Frameline’s festival lineup for 2023 includes Pixar’s new film Elementarythe Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott lead roles Bottomsa display of chasing Amy and his new reflective document, pursuit Amy, and the Billy Porter and Luke Evans-led Our son.
The 47th edition of the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival runs June 14-24 and will feature 90 screenings of feature and short films over 11 days before a virtual encore between June 24 and July 2. That includes 12 world, 16 North American and nine American premieres, with the film on opening night WonderlandAndrew Durham’s adaptation of Alysia Abbott’s memoir, featuring a personal appearance by producer Sofia Coppola.
“There’s nothing like seeing a great movie at the cinema – sharing an experience at the same time with friends and strangers,” Frameline executive director James Woolley said in a statement. “Despite the challenges that have changed moviegoing, we are proud to present Northern California’s largest film festival this year. It says so much about the strength and resilience of queer art and community, as well as the urgent need for it.”
Other big screenings at this year’s festival include a free all-ages matinee for Pixar’s latest film, Elementary, which will be widely released in US theaters on June 16. Queer high school comedy Bottoms – what stars The bear‘s Edebiri and Bodies Bodies BodiesSennott – is also scheduled to be screened on Frameline47, featuring Shiva babyEmma Seligman directs the film about two girls who start a school fight club.
There’s also the highly anticipated big screen YA adaptation of Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe. Directed by Aitch Alberto, the story follows Aristotle and Dante, two Mexican-American teenagers whose blossoming friendship explores their struggles with issues such as their racial identity and sexuality while growing up in late ’80s Texas.
De Porter and Evans led Our son, which follows the lives of a gay married couple on the brink of divorce and facing a custody battle over their 8-year-old son, will screen after the Tribeca Film Fest debut. In the meantime, Theater Camp, which made its debut at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and focuses on a group of camp staff who band together to save their theater camp after its owner falls into a coma and her “crypto bro” son takes over, is screened. Amy Sedaris and Ben Platt both star.
Many of the programming’s selections explore the past and present of the history of queer cinema and the collective history of the LGBTQ+, as well as its legacy. That includes an unofficial dual feature of Kevin Smith’s long-discussed chasing Amystarring Ben Affleck and Joey Lauren Adams, along with Sav Rodgers’ personal look at the film’s complicated legacy and its impact on his own life, Hunting for Amy.
“The combination of chasing AmyKevin Smith’s 1997 cult classic, starring Sav Rodgers’ directorial debut, Hunting for Amy, is a perfect summary of not only this year’s festival, but what it means to be a queer filmmaker,” Allegra Madsen, program director at Frameline, said in a statement. “How do filmmakers – and all of us – deal with our problematic cultural past when it was both so formative and so damaging? For queer people, there isn’t always a step-by-step plan to follow. We chart our own paths and the Frameline47 films explore this, regardless of genre.”
Another festival couple is the Lea DeLaria, Tig Notaro, Kate Pierson, Peppermint and Ming-Na Wen starrer Glitter & Doom, a musical that traces a budding romance between a young musician and a feisty circus kid to the soundtrack of The Indigo Girls. Fans of the folk rock duo can also watch the Alexandria Bombach-directed documentary about the musicians, After all, it’s only lifeduring the festival of 2023.
All of this is shown along with marquee displays Cora Boradirected by Hannah Pearl and featured Hacks actor Megan Stalter and Jordan Danger’s film Pride Kickoff God save the queenswhich features drag icon Alaska, who will be performing at the film’s after party at Oasis.
“Frameline47 is meant to be eclectic. In the same way that there is no single queer or trans story, there is no one way LGBTQ+ cinema should look,” said Madsen. “Instead, we have a host of stories that we’re so excited to share in June.”
This year’s Frameline Festival features 47 screenings at the historic Castro Theater, along with the Roxie, CinemaSF’s Balboa Theater, 4-Star Theater, Vogue Theater and The New Parkway Theater in Oakland. The festival’s return to the East Bay will feature the first-ever Oakland Opening Night and Centerpiece films, along with a Centerpiece after-party at Fluid510.
The full Frameline47 line-up can be found here here.
