Frameline celebrates bold era
LGBTQ filmmakers less worried about fitting in
When “Moonlight” became the first LGBTQ film in history to win the Academy Award for best picture, it reflected a littlediscussed but evolving cinematic trend: LGBTQ storytelling is some of the most interesting and innovative in the world right now.
This exciting era of unapologetic filmmaking will be on display June 15-25 at San Francisco’s Frameline festival, the largest and most important LGBTQ movie event on the planet. The quality of the films has never been higher, with many of them having won awards or wowed audiences at Sundance, Berlin, Toronto, Tribeca and South by Southwest.
It is fitting, perhaps, that this surge of creativity is coming from filmmakers who don’t seem to care about, well, fitting in.
“We’re seeing an undeniably creative and bold storytelling approach from filmmakers who don’t seem concerned about their queer gaze or cultural background fitting in with the mainstream,” said Des Buford, Frameline’s director of exhibition and programming. “There’s a casual indifference to what’s deemed ‘relatable’ that lends their films a refreshingly authentic, and honest feeling.”
Two prominent examples: “God’s Own Country,” a romance between a Yorkshire sheep farmer and a migrant, which won major awards at Sundance and Berlin; and “I Dream in Another Language,” a surreal tale of lost love, which won an audience award at Sundance.
Frances Wallace, Frameline’s executive
director, said: “The sophistication of Frameline41’s narratives both from the United States and internationally is astounding. The scripts and story lines have reached a high point that, as evidenced by awards, at times is now overshadowing non-LGBTQ storytelling.”
The festival will open with “The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin,” a crowdpleaser about the San Francisco author of the seminal “Tales of the City” serial. The U.S. centerpiece will be the affectingly wry “Becks,” starring Tony winner Lena Hall as a broke singer with a broken heart. And the closing-night feature will be “After Louie,” a moving film in which Alan Cumming plays a closed-off AIDS activist who turns to a Millennial to reconnect with the world.
In between, there will be more than 140 films, many with singular, unbridled visions.
“I don’t think queer filmmakers and artists care nearly as much as they used to about mainstream audience’s reactions to things like gay sex and intimacy on screen. And honestly, I don’t think audiences care nearly as much — especially the younger generation,” Buford said.
“This frees queer artists to explore deeper storytelling and characters. That means we’re seeing films that are incidentally queer — meaning the character’s sexual orientation or gender identity don’t define every aspect of the film.”
Programmer Harry Vaughn also is finding that more narratives have refreshingly positive and hopeful outcomes — which wasn’t always the case.
“Our community has, over the years, come to expect films that feature frank depictions of gay sex or love to end in tragedy or violence,” he said. “But recently, we’re seeing a positive shift, whether it’s the sex-positive intergenerational affirmation of ‘After Louie,’ the complicated revelations about personal responsibility in ‘Becks’ or the messy but durable same-sex affections at the heart of ‘God’s Own Country.’ ”
Despite the progress, everyone at Frameline stressed that LGBTQ filmmakers still face daunting challenges.
“There are still issues of access to financing and broad distribution platforms that face filmmakers choosing to work with LGBTQ themes,” said senior programmer Peter L. Stein. “And women and filmmakers of color still face a steeper challenge to get their work made and seen.”