is a mix of Native American (Ioway and Wampanoag), African American, and Cabo Verdean. She grew up in New England and lived in New York for many years before moving to San Francisco, where she now finds home. She was an early AIDS activist, a radical advocate for people of color, an important writer in many genres (including Black lesbian vampire fiction!), and indeed “a force of nature.” To list all the areas where she has made an impact, would take longer than the 64-minute runtime of the film.

This documentary is definitely a must see.

The entire 18th annual QWOCMAP festival is available for online screening, but only June 24, 25 and 26th. Check out QWOCMAP.org for more information.

• IMDb page: Jewelle Gomez • Official website •

Saturday, June 25, 2022

Pat Rocco Dared

Pat Rocco Dared, dir. Morris Chapdelaine & Bob Christie, 2021, Canada, 89m. 💖

Saturday, June 25, 2022, 9:15pm Castro

+Streaming

I had never heard of Pat Rocco, either as a filmmaker or as a political activist, but he was an important figure in both realms, sometimes at the same time. Pat made films featuring gay men in romantic situations, with full frontal nudity (but no erections and certainly no penetration), and with open displays of affection, including the first male-male romantic kiss on a movie screen, back in 1968. He mostly successfully skirted the obscenity laws, but he also wanted to portray a vision of gay sexuality that wasn’t just about the carnal. The men in his films were playful and romantic, a far cry from the “oh, yeah, verb that noun” style of porno. There was an activist edge to those depictions of gay men as capable of love and happiness, but some of his films were more directly political, like filming an actual police raid of a gay club and then going back three days later to recreate the dancing that the police had claimed was obscene. He co-founded the Los Angeles Gay Pride parade (pushing for it to be a “parade” rather than a “march”), campaigned for Harvey Milk, and worked in many other political campaigns, plus working to help homeless LGBTQ+ people.

Pat Rocco Dared had to be completed during the Covid era, which meant that some interviews that might otherwise have been filmed in person, were done over video link. Pat himself passed away in 2018, although luckily the film crew were able to spend an entire weekend with him in 2017, conducting hours of interviews as well as looking through his treasure trove of films (both his own and other people’s) and memorabilia from his decades of work. The importance of Pat Rocco’s too-often overlooked legacy more than makes up for any rough edges to the documentary. Definitely a must see, especially for activists and filmmakers, but also for anyone with an interest in the history of LGBTQ+ liberation and representation.

• IMDb page • Official website • Trailer •

In from the Side

In from the Side, dir. Matt Carter, 2022, UK, 134m. 👎😵

Saturday, June 25, 2022, 6:00pm Castro

I’ve never been much of a sportsball enthusiast, but I think I can now say that, of all the flavors of sportsball, rugby is my absolute least favorite. I’ve certainly read sexy stories about rugby players, but never saw anything remotely like a real match. So that started the film off at a significant disadvantage. However, the main issue I had with this movie is that neither of the principal characters ever engaged a single solitary shred of my sympathy, my empathy, or even my interest, except in the sense of being interested to watch a train wreck in slow motion. From the very beginning, I found the connection between the two men to be utterly unbelievable, and most of the interactions with other characters rang false as well. There were a few laughs along the way, but nothing to give me any emotional investment in the (at times painfully predictable) plot or the characters.

I suppose if you’re a die-hard rugby fanatic, this film might be just what you’re looking for; certainly tonight’s audience mostly seemed to love it. However, for anyone else, I give this one an enthusiastic, rousing NOT RECOMMENDED.

• IMDb page • Official website • Trailer •

Nelly & Nadine

Nelly & Nadine, dir. Magnus Gertten, 2022, Sweden/‌Belgium/‌Norway, 92m., in English, French, Swedish, and Spanish with full English subtitles 💝

Sunday, June 19, 2022, 4:00pm Castro

+Streaming

Nelly Mousset-Vos (pictured, right) and Nadine Hwang (left) met in the Ravensbrück concentration camp in 1944, both imprisoned for “espionage” against the Nazis. Nelly was part of an organized resistance group; Nadine helped some people escape over the border from occupied France into Spain. They felt an immediate connection in their love of music and drew life-sustaining hope from their friendship. Nadine was then transferred to Mauthausen, but after liberation they were able to reunite, eventually moving together to Venezuela.

Nelly & Nadine is the amazing record of their relationship, including photos, diaries, letters, and home movies, brought back to the surface by Nelly’s granddaughter Sylvie. It’s a story of love in circumstances of existential despair, and of building a life together, quietly but authentically being themselves in the 1950s and 60s. Sylvie visited Nelly and Nadine when she was a child, but didn’t question why these two women shared a house. In retrospect it’s obvious, but to a child they seemed to be just very good friends.

Only a very few survivors of Nazi concentration camps are still with us, so it is vital that we keep the memory of those horrors, and the humanity that survived through them, alive so that chapter of history doesn’t repeat itself. This documentary is a testament to love in the worst of times. Must see.

• IMDb page • Official website • Trailer •

The Unabridged Mrs. Vera’s Daybook

The Unabridged Mrs. Vera’s Daybook, dir. Robert James, 2022, USA, 81m. 💖

Saturday, June 25, 2022, 1:15pm Castro

+Streaming

This is not Mrs. Vera’s first appearance at Frameline. First, there was a short documentary, Verasphere: A Love Story in Costumes (Frameline43). Then KQED wanted the director to make it into a feature-length documentary, but then Covid changed all of our plans, so KQED put up an abridged version of the unfinished work. Now we finally get to see the whole thing.

Mrs. Vera is a flamboyant character (pictured) created by David Faulk in the 1990s out of the darkness of the worst of the AIDS pandemic, when people with AIDS felt they were living on borrowed time. Although colorful, thoroughly over-the-top costumes are an integral part of Mrs. Vera, they aren’t the whole story, and now Mrs. Vera is confronting the challenge of a new pandemic, particularly one that made it impossible for a time to do much of the hands-on collaboration that turned Mrs. Vera into a community project, with dozens of people joining in to march in the Pride parade.

The Unabridged Mrs. Vera’s Daybook is a story of resilience and defiance, now in the face of two pandemics, injecting color and humor while recognizing the darkness and gloom around us. It’s a must see.

• IMDb page • Official website •

Donna

Donna, dir. Jay Bedwani, 2022, UK/France, 75m. 👍

Saturday, June 25, 2022, 11:00am Castro, World premiere

Donna Personna didn’t perform as a drag queen until she was nearly 60, but she has been part of San Francisco queer arts for decades, and was in the Compton’s Cafeteria scene before the 1966 riot. This documentary charts her process from her conservative Baptist upbringing in San José to moving to San Francisco at age 19 to performing with the Cockettes to becoming an activist, recognized by the mayor for fiercely advocating for individual freedom, for trans people but also for everyone. As Donna says, “When you’re free to be, you can be amazing.” Highly recommended.

• IMDb page • Official website • Trailer •

Friday, June 24, 2022

Black as U R

Black as U R, dir. Michael Rice, 2022, USA, 84m.

Sunday, June 19, 2022, 6:15pm Castro 💝

+Streaming

Winner: Out in the Silence Award

Black LGBTQ+ people still face racism in the LGBTQ+ community, and they still face homophobia and transphobia in the Black community, but there are many people who are, nevertheless, both Black and LGBTQ+. In this documentary, a gay Black filmmaker brings his personal perspective, historical information about figures like James Baldwin and Bayard Rustin, interviews with preachers and professors, and a deep dive with several Black trans youth.

I can’t speak for how this documentary is, will be, or should be received in the Black community, nor in the Black LGBTQ+ community, but as a white cis-male who grew up on the outskirts of a Southern city (technically within the city limits, but culturally very much in the suburbs), it’s an important reminder of how much work remains to be done before we are all free and equal in this country. Definitely a must see.

• IMDb page • Official website • Trailer •

note: the streaming version is mostly not closed-captioned

All Man: The International Male Story

All Man: The International Male Story, dir. Bryan Darling & Jesse Finley Reed, 2022, USA, 84m. 👍

Friday, June 24, 2022, 8:30pm Castro

+Streaming

I’m much more of a “jeans and t-shirt” kind of person than a fashion plate, so the International Male catalogue (almost a magazine, but always with ordering details on every page) wasn’t a major part of my life, but for millions of gay men, especially in small towns far from the coasts, it was a rare glimpse of the possibility of a very different world. It showed muscular, masculine men wearing colorful foofy clothes, including the skimpiest of underwear. It began with the simple premise that “gray suit with a white shirt and a tie” wasn’t the only option for a man who wanted to dress well, but it capitalized on the wave of sexual liberation, too, though without ever directly saying so.

All Man traces the origins of International Male through to its demise in the early 2000s, with interviews with the founder, staff, photographers, and models, interspersed with commentary from present-day queer fashion icons like Carson Cressley and clips from contemporary popular media. It’s well organized, with a clear chronology underpinning the story. I highly recommend it for all audiences, but it is definitely a Must See for anyone who ever kept a couple of International Male catalogues under the mattress for those “private moments.”

• IMDb page • Official website • screens at Outfest July 17, 2022