Frameline43’s Full Slate Unveiled: SF Gay Men’s Chorus, Virginia Woolf, Trixie Mattel and more

The world’s foremost, largest, and longest running LGBTQ+ film festival will feature 59 US premieres, including 22 world premieres, welcome all-star guests and bestow the 2019 Frameline Award to queer pioneer filmmaker Rodney Evans

Frameline, the world’s longest-running and largest showcase of queer cinema, is proud to announce the full program for its 43^rd annual Festival after unveiling its first 12 titles last month. Frameline43, the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, takes place June 20-30, 2019 in San Francisco, Berkeley, and Oakland. This year’s slate includes 59 films screening for the first time in the US, including 22 world premieres, 8 international premieres, 12 North American premieres, and 17 US premieres. The lineup also contains a record-breaking 22 first narrative features.

“Frameline is thrilled to return for our 43rd year, serving as a platform for the world’s finest in LGBTQ+ content. I’m always invigorated by the film artists who present a fresh slate of astounding storytelling each year that continues to educate and inspire us all,” says Frameline Executive Director Frances Wallace. “People question the place of film festivals in a now media-saturated culture, but the Festival is about communities: bringing everyone together to celebrate and expand our knowledge of the world around us, as well as ourselves. Frameline’s Festival attendance increased in 2018, and we predict a continued expansion of our audience this year. The LGBTQ+ world has never been quiet; they show up in droves, stomp their feet, and cheer. Frameline43’s outstanding program will continue to demonstrate that there will always be queer film to stomp about.”

“I’m ecstatic with this year’s exceptional slate, that the outstanding Programming team has put together,” adds Paul Struthers, Frameline’s Director of Exhibition & Programming. “There are so many discovery titles and an astounding 22 first narrative features at the Festival this year. We are proud to be showing over 50 films that have never been screened in the US, including HISTORY LESSONS, an exquisite dramedy from Mexico about an unusual student-teacher friendship; BIT, which stars transgender superstar Nicole Maines in an LGBTQ+ vampire story; and from Argentina, Berlin International Film Festival fave FAMILY MEMBERS, a beautiful film about siblings and first love that will be making its North American premiere with us. We can’t wait to share our lineup of 174 films from 38 countries with Bay Area audiences in June.”

Highlights of the festival include:

Chanya Button’s Vita & Virginia, starring Elizabeth Debicki as Virginia Woolf and Gemma Arterton as Vita Sackville-West, will open the festival. A shimmering costume drama, it also features a strong supporting turn from Isabella Rossellini as Vita’s mother. As the two remarkably different novelists begin exploring each other’s minds and bodies, the relationship sparks a creative surge in Woolf, who uses her androgynous lover, Sackville-West, as the muse for one of her greatest novels, Orlando. Vita & Virginia premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival.

Closing the festival will be Gay Chorus Deep South from David Charles Rodrigues. The film details the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus as they boldly tour areas of the southern United States, joined by the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, bringing their message of love and inclusion for everyone. Juxtaposing chorus members’ modern-day encounters with historical perspectives, director David Charles Rodrigues chronicles this intense and inspirational journey. Fueled by fantastic music, this dynamic documentary captures the heart and soul of a contemporary civil rights movement. Gay Chorus Deep South premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award for Documentary.

From Nick Zeig-Owens, Trixie Mattel: Moving Parts is a behind-the-scenes exposé of RuPaul’s Drag Race star and country music songstress, Trixie Mattel, and offers a glimpse into the backstage drama of a drag superstar. Following Trixie through All Stars, a musical world tour, and the genesis of her Viceland series with Katya, Moving Parts showcases the glitz and glamour of fame as well as its pitfalls when you have a legion of fans watching your every move.

Frameline will present its most prestigious honor, the 2019 Frameline Award, to visionary filmmaker Rodney Evans, whose films both in narrative fiction and documentary form have explored the histories and worlds of African Americans negotiating sexuality, and the calling of art. They will show a 15th anniversary screening of Evans’ landmark film BROTHER TO BROTHER (a contemporary homage to the Harlem Renaissance) and the award itself will be presented on June 26 at 4:00pm at the Castro Theatre, prior to the screening of Evans’ latest documentary, VISION PORTRAITS, an appreciation of several visually impaired artists.

About Frameline43: San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival:

Frameline43, the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, takes place June 20-30, 2019. Spanning five venues in the Bay Area, the 43rd Festival celebrates the spectrum and intersection of identities that make up LGBTQ+ communities worldwide. Join filmmakers and festival goers alike at the biggest showcase of queer media on the planet. Info and tickets: www.frameline.org