Here’s everything coming to Frameline48 & we can’t wait to see it all

Clear your schedule from June 19 to the 29th because the 48th San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival (Frameline48) full lineup is here and you’re going to want to be in attendance!

Today Frameline is announcing everything headed to the screens and stages for this year’s film festival and the events include a conversation with Lena Waithe, a performance by Linda Perry, and screenings of Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winner In the Summers, Lady Camden’s Lady Like, and a 4K-Restoration of Go Fish — and we are just getting started.

This year marks the 48th year of the world’s longest-running LGBTQ+ film festival. Programmers this year sorted through over 1,600 submissions and invitations to create this year’s program and will be presenting them from June 19–29 in theaters across the San Francisco Bay Area, including the Roxie Theater, the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, the Herbst Theatre, the Vogue Theatre, and The New Parkway Theater in Oakland. Their mission is to center historic venues throughout the Bay Area and highlight how film and queerness will carry on.

Instead of the typical opening night show this year’s festivities will kick off with the first-ever Castro neighborhood celebration of Juneteenth, featuring a free outdoor event and block party with music, drag performances from Reparations curated by the winner of the Drag Queen of the Year Pageant, Nicki Jizz, as well as a screening of Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero.

“I can’t think of any better way to kick off Frameline48 than with a screening of Long Live Montero,” said Allegra Madsen, Frameline’s Executive Director. “As a queer Black artist, Lil Nas X embodies so much of what this year’s Festival is about meeting the cultural moment and using art as a means of expression, connection, and creating lasting change. At the same time, it’s important—and even revolutionary—to continue celebrating queer joy.”

Speaking of queer joy, here’s what else attendees can look forward to during the festivities.

Perfect Endings

Daniel Ribeiro

World Premiere | Queer Premiere

From the director of The Way He Looks, this endearing and erotic romcom centers on gay filmmaker João. Fresh off of a 10-year-long relationship and ready to dive back into the single dating scene, João begins incorporating his romantic pursuits into his latest screenplay, swiftly blurring the lines between the two.

Sally!

Deborah Craig

World Premiere | Queer Premiere

Sally Gearheart was a radical lesbian feminist (and something of a sapphic Casanova) in San Francisco whose trailblazing vision and ebullient personality were the spark for movements with far-reaching impacts. This doc cements her legacy while illuminating both the personal and the political in Sally’s impactful life.

Out

Dennis Alink

World Premiere | Queer Premiere

Capturing the recklessness of youth and the excitement of newfound sexual liberties in sensuous B&W cinematography, Out offers up a vivid and sensitive tale of being young and gay. Challenging questions of identity and fitting in arise quickly after secondary school sweethearts Tom and Ajani arrive in Amsterdam to start a new life.

The Life of Sean DeLear

Markus Zizenbacher

World Premiere | Queer Premiere

A multidisciplinary artist and scene queen in a variety of different circles from the beautiful elite to the queer punks of LA in the 90s, Sean DeLear broke the mold when it came to being Black and gay in the art world and in the music scene. Friends and peers piece together DeLear's video archives and writings into a fun, enlightening tribute, honoring the counterculture spirit and light of this one-of-a-kind American artist.

If I Die, It'll Be of Joy

Alexis Taillant

World Premiere | Queer Premiere

A meditation on the often-fraught relationship between sexuality and growing older, director Alexis Taillant’s documentary centers a trio of queer elders as they defy prejudice, rethink aging, and delight in new and familiar experiences.

Una película barata

Osama Chami

World Premiere | Queer Premiere

Fede is depressed and firmly convinced he has no interest in social life. He meets Iván, and old acquaintance from his childhood who is also kind of blue, and he insists they should provide each other company.

Spookable

Jonathan Andre Culliton

West Coast Premiere | Queer Premiere

Two trans best friends (Alexandra Gray and Marval Rex) venture into the woods on a cabin getaway vacation only to end up a part of a horny supernatural world.

Vollúpya

Éri Sarmet & Jocimar Dias Jr.

World Premiere | Queer Premiere

In a post-apocalyptic future, an intergalactic explorer lands at an abandoned museum on a quest to find traces of his long-lost ancestors, and ends up being teleported to the dance floor of a Brazilian queer nightclub in the 1990s.

Threshold

Gregory Brecher

World Premiere | Queer Premiere

It's been thirty years since Joan & Susie stood before their closest friends to celebrate at a small wedding, decades before their union would become legally recognized. Now, in front of children and chosen family, they cross a different threshold.

Cucumber/Knife

Gustavo Vinagre

World Premiere | Queer Premiere

Joana, a non-binary person with a vagina, meets Xtopher, an effeminate gay man, in the FKK area (aka the nudity-permitted area) of a Berlin lake. Then, they decide to go to the cruising area together, where they experience new sensations.

Cidade; Campo

Juliana Rojas

North American Premiere | Queer Premiere

Winner of the Encounters Award for Best Director at the Berlinale, this transfixing diptych explores the divides between urban and rural, past and present, and tangible and metaphysical. In the first part, a displaced woman adjusts to life in the city, while in the second, a lesbian couple makes a fresh start in the countryside.

Like You

Harrison Sheehan

World Premiere | Queer Premiere

A late-night encounter and a summer romance merge when a small-town teenager named Smith sneaks out to meet a man in his twenties.

Euphoric

Cam Killion

World Premiere | Queer Premiere

Sam brings Olivia back to their place during the heated extension of a first date gone *very* well. After a few stumbling blocks getting into the rhythm, the two find their way back after confronting something that could make or break a burgeoning queer romance… comfort in your own body.

Trans Heaven, Pennsylvania

Hansen Bursic

World Premiere | Queer Premiere

In the 1970s and 1980s, the small Pennsylvania town of New Hope was among a few safe havens outside of major cities for gay men to find community. Over 30 years later, the town’s legacy remained, but now for a different community: transgender women.

Well, I Should Get Going

Celine Sutter

World Premiere | Queer Premiere

Mariah is desperate to leave a party.

Carnage for Christmas

Alice Maio Mackay

West Coast Premiere | Queer Premiere

A true-crime trans podcaster returns to her conservative hometown, just as a masked killer in a Santa suit begins paying grisly homage to the town’s own haunted legend, The Toymaker. In her fifth feature, trailblazing trans director Alice Maio Mackay establishes herself as a horror auteur to keep your eyes on.

Stink

Matias Breuer

World Premiere | Queer Premiere

Transfixed by the smell of his victims, a stalker takes his obsession to the limit.

After Hours

Star Amerasu

World Premiere | Queer Premiere

Two trans women chance encounter in the club bathroom, one at the end of her rope, one at the end of her break working at the bar. Multidisciplinary artist Star Amerasu directs and stars opposite local performing artist Muñeca in this San Francisco tale produced by Elliot Page.

After the Snowmelt

Yi-Shan LO

North American Premiere | Queer Premiere

Both emotionally potent and cinematically striking, After the Snowmelt is a dazzling and unconventional documentary where a filmmaker explores their first experience of great loss after her best friends Chun and Yueh go missing.

The Deep Queer Massacre

Mathieu Morel

North American Premiere

A bunch of horny gayboys journey to a witch’s manor in Normandy. Oh, what experimental horrors await you!

MASC4MASC

Felix Greisinger

North American Premiere

In a world of masculinity, Rafael and friends reign supreme. When he meets Alex, an intimate moment forces Rafael to confront desires and fears, torn between two worlds.

Life Is Not a Competition, But I'm Winning

Julia Fuhr Mann

North American Premiere

As the fight for trans rights in sports continues, this unconventional documentary uses archival Olympic footage, eye-opening historical facts, conversations with gender nonconforming athletes ⎯ and a little bit of time travel ⎯ to recognize forgotten trailblazers, reject violent structures of oppression, and examine the shared experiences of those on the margins: queer, intersex, and Black women athletes.

Demons at Dawn

Julián Hernández

International Premiere

When a chance encounter between a sexy go-go boy and a charming nursing student blossoms into a passionate affair, two young men must learn to carve out their own fate in bustling Mexico City. Director Julián Hernández's new film is a sensual, absorbing portrait of burgeoning love in a hostile world.

Duino

Juan Pablo Di Pace & Andres Pepe Estrada

International Premiere

When Matías attended an international school on Italy’s Adriatic Coast, he fell passionately into the world (if not always the arms) of his eclectic classmates, most memorably a live-wire Swedish rebel-prince. Now decades later, as a filmmaker, he is trying to recapture the world — and love — he lost.

Stories from My Gay Grandparents: Episode 1

J Stevens

International Premiere

After a near-death experience lights a flame within Grandma and Grandpa, they decide to grab life by the boas and tell the world their deepest secret: They're both gay. First stop: the big city... to learn “how to be gay” from the best gay people they know: their grandchildren!

The Astronaut Lovers

Marco Berger

US Premiere | Queer Premiere

Transpiring over a languid summer by the sea in Argentina, Marco Berger's new film is a breezy comedy about openly gay Pedro (Javier Orán) and nominally "straight" Maxi (Lautaro Bettoni), childhood friends reunited years later as young men. Things kick up a notch when Maxi tries to make his ex-girlfriend jealous by saying Pedro is his boyfriend.

Teaches of Peaches

Philipp Fussenegger & Judy Landkammer

US Premiere | Queer Premiere

This year's Teddy Award for Best Documentary offers a playful, all-encompassing syllabus for the 20 years of diddling our skittles and fucking the pain away to The Teaches of Peaches. Featuring interviews from collaborators, admirers, and lovers alike — including Leslie Feist, Chilly Gonzalez, and Shirley Manson — this rousing portrait follows musical artist Peaches as she prepares for the anniversary tour of her breakthrough LP, The Teaches of Peaches.

Rookie

Samantha Lee

US Premiere

When competitive tension turns to romantic tension and passion, two Filipina highschool athletes must come to terms with their conflicting emotions. The perfect film for fans of the WLW genre, the latest film from director Samantha Lee is a sapphic romance with balls — volleyballs and basketballs, that is.

We Forgot to Break Up

Karen Knox

US Premiere

Dust off your VHS camcorder and your punk audio cassettes, and come along for the ride with The New Normals, a young queer Canadian indie band from the early Aughts, as they escape their small town for the excitement and promise of Toronto. The lead singer, Evan, is a trans guy with a gift for songwriting and a desire to live life to the fullest, but can a love triangle and the band survive success?

Helen and the Bear

Alix Blair

US Premiere | Queer Premiere

The phrase “opposites attract” has rarely rung so true as in Helen and the Bear, a cinéma vérité portrait of a vibrant woman and her most unusual marriage. Helen Hooper grew up feeling like a boy and as a young woman realized she was queer but went on to wed a man. And a rather unexpected man at that… Pete McCloskey was an antiwar, pro-environment Republican congressman in San Mateo, 26 years Helen’s senior. Despite starting a long-term relationship with another woman, Helen remained wed to the man she calls “Bear.”

Stranger

Jehnny Beth & Iris Chassaigne

US Premiere

For the past 548 days, A has been absent from her own life, unable to feel anything. One night, J appears and takes her along with her, looking for ways to make her heart beat again. Starring Jehnny Beth and Agathe Rousselle, Stranger is a musical tale, the story of an awakening.

What a Feeling

Kat Rohrer

West Coast Premiere

A chance encounter at a lesbian bar brings two women of a certain age living strikingly different lives together in this winning romantic comedy. Named after Irene Cara’s classic anthem from Flashdance, What a Feeling blends heart with a lack of self-consciousness, telling a poignant story of new love amongst two women in the “sandwich generation” while also never taking itself too seriously.

Volver

Borja Larrondo & Diego Sánchez

US Premiere

A group of artists from the LGTBQ+ collective return to their hometowns aboard a pride float. A road movie that travels through the Spanish geography making visible the cultural clash with the most intransigent past.

Halfway

Kumar Chheda

US Premiere

A turbulent couple finds themselves at opposing entrances of the Juhu beach, compelling them to walk towards each other and meet in the middle.

Crossing

Levan Akin

West Coast Premiere

Lia, a retired teacher, has promised to find her long-lost niece, Tekla. Her search takes her to Istanbul where she meets Evrim, a lawyer fighting for trans rights, and Tekla starts to feel closer than ever.

High Tide

Marco Calvani

West Coast Premiere

For his first feature, Marco Calvani places his real-life partner, Marco Pigossi, at the heart of this sexy, bittersweet film about a Brazilian man in Provincetown making a living through the harsh gig economy following an unexpected break-up. Marisa Tomei and James Bland also star.

Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story

Michael Mabbott & Lucah Rosenberg-Lee

West Coast Premiere | Queer Premiere

Recipient of this year’s Out in the Silence Award, this affecting portrait reconstructs the fascinating life and immense talent of transgender singer Jackie Shane. The film investigates why the soul singer disappeared from the spotlight just as she was at the precipice of fame and success.

The World According to Allee Willis

Alexis Spraic

West Coast Premiere | Queer Premiere

This fun, illuminating doc is a love letter to the late songwriter Allee Willis (who co-wrote Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September”) from those who loved her, including Cyndi Lauper, Paul Reubens, Patti LaBelle, Lily Tomlin, the Pet Shop Boys, and Willis’ longtime partner Prudence Fenton.

The Queen of My Dreams

Fawzia Mirza

West Coast Premiere

Against the backdrop of a shared obsession with Bollywood fantasy, Mariam, a Pakistani Muslim woman, and her Canadian-born daughter Azra come of age in two different eras.

Fragments of a Life Loved

Chloé Barreau

West Coast Premiere | Queer Premiere

Having documented each of her romantic partners on film since her late teens, Chloé Barreau embarks on a bold experiment to flesh out an autobiographical project. She invites each of her exes — both male and female — to divulge their side of the story, filmed by a neutral party to allow for candid reflections of Barreau and their time together.

I Don't Understand You

Brian Crano & David Craig

West Coast Premiere | Queer Premiere

Nick Kroll and Andrew Rannells are effortlessly funny as a married couple who jet-set off to Italy for their anniversary. Eagerly awaiting news on an adoption, the couple’s baby anxieties become the least of their problems when their getaway starts to spiral comically and wildly out of control.

Split

Iris Brey

West Coast Premiere

In this slick and sexy limited series shown in its entirety at the Festival, complex, powerful emotions arise between stunt performer Anna (Alma Jodorowsky) and Eve Callac (Jehnny Beth), the actor she’s doubling for. As things start to heat up, the usually fearless Anna finds herself cautiously stepping into her sexuality while stepping out of the life she envisioned for herself.

Rent Free

Fernando Andrés

West Coast Premiere | Queer Premiere

After blowing up their lives, relationships, and finances, besties Ben (Jacob Roberts) and Jordan (David Treviño) come up with a scheme to live “rent free” for a year, and chaos ensues. This charming comedy from writer/director Fernando Andrés is an intimate, naturalist look at Gen-Z trying to find stability in modern-day Austin, Texas.

Linda Perry: Let It Die Here

Don Hardy

West Coast Premiere | Queer Premiere

With cameos by Dolly Parton, Christina Aguilera, and Brandi Carlile, this portrait of Linda Perry (best known as the frontwoman for The 4 Non Blondes) celebrates her as one of pop music's most influential forces. Afterwards, join us at Oasis for a live performance from Perry at our Pride Kickoff party.

Meanwhile

Catherine Gund

West Coast Premiere | Queer Premiere

What is the quality of the breath that allows you to express, resist, persist? This question permeates the genre-defying Meanwhile, a poetic, non-linear journey that explores the impact of white supremacy on connection, relationships, and life. Through art, dance, archival footage, and lyrical narration, director Catherine Gund creates a meditation on how the effects of racism shape our shared experience.

Lady Like

Luke Willis

West Coast Premiere

The pages of Drag Race queen Lady Camden's fairytale story are filled with growth, discovery, and a true passion for performance. Journey along with Camden as she revisits the ballet stages of her youth in the UK, finds drag and chosen family in the Bay Area, and captures fame and confidence on reality TV and across the world.

Fallen Fruit

Chris Molina

West Coast Premiere

In this funny and tender depiction of the sometimes awkward but often enlightening transitional years of one’s early 20s, naïve but charming Alex (Ramiro Batista) returns home to Miami after a catastrophic breakup back in New York City. But over the course of the summer, he receives a crash course in adulthood from his first hook-up.

Turtles

David Lambert

West Coast Premiere

Now in their 80s, Thom and Henri are a married couple living an outwardly sweet existence at their quaint home in Brussels with their pet turtles Topsy and Turvy, but after Henri retires, his newfound lack of purpose clashes against Thom’s attempts to rekindle their passion. Turtles likens Thom and Henri to a classic Tracy and Hepburn duo as they spar the way only people who truly know one another can.

1-800-ON-HER-OWN

Dana Flor

West Coast Premiere | Queer Premiere

Ani DiFranco. The raw energy. The stream-of-consciousness storytelling. We surely know Ani as a touring phenom in the 1990s, but who is our favorite righteous babe as a 51-year-old married mother of two? 1-800-ON-HER-OWN is a backstage pass to the boxes in her attic with never-before-seen archival footage.

Birthday

Shine Louise Houston

A night out, an old friend, and a special treat coalesce in this poetic short film by Shine Louise Houston.

Falling Up

Eric Garcia

Queer Premiere

A gaggle of glittery drag artists gather for a rumpus frolic evoking unapologetic queer joy.

¡salsa!

Antonina Kerguelén Román

West Coast Premiere | Queer Premiere

Between sounds of congas and bongos, Margarita seeks freedom in a place that judges those outside the norm. Her path crosses with Liana’s, a deaf tourist, at a seaside kiosk. Their difficulty to communicate is what makes way for their bodies to fall in love and speak by themselves through dance.

One Night at Babes

Angelo Madsen Minax

West Coast Premiere

At a rural Vermont dive bar called BABES, Cribbage tournaments overlap afternoons of karaoke and nights of raucous queer dance parties. When the aging conservative townsfolk and the younger queer leftists begin sharing the same watering hole, a delicate allegiance flourishes.

Mother

Meg Shutzer & Brandon Yadegari Moreno

West Coast Premiere | Queer Premiere

In San Francisco, a city known for its queer community and bustling gay nightlife, there hasn't been a lesbian bar for almost a decade. Driven by nostalgia for a time when queer women had spaces, self-identified dyke Malia Spanyol sets out to build one for the next generation of women and femmes.

If I'm Here It Is By Mystery

Clari Ribeiro

West Coast Premiere

New Rio, 2054. Renowned witch Dahlia arrives at the port with a mission: to found the most powerful Clan that has ever existed and thus defeat the Order of Truth. In the future, many people are trans — but only a few are witches.

The Callers

Lindsey Dryden

West Coast Premiere | Queer Premiere

The Callers combines anonymous testimony with imagined creative scenes to tell the story of those who have called the oldest queer support line in the UK. Since 1974, listening volunteers at LGBT Switchboard have been taking anonymous calls and messages from queers across Britain.

The Birth of Naikee

Clémentine Decremps

West Coast Premiere

The film follows the trajectory of Naikee, a black transwoman activist, in her quest for identity and freedom. By re-interpreting Boticceli’s painting "The Birth of Venus," Naikee asserts her right to exist differently.

Haze

Matthew Fifer

West Coast Premiere

Cole Doman and Brian J. Smith star in this atmospheric, darkly sexy thriller about a journalist’s quest for answers to the deaths of eight gay men at his hometown’s psychiatric hospital. Now abandoned and intentionally forgotten by the town's people, the looming structure haunts Joe in his quest for the truth.

Alok

Alex Hedison

West Coast Premiere | Queer Premiere

A compelling portrait of Alok, acclaimed non-binary author, poet, comedian, and public speaker. Executive produced by Jodie Foster, Alok is directed by Alex Hedison (The L Word) and features appearances from fellow queer influencers Dylan Mulvaney and Chani Nicholas.

Chimera

Kryzz Gautier

West Coast Premiere | Queer Premiere

Haunted by the past, a brilliant tech-addicted developer faces an impossible dilemma: recreate her ex-girlfriend in virtual reality or hold onto the crumbling relationship with her current one.

Ripe!

Tusk

West Coast Premiere | Queer Premiere

Nothing says "it's complicated" like breaking your crush's arm.

Paradise Europe

Leandro Goddinho & Paulo Menezes

West Coast Premiere

On the day thousands of people are protesting against unaffordable rents in Berlin, a Brazilian who was just kicked out of his place struggles to find a new room while his personal life falls apart.

Best Years

Jordan Hidalgo

World Premiere | Queer Premiere

Heartbroken, listening to Enya, and making Mickey Mouse pancakes in his underwear, the last thing thirtysomething Brooklynite Troy wants to do is welcome new neighbors... that is until he sees Abel’s captivating smile, pushing his hope for a rekindled romance with his ex-boyfriend Chance to the back burner.

Bold Eagle

Whammy Alcazaren

West Coast Premiere

Bold Eagle is about an “alter,” a person who anonymously posts nudes and performs lascivious acts in the nether regions of the Internet. Trapped at home with hallucinogenic drugs and his talking cat, BOLD seeks refuge in the strong arms of strange men from the internet as they masturbate their way to true happiness.

Burrow

Leaf Lieber

West Coast Premiere | Queer Premiere

Believing himself to be one of the last survivors left in the wake of human extinction, an ex-war soldier finds unexpected comfort with the arrival of a weary traveler.

The Dinner

Jesús Martínez 'Nota'

West Coast Premiere

There are some issues which cannot be left for later!

T-Minus

Emily Lerer

West Coast Premiere

T-Minus tells the story of Andrew, a trans mechanic, and a drag queen named Lex as they roadtrip from Ohio to Detroit to obtain an abortion.

The Judgment

Marwan Mokbel

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere

Believing that a family member used witchcraft to punish his perceived sins, Mo and his partner are forced back into the closet when they return to Egypt from the US in this stirring film. This unique, stirring film is one part piercing family drama, one part sexy reverie, and another part religious terror.

Kasbi

Farah Jabir

West Coast Premiere | Queer Premiere

A middle-aged Pakistani housewife, in search of herself, hires a young, self-assured sex worker to keep her company for the night.

Stud Country

Lina Abascal & Alexandra Kern

West Coast Premiere | Queer Premiere

Stud Country, the largest queer country western line dancing event in America, was created to preserve Los Angeles' little known 50+ year queer line dancing tradition. Despite its success and fiercely committed community, the event is set to lose its venue due to gentrification.

Foraging

Matthew Jacobs Morgan

West Coast Premiere

A bored gay couple go cruising for the first time, but when they get lost in the woods, the cracks of their relationship become chasms.

Beach Logs Kill

Haley Z. Boston

West Coast Premiere | Queer Premiere

At a high school football game, the star quarterback promises her lucky number to the deserving girl teammate. During the game things go wrong. An awkward girl in detention tries to prove herself worthy of quarterback's regard and legacy.

Sebastian

Mikko Mäkelä

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere

Struggling as a young aspiring writer in London, Max (the sensational Ruaridh Mollica) forges a new identity for himself in the form of a ravenous sex worker: Sebastian. Opening himself up to a previously unexplored world, Max suddenly finds himself unburdened by expectations and invigorated by possibility — until these two worlds threaten to collide into one another.

Dream Burger

Sami Kali

West Coast Premiere

Luke and Simon always go for burgers together after tennis. But this time, Luke wants to tell Simon how he really feels about him. How will Simon react? Luke's vivid imagination leads us into some intense scenarios, only to reveal a surprising truth.

The Summer with Carmen

Zacharias Mavroeidis

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere

This laugh-out-loud hilarious and unrelentingly horny film brilliantly blends fantasy and reality as two best friends, both downtrodden actors, decide to turn the chaotic antics of a recent summer into a screenplay. Over the course of a sunny afternoon at a scenic gay nude beach, Demos and Nikitas relive the break-ups, hook-ups, and fuck-ups that made up their fateful summer with a dog named Carmen.

Asog

Seán Devlin

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere

Setting off on the road to a drag pageant, non-binary teacher-by-day/comedian-by-night Jaya seeks to reclaim their quest for fame that was derailed by a typhoon a decade prior. With a young student in tow, Jaya’s journey through the Philippines becomes one of restoration in this visionary blend of fable and nonfiction.

Chuck Chuck Baby

Janis Pugh

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere

Writer/director Janis Pugh’s Chuck Chuck Baby is a singular combination of a classic lesbian romance and an unconventional jukebox musical set in a Welsh chicken factory. Bolstered by the women she works with and the cathartic music she loves, Helen rekindles a romance that never was with Joanne.

Power Alley

Lillah Halla

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere | Queer Premiere

Lillah Halla’s punky and electrifying debut follows Sofia, a 17-year-old volleyball star in São Paulo who finds herself unexpectedly pregnant. While seeking a solution in a country where abortion is illegal, she becomes the target of the radical conservative community. But these far-right, anti-choice zealots are no match for the incendiary spark of solidarity ignited by her ferociously queer teammates.

In the Summers

Alessandra Lacorazza

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere | Queer Premiere

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize and Directing Award in the U.S. Dramatic competition at Sundance, this delicately powerful ode to fractured fatherhood and sibling solidarity follows two sisters over the course of the most formative years of their lives, with their adoring but tempestuous father.

Can't Stop Change: Queer Climate Stories from the Florida Frontlines

Vanessa Raditz, Natalia Villarán-Quiñones, Yarrow Koning, Jess Martínez, & Shoog McDaniel

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere

“Fear to the side, power to the front” is Valencia’s motto when it comes to queer ecology activists fighting the climate crisis in Florida, a state shaped by water, wind, and political storms. Estimates say 60% of Miami will be underwater by 2060 in this “don’t say gay” state. Follow queer and trans activists and learn about the passionate work being done to combat these crises.

Riley

Benjamin Howard

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere

Centered on the clashing emotions and pent-up passions of a beloved high school football star, Riley is a powerful, compelling tale of a young man’s journey to discover who he is, what he wants, and where he’s going. With a powerful performance by Jake Holley in the title role, Riley takes a deep dive into the complex emotions of budding masculinity and the challenge of connecting with teenage peers.

Don't Change Hands

Paul Vecchiali

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere

A wealthy politician hires lesbian detective Mélinda after receiving a mysterious porno film starring her estranged son in Paul Vecchiali’s wildly entertaining bisexual triple-X film noir. The case soon leads Mélinda directly to the Shanghai Lily, a den of iniquity populated by lusty and duplicitous femmes fatales.

Throuple

Greyson Horst

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere

Set amid a lively DIY scene, Throuple finds stalled gay musician Michael drawn into the web of newly-open married couple, Georgie and Connor. Though it’s never quite clear if the husbands are looking for some NSA fun or on the hunt for a third, this new relationship pushes Michael into uncharted waters, artistically and romantically.

A House Is Not a Disco

Brian J. Smith

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere

This gorgeous and emotionally charged film goes behind the scenes of the infamous Fire Island Pines, a gay fantasyland on the East Coast, to uncover real life pleasures and simmering conflict. This doc combines breathtaking visions of natural beauty with the day-to-day drama of the island regulars.

The Herricanes

Olivia Kuan

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere | Queer Premiere

Like the pigskin version of A League of Their Own, The Herricanes captures the 50+ year reunion of the Houston Herricanes, one of the best teams in the very first US women’s full tackle football league in the 1970s. This fun, informative film showcases these trailblazing women (and queer), whose professional dreams were shattered when the league ended after four short years.

Underground Orange

Michael Taylor Jackson

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere | Queer Premiere

A self-proclaimed “genre fluid” film, Underground Orange captures a rare kind of honesty — one that’s both deeply intimate and wildly universal. In director/star Michael Taylor Jackson’s debut feature, a wayward Californian becomes part of a polyamorous relationship within a group of eccentric young actors while backpacking around Argentina. By blending tones, mashing up genre beats, and infusing the everyday with imagination, the film balances thoughtfulness and humor.

Scarecrow in a Garden of Cucumbers

Robert J. Kaplan

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere | Queer Premiere

Largely unseen since 1972, this madcap movie musical extravaganza stars transgender Warhol icon Holly Woodlawn as a small-town girl who tries to make it big (or at least find a roommate) in NYC. She gets tangled up with everyone from wrestlers to crunchy granola lesbians on her quest to find secure housing.

Lesvia

Tzeli Hadjidimitriou

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere

What makes a lesbian? To those inspired by Sappho to gather on the island of Lesvos in the 1970s, women-loving-women is a crucial component. To local Lesvians, however, the answer differs. Lesvia artfully explores what happened when international lesbians and native Lesvians strove to build and preserve community in the same small town.

Doppelgängers³

Nelly Ben Hayoun-Stépanian

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere | Queer Premiere

Talking with experts ranging from an LGBTQ+ rights activist to an astronomer, Dr. Nelly Ben Hayoun-Stépanian ⎯ a French artist and educator of Armenian and Algerian descent ⎯ embarks on an underground space mission. With her doppelgängers in tow, she works to uncover the key to a queer, eco-feminist future devoid of generational trauma, colonization, and imperialism.

After All

Amanda Villalpando

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere | Queer Premiere

A broody, yet clever teen is on the rocks with her long-distance girlfriend when she discovers she can touch a photograph and travel back to the moment it was taken.

My Best Friend

Elina Street

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere

Clara is reeling from a breakup and goes on a staycation with her best friend Léa. The two friends unexpectedly sleep with each other, challenging the constraints of platonic friendship and the true depths of intimacy.

Merchant Ivory

Stephen Soucy

Cinematic collaborators and lifelong partners, James Ivory and Ismail Merchant made 43 films together, including A Room with a View, Howards End, and groundbreaking gay romance Maurice. Their names conjure up sumptuous costumes, slyly subversive scripts, and legendary performances from Helena Bonham Carter, Emma Thompson, and Vanessa Redgrave, each of whom give dishy interviews in this revelatory documentary.

There Are Things to Do

Mike Syers

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere

Urvashi Vaid, an outspoken immigrant, lesbian, and woman of color was an LGBTQ+ superhero helped shape the modern day gay rights movement. Her vision for the movement serves as a roadmap of initiatives & tools for generations of activist as they face anti-LGBTQ+ backlash.

RAT!

Neal Suresh Mulani

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere | Queer Premiere

When a disgruntled music journalist accuses a global pop star of queerbaiting, the singer’s devoted fans descend on his remote cabin to wreak havoc and seek retribution.

The White Crows

Denis Liakhov

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere

Vlad, a young closeted Russian homosexual, returns to his small hometown from Moscow. His brother Liokha has arranged a surprise for him: an evening in the sauna with a female sex worker.

Stan Behavior

Tyler C. Peterson

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere | Queer Premiere

A drag queen embarks on a quest for better workplace rights, but finds herself in a dicey situation when her new lawyer, a tone-deaf straight woman, is revealed to be a drag super stan. Starring Drag Race comic divas Ginger Minj and Heidi N Closet.

National Anthem

Luke Gilford

A must-see on the big screen, this exquisitely cinematic debut feature from celebrated photographer Luke Gilford observes a young man’s blossoming among a community of queer rodeo performers in the American west. Taking an odd job outside of town, 21-year-old Dylan finds himself welcomed into the idyllic ranch family, while falling for champion barrel rider Sky.

Grace

Natalie Jasmine Harris

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere | Queer Premiere

Sixteen-year-old Grace prepares for her baptism in the rural 1950s South. When she learns she must repent before the ritual, Grace contemplates her romantic feelings toward her best friend Louise.

Seat 31: Zoey Zephyr

Kimberly Reed

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere

When Zooey Zephyr was expelled from the Montana House of Representatives for speaking on a bill banning transgender medical care, she made a nearby bench her “office.” Director Kimberly Reed’s cameras land next to Zooey, capturing shocking, funny, and joyous events.

You can't get what you want but you can get me

Samira Elagoz & Z Walsh

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere

A unique slideshow documenting two long-haired transmen falling in love. A sweet and steamy celebration of T4T love with life and art all tangled up, set to music from Beach House, Alex Cameron, and The Strokes.

Bust

Angalis Field

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere | Queer Premiere

A trans girl cop with the NYPD goes undercover to make a drug bust. Starring Lux Pascal and Cole Doman, Bust had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.

My Old Ass

Megan Park

After taking mushrooms on a camping trip, 18-year-old Elliott (Maisy Stella) crosses paths with her 39-year-old self (Aubrey Plaza), who delivers the ominous instruction: “Don’t fall in love.” This funny and unexpectedly moving hit from Sundance explores a queer youth’s discovery of her own bisexuality.

Mad About the Boy: The Noël Coward Story

Barnaby Thompson

Writer, composer, leading man, the dazzlingly talented Noël Coward did it all — even spying for the British crown during World War II. Uneducated and working-class, he reinvented himself as the ultimate British sophisticate, cavorting among the queer demimonde while winking toward his covert homosexuality.

Goodbye Tango

Jason Laurits

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere

The sudden death of Ruth's beloved hamster reveals a decaying marriage with her curmudgeon wife, Connie. Ruth can either accept the death of things or keep spinning the wheel.

The Pansy of Pickadee

Gus George & Paddy Morahan

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere

The Pansy of Pickadee tells the story of a queer young man and a town on the verge of destruction. When all else fails, the young man uses his special skills to save his friends and family and becomes the hero he was born to be.

Good One

India Donaldson

Queer Premiere

With touches of Kelly Reichardt within a unique, fully realized vision, director India Donaldson offers a funny and wry anti-coming-of-age film about a young queer woman (Lily Collias in a revelatory central performance) pressured into weekend camping getaway with her dad (James Le Gros) and his best pal (Danny McCarthy).

Gondola

Veit Helmer

A sublime and smoldering tale of love in mid-air, moving pictures speak a thousand words in Veit Helmer’s whimsical charmer. Chauffeuring gondolas that travel between altitude-defying villages in Caucasus mountains of Georgia, two female conductors court one another without words while trying to avoid the disapprobation of their bilious boss.

That Boy

Peter Berlin

Written, directed, produced, edited, and starring eternal gay sex symbol Peter Berlin, That Boy is a hot, horny, and intentionally funny hardcore paean to, well, Peter Berlin, in a sumptuous new 2K restoration from Vinegar Syndrome. With his pageboy haircut, tight and tanned body, and all of that form-fitting leather, Berlin bursts off the screen — in more ways than one.

Extremely Unique Dynamic

Harrison Xu, Ivan Leung, & Katherine Dudas

In this gleeful buddy/stoner comedy, aspiring actors/ childhood best friends Ryan and Danny have one weekend to make an indie movie about two guys making a movie… about two guys making a movie. When one of Danny’s characters in the meta plot inadvertently reveals his real-life secret, the pair must set aside the cameras to confront the deeper storyline of their friendship.

Wouldn't Make It Any Other Way

Hao Zhou

Having built a colorful queer life in an American prairie town, an aspiring costume designer visits their island homeland of Guam to make costumes for a children’s theatre and reconnect with distanced parents.

Loads

Curt McDowell

Underground San Francisco filmmaker Curt McDowell offers a cinematic account of his “adventures with straight boys and the hospitality he extends to them” in a new restoration of Loads by the Academy Film Archive.

Second Nature

Drew Denny

Queer Premiere

From homosexual penguins to sex-transitioning fish, contemporary scientists have been zealously studying animal behavior and anatomy and exposing the myth of the gender binary. Turns out the natural world is way more diverse and complex than Darwin led us to believe! Director Drew Denny takes the nature documentary to a whole new level in this eye-opening and entertaining expedition.

Queen Size

Avril Besson

This morning, Marina has an appointment with Charlie to sell her a mattress. This evening, she will cancel her plane for Reunion. But they don’t know that yet.

The Robbers

Isa Schieche

Three trans women meet in a country house to plan a robbery. The trick of the heist is that, in order to create a false trail, they disguise themselves as men.

Sweet Dreams

Honey Lee Cottrell

Often called “the pioneer of lesbian gaze,” iconic San Francisco photographer Honey Lee Cottrell was a student at San Francisco State University when she made this lustful, elliptical exploration of female fantasy and self-love.

ILY, BYE

Taylor James

Unemployed and down on her luck, Siobhan (the hilarious Meg Stalter) is presented with a life changing job opportunity. Unfortunately, she can't get her foot out of her mouth long enough to get her foot in the door.

Desire Lines

Jules Rosskam

San Francisco Bay Area Premiere

Travel back in time to a steamy gay bathhouse in the ‘80s and deep dive into transmasculine desire for cisgender gay men in this sexy doc-fiction hybrid by Jules Rosskam. Cutting frank interviews between fictional storylines, this Sundance NEXT Special Jury Award winner celebrates following your authentic desire.

Kings

Eric Garcia

Queer Premiere

Two drag kings fall in love during a bathroom quickie.

Transit

Jiz Lee, Vanniall

Hotel guests discover a room for two. Trans superstar Vanniall and non-binary porn icon Jiz Lee join forces in a short romp that combines safer sex and juxtaposed edits to celebrate the joy in queer sex.

The Barman's Daughter

Shawna Virago

Queer maximalist meets drag meets trans power in Shawna Virago's latest music video. Themes of split consciousness and proliferating doubles set against Virago's glitter twang snarl.

Score

Aron Kantor

Queer Premiere

Bring someone you want to excite! Radley Metzger's legendary erotic masterpiece Score! gets an update from some frisky San Francisco queers.

The Device That Turned Me Into a Cyborg Was Born the Same Year I Was

Chella Man

Through visual metaphors and circumstantial installations, Chella Man explores his cyborg identity and personal relationship to the freedom and constraints cochlear implants created.

Kai Haliʻa (Sea of Memory)

Angelique Kalani Axelrode

Queer Premiere

Through layers of space, time and memory across the ocean and ʻāina (land) on Maui, a diasporic Kānaka (Hawaiian) remembers how to connect back to themselves, their family and their lover.