San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Frameline to open with Juneteenth block party
The 48th San Francisco International International LGBTQ+ Film Festival announced it will celebrate Juneteenth with a free Castro Street block party with live music and an outdoor screening of a documentary about “Old Town Road” rapper Lil Nas X.
With the Castro Theatre, the festival’s usual headquarters, undergoing renovation, Frameline 48 is scheduled to run June 19-29 at the Roxie Theater, the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, the Herbst Theatre, the Vogue Theater and the New Parkway Theater in Oakland, Frameline announced Tuesday, April 30.
“In this climate, our queer joy, community, and visibility are all political statements,” Allegra Madsen, the nonprofit LGBTQ+ media arts organization’s new executive director, said in a statement. “Cultural change always begins with art and storytelling, what sets Frameline apart is that our organization is built by and for LGBTQ+ people. This year the festival program sets out to highlight how queer artists and queer cultural production has shaped the world we live in.”
Madsen revealed four movies on opening weekend, led by “Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero,” directed by Zachary Manuel and Carlos López Estrada, which follows the queer rapper, singer and songwriter on his first-ever tour.
She also announced its first available tickets — for two films on that opening weekend: The Belgian youth romance “Young Hearts,” which will be followed by an opening gala celebration; and “Queen of My Dreams,” about a queer Pakistani grad student’s relationship with her mother. Tickets go on sale starting at 11 a.m. Wednesday, May 1.
Also on opening weekend, Frameline 48 will partner with KQED Live and local filmmaker Deborah Craig for a screening of her documentary “Sally!,” which is about feminist, professor and fantasy author Sally Gearhart.
The full program is expected to be revealed on May 21. For more details, go to frameline.org