Frameline

'Cloudburst,' 'Kuchu' Tops Winners at 36th Frameline Film Festival

Peter Knegt — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 15:10:27 GMT

Thom Fitzgerald’s "Cloudburst" and Katherine Fairfax Wright and Malika Zouhali-Worrall's "Call Me Kuchu" topped the winners of the audience awards at Frameline36 the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival, which came to a close this Sunday.

The Festival drew together an audience of 57,000 over 11 days of screenings, culminating with a screening of the forementioned "Cloudburst," which stars Olympia Dukakis and Brenda Fricker as aging New England lesbians that go on a road trip to Canada to get married.

Other major honors at the fest included the juried First Feature Award, which went to Negar Azarbayjani’s "Facing Mirrors," the first Iranian narrative film with a transgender protagonist. Honorable mention went to director Sally El Hosaini's story of two Egyptian brothers living in inner London, "My Brother The Devil."

Taking home the Outstanding Documentary Feature Award was Yariv Mozer's "The Invisible Man," chronicling the stories of gay Palestinian men living in Israel. Honorable Mention went to Michiel Van Erp's "I Am a Woman Now" for its look at a group of aging transwomen who shared the same groundbreaking surgeon in the 60’s and 70’s.

Full press release and other winners below.

San Francisco, CA—The world's largest and longest-running festival celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender films and filmmakers, Frameline36, the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival, closed Sunday, June 24, with Thom Fitzgerald's highly anticipated film CLOUDBURST, followed by a Closing Night party and awards ceremony at Temple Nightclub. The Festival drew together an audience of 57,000 for its 36th edition celebrating the LGBT, independent film, and media arts communities for eleven days of exciting, diverse, innovative, and socially relevant cinema.

Esteemed guests at the well received, showcase festival included filmmakers from around the world, along with independent cinema stars and famous guests such as Lance Bass, Ira Sachs, Thora Birch, Michael Urie and Bishop Gene Robinson. The Festival screened 217 films in eleven days from June 14 through June 24 at the Castro Theatre, the Roxie Theatre, the Victoria Theatre, and the Rialto Cinemas Elmwood in Berkeley, with attendance this year topping 57,000 guests.

Frameline36 is pleased to announce its two juried awards for Outstanding First Feature and Outstanding Documentary, plus two honorable mentions. The Frameline36 Outstanding First Feature Award went to Negar Azarbayjani’s FACING MIRRORS, the first Iranian narrative film with a transgender protagonist. Honorable mention went to director Sally El Hosaini's powerful story of two Egyptian brothers living in inner London, MY BROTHER THE DEVIL.

Taking home the Frameline36 Outstanding Documentary Feature Award was Yariv Mozer's THE INVISIBLE MEN, chronicling the stories of gay Palestinian men living in Israel. Honorable Mention went to Michiel Van Erp's I AM A WOMAN NOW for its look at a group of aging transwomen who shared the same groundbreaking surgeon in the 60’s and 70’s.

Jury members for Outstanding First Feature were Lisa Daniel, Festival Director of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival; Roberto Appicciafoco, Festival Director of the Southwest Gay & Lesbian Film Festival; and James Nadeau, Executive Director of the Boston LGBT Film Festival. Jury members for Outstanding Documentary included Debra Wilson, filmmaker and co-founder of the Oakland Black LGBT Film Festival; Maria Cyber, Festival Organizer for the Outview Film Festival (Athens, Greece); and Franc Castro, Executive Director of the Miami GLFF/Ft. Lauderdale GL Film Festival.

Frameline36 AT&T Audience Awards went to the Festival's most crowd-pleasing hits. The Frameline36 AT&T Audience Award for Best Feature was awarded to Thom Fitzgerald’s CLOUDBURST. Directors Katherine Fairfax Wright and Malika Zouhali-Worrall were awarded the Frameline36 AT&T Audience Award for Best Documentary for CALL ME KUCHU, their moving exposé on the plight of LGBT activists in Uganda. The Frameline36 AT&T Audience Award for Best Short went to the touching Japanese drama TSUYAKO, directed by Mitsuyo Miyazaki.

Many films of the Frameline36 festival were honored with standing ovations, gripping question and answer sessions with the filmmakers and cast, and laughter and cheers throughout. Among the festival hits were KEEP THE LIGHTS ON, attended by director Ira Sachs and star Zachary Booth; Jonathan Lisecki’s hilarious feature GAYBY (recipient of the Frameline Completion Fund), and the Bay Area premiere of Jeffrey Schwarz’s powerful documentary, VITO. Standing ovations occurred at VITO, THE WISE KIDS, STRONG!, LOVE FREE OR DIE, FACING MIRRORS, CALL ME KUCHU, ZENNE DANCER, TRANSGENDER TUESDAYS, and TAKING A CHANCE ON GOD.

The popularity of the oldest and largest LGBT film festival in the world continued in Frameline36, as many programs played to sold-out audiences, including: VITO, FUN IN BOYS SHORTS, SUBMERGED QUEER SPACES, AUDRE LORDE: THE BERLIN YEARS 1984 TO 1992, MISSISSIPPI: I AM, GAYBY, MYSTERY DATE, GENERATIONS: YOUTH AND ELDERS MAKING MOVIES, QUEERMATION!, MOSQUITA Y MARI, STUD LIFE, MY BEST DAY, FACING MIRRORS, BYE BYE BLONDIE, HOLLYWOOD TO DOLLYWOOD, BALLROOM RULES, THE INVISIBLE MEN and CLOUDBURST.

Audiences were thrilled throughout the festival by the attendance of high-profile directors and stars who led intimate discussions following the films, attended parties, and stayed to watch other films. Among some of Frameline36's many guest attendees were PETUNIA's stars Thora Birch and Michael Urie, LOVE FREE OR DIE's subject Bishop Gene Robinson and MISSISSIPPI: I AM’s director Katherine Linton and producer/subject Lance Bass.

At the Closing Night Film, this year’s annual Frameline Award was presented to renowned film critic and scholar, B. Ruby Rich, who received a standing ovation upon taking the stage at the Castro Theatre. Illuminating film history, the American independent scene, world cinema trends, and situating queer film within these contexts, Rich has made a salutary and indispensible contribution to a community’s sense of its own achievements and challenges. Frameline36 also celebrated the 20th anniversary of “New Queer Cinema” – coined by B. Ruby Rich in 1992 – by screening Gregg Araki’s THE LIVING END, Cheryl Dunye’s THE WATERMELON WOMAN, Alex Sichel’s ALL OVER ME and Ana Kokkinos’ HEAD ON. Cheryl Dunye and Alex Sichel both introduced their screenings, and Marcus Hu and B. Ruby Rich introduced THE LIVING END.

The Frameline Volunteer of the Year Award went to Barbara Gersh, who has been volunteering with Frameline for over 20 years. After screening over 20 programs to make her selection she chose Harriet Hirshorn & Katherine Linton’s MISSISSIPPI: I AM to receive a $2,500 grant, made possible by The Small Change Foundation.

'Vito' to Open Frameline36: San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival

Devin Lee Fuller — Wed, 23 May 2012 15:26:10 GMT

LGBT nonprofit media arts organization Frameline has announced the 36th edition of its annual film festival: Frameline36.

The festival will run in San Francisco from June 14-22 and feature 217 films from more than 30 countries.

Jeffrey Schwarz's documentary "Vito," which chronicles the life of gay activist Vito Russo, will open the festival.

Other films screening at the festival include Jonathan Lisecki's "Gayby," Ira Sachs' "Keep the Lights On," and Katherine Fairfax Wright and Malika Zouhali-Worrall’s "Call Me Kuchu." Frameline36 also will feature a retrospective on 1990s New Queer Cinema with Gregg Araki's "The Living Dead," Cheryl Dunye's "The Watermelon Woman" and Alex Sichel's "All Over Me."

The festival will close with Thom Fitzgerald’s "Cloudburst," which follows a lesbian couple who breaks out of a nursing home to get married in Canada.

Full press release below:

FRAMELINE36: SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL LGBT FILM FESTIVAL SHARES TRANSFORMATIVE STORIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD 

San Francisco, CA—Frameline, the world’s largest LGBT media arts nonprofit organization, is proud to announce Frameline36: the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival. This year’s internationally renowned showcase for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) cinema runs June 14 - 24, with San Francisco screenings at the historic Castro Theatre (429 Castro Street), Roxie Theater (3117 16th Street) and the Victoria Theatre (2961 16th Street), and in Berkeley at Rialto Cinemas Elmwood (2966 College Avenue).

The tagline for Frameline36, Find Your Story, is a direct action statement inviting you to look through the 104 programs and 217 films in the Festival. During the 11 days of Frameline36, tens of thousands of people from the Bay Area and all across the globe will come together to see the best of new LGBT cinema with more than 30 countries represented including Iran, Chile, Indonesia, South Africa, and Turkey. Tickets for Frameline36 will be on sale through www.frameline.org to members on Friday, May 25, 2012 and to the general public on Friday, June 1, 2012.

 The 36th Festival will open with VITO by Jeffrey Schwarz, an empowering documentary about the inexhaustible gay activist and film author Vito Russo, chronicling his work and influence on the LGBT community. Russo, a film lover and founding member of both GLAAD and ACT UP, is known for his groundbreaking book The Celluloid Closet, which changed LGBT cinema forever.

Following VITO, the worldwide LGBT film community will come together at Temple Night Club for a glittering Opening Night Gala.  Film lovers will mix, mingle, dance and flirt their way through three floors of culinary delights, signature cocktails and effervescent beverages from our Gala Partners.

Frameline36 will feature a retrospective on 1990s New Queer Cinema during this year’s festival, celebrating twenty years since film critic and academic B. Ruby Rich coined the term in 1992. Featured films in the retrospective include Gregg Araki’s THE LIVING END, Cheryl Dunye’s THE WATERMELON WOMAN, Alex Sichel’s ALL OVER ME, and Ana Kokkinos’ HEAD ON. In conjunction with the New Queer Cinema retrospective, Frameline will present the annual Frameline Award to B. Ruby Rich.

The Centerpiece Documentary film at Frameline36 will be Katherine Fairfax Wright and Malika Zouhali-Worrall’s CALL ME KUCHU, a groundbreaking documentary about the LGBT rights movement in Uganda and the activist David Kato.  CALL ME KUCHU was a recipient of the Frameline Completion Fund in 2010. The Centerpiece Narrative film is Ira Sachs’s much acclaimed drama, KEEP THE LIGHTS ON, which tells the moving story about the ten-year relationship of a couple living in New York City. Both CALL ME KUCHU and KEEP THE LIGHTS ON were winners of this year’s Teddy Awards for Best Documentary and Best Feature at the Berlin International Film Festival.

The laughs are plenty when straight girl, Jenn, and her gay best friend, Matt, decide to have a baby “the old fashioned way” in Jonathan Lisecki’s irreverent romantic comedy, GAYBY. Iranian female director Negar Azarbayjani’s remarkable first feature, FACING MIRRORS, is also the first Iranian narrative film with a transgender protagonist. In Alexandra-Therese Keining’s KISS ME an uptight, engaged woman quickly falls in love with her free-spirited, future stepsister, and must decide between burying her feelings and losing those who love her. Bavo Defurne’s NORTH SEA TEXAS is a coming-of-age story set along the Belgian coastline in the early 1970s. Pim is a boy unafraid of his predilection for dressing up in women’s clothes, putting on makeup or pining for the handsome, older boy who lives next door.

Macky Alston’s latest documentary, LOVE FREE OR DIE, deftly unwinds the riveting story of Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay, partnered bishop fighting for LGBT inclusion in the Episcopal Church. The Bishop is expected to attend the screening. Homophobia in urban London affects the lives of two best mates—a black lesbian stud and her gay male sidekick—and they are forced to reevaluate everything they know about love and friendship in Campbell X’s STUD LIFE. Brothers Mo and Rashid are growing up in a traditional Egyptian household in a modest London flat in Sally El Hosaini’s MY BROTHER THE DEVIL. As they each confront their different inner demons and phobias, they must learn it is love and understanding that take real courage—before they are torn apart.

Frameline is also proud to showcase films finished with the assistance of the Frameline Completion Fund.  In addition to CALL ME KUCHU, GAYBY and VITO is WILDNESS from director Wu Tsang. Exploring the common urban problem of community, visibility and gentrification, the film is a love story between a young, idealistic transplant and the magical bar that takes him in and helps him grow up.

Of course, Frameline36 would not be complete without outstanding shorts programs.  This year’s short programs include the ever-popular FUN IN GIRLS SHORTS, FUN IN BOYS SHORTS, and TRANSTASTIC! programs that feature the funniest and most touching queer short films from all around the world as well as our own backyard with BAY AREA BUFFET.

Speaking of which, Frameline36 has plenty of new works either by local filmmakers or about the Bay Area. A few highlights are Travis Matthew’s I WANT YOUR LOVE, Julie Wyman’s STRONG!, Jack Curtis Dubowsky’s SUBMERGED QUEER SPACES, and Mark Freeman’s TRANSGENDER TUESDAYS: A CLINIC IN THE TENDERLOIN.

The Closing Night film for Frameline36 will be Thom Fitzgerald’s CLOUDBURST, a funny, romantic and moving film starring Oscar winners Olympia Dukakis (Moonstruck) and Brenda Fricker (My Left Foot) as an elder lesbian couple who break free from a nursing home and head to the Canadian border to get married.

Sending off guests and visitors in style, Temple Nightclub will play host to the dazzling Closing Night Party.  Enjoying delicious bites, signature cocktails, and sophisticated wines, cinephiles will celebrate the Frameline36 AT&T Audience Award Winners.

Frameline36 is honored to announce the return of AT&T as Grand Sponsor in 2012. AAA Travel also returns as Premier Sponsor.

"Wish Me Away" & "Evening Dress" Win at the Historic 35th Frameline

Brian Brooks — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 08:33:01 GMT

Bobbie Birleffi & Beverly Kopf's "Wish Me Away" took the award for Outstanding Documentary Feature, while "The Evening Dress" by Myriam Aziza won the Frameline35 Outstanding First Feature prize. In Audience Awards, Stu Maddux's "Gen Silent" won the AT&T Audience Award for Best Documentary and French director Céline Sciamma took the Frameline35 AT&T Audience Award, Best Feature nod for "Tomboy." Andrew Haigh's "Weekend," meanwhile won the festival's "Volunteer of the Year award."

"When we started this project, we knew it was going to be hard," "Wish Me Away" director Bobbie Birleffi noted during the film's well-received screening late last week at the historic Castro Theater in San Francisco. "We had the idea that the world would open their hearts with this film, that that was our guiding light."

The doc is the story of popular country singer Chely Wright who lived in the closet even as she shot to fame in the '90s with songs like "Shut Up and Drive." The film looks back at her career and follows the singer as she prepares for her public coming out on the Today show and Oprah. The film played as a Centerpiece at the event to a packed theater, which gave Wright and the filmmakers a long standing ovation.

"The minute I decided to come out in 2007, the right people came into my life," Wright said from the stage at Frameline. "I knew the [filmmakers] would handle this story with sensitivity. In telling my story, I know that I'm really 'just like you,'" she added to thunderous applause.

"People see her through the movie and relate to her journey and what she had to go through," Frameline's Jennifer Morris told indieWIRE during the festival recently. "They really related to her through the film and how the filmmakers chose to tell it. They really respond to that and understand."

Frameline, the world's oldest LGBT film event, opened June 16 with Rashaad Ernesto Green's "Gun Hill Road" and closed with Geoffrey Sax's "Christopher and His Kind."

The list of Frameline 35 winners:

Frameline Award: Margaret Cho

Juried Awards:

Frameline35 Outstanding Documentary Feature: "Wish Me Away directors Bobbie Birleffi & Beverly Kopf

Honorable Mention for Documentary Feature: "Hit So Hard" director P. David Ebersole

Frameline35 Outstanding First Feature: "The Evening Dress" director Myriam Aziza

Honorable Mention for the First Feature: "Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same" director Madeleine Olnek

Audience Awards:

Frameline35 AT&T Audience Award, Best Documentary: "Gen Silent" director Stu Maddux

Frameline35 AT&T Audience Award, Best Feature: "Tomboy" director Céline Sciamma

Frameline35 AT&T Audience Award, Best Short: "BaldGuy (Skalla Mann)" director Maria Block

Volunteer of the Year Award: "Weekend" director Andrew Haigh

Frameline at 35: Organizers Sound off on LGBT Film, Vocal Audiences & 3 1/2 Decades

Brian Brooks — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 08:53:30 GMT

Turning 35 this year, Frameline, or the San Francisco LGBT Film Festival, joins the ranks of some of the world's most senior film events. It also has the distinguished title of the world's oldest gay festival, starting as a small gathering back in 1977, but quickly catapulting to screenings in the city's iconic Castro Theater, which it still uses today.

It's probably not a surprise that the first LGBT event would come out of San Francisco. The city has a long tradition of being culturally forward (and counter-culture) and even produced North America's oldest film event, the San Francisco International Film Festival, which is held annually in April.

indieWIRE traveled to Frameline's momentous event this year, arriving midway and attending the Centerpiece screening Wednesday of Bobbie Birleffi and Beverly Kopf's doc "Wish Me Away" about popular country singer Chely Wright, which had a reception at the Castro that could only be described as electric. But audiences in SF are known to be vocal and subsequent directors screening their films at the theater have noted that they always wanted to show their films there.

iW asked about San Francisco's audiences after catching up with Frameline's executive director K.C. Price and Festival Director Jennifer Morris, who talked about the festival's humble beginnings and the state of queer film. The pair also talked about the festival's continuing influence in LGBT programming and how it continues to inspire other festivals in the U.S. and around the world. As the conversation began, in fact, a group from the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire just left the room. Their "Eau Queer" festival was inspired by Frameline.

indieWIRE: Frameline is not only the oldest LGBT festival in the world, but also the "biggest." How did it start out back in the day?

K.C. Price: It's the 35th anniversary of our film festival, and coincidentally, it is also the 30th anniversary of our distribution program and 20th anniversary of our completion fund grant program.

The first [Frameline] film festival was held in a small community space in 1977 off Market Street about 15 blocks from here. They had about 50 - 60 people there and showed a dozen super 8 films and projected them onto a white sheet on the wall and didn't have sound, so it was quite different [laughs].

It gained popularity pretty quickly though, and over the next three to four years they moved to the Roxie Theater which we still use today. And then I think for their fifth festival they moved to the Castro Theater because the audiences were so large they needed the space.

Now 35 years later, we have an audience of about 57,000 - 60,000 with a [lineup of] 231 films from 30 countries and we have four venues.

iW: I've heard Frameline described as the "grand daddy of gay film festivals." I'm sure it's had an enormous impact beyond San Francisco.

KCP: Absolutely. That class from University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire were just here for instance. I'm always fascinated how programmers from other festivals come here and it's great how other people come here and get inspired to start festivals, such as that class, and [another woman] who's been here from Savannah, Georgia and is starting one there.

iW: Some people question the general need for a gay festival in a progressive city like San Francisco with so many "mainstream" film events embracing gay content into their general program, how is it still relevant?

KCP: My answer is an unqualified yes! And my reason is that nowhere but at an LGBT festival like Frameline or other festivals like this in other parts of the country are you going to get the same amount of queer cinema that doesn't necessarily have all the distribution channels and access.

Sometimes when I've heard that argument, some may say, 'oh, I can see this on Netflix or some other channel.' But there are many films here that will not necessarily be available even in those distribution channels. And that's also true of other festivals that spotlight a certain community such as the Jewish or Asian festivals. Plus, there's no other place that you're going to get so many representations in one place. There's a wide array of films you can see about gay people.

iW: San Francisco audiences are more apt to be vocal compared to others. Wednesday night's screening of "Wish Me Away" was so spirited and there was quite an electricity. People booed in certain places when Richard Nixon came on screen and cheered and stomped during other scenes.

Jennifer Morris: That was quite a special screening. One of our magical moments.

KCP: We're so proud as a festival that [Wednesday night] turned into one of those moments that people talk about for years. There was this famous screeing of "Lillies" a number of years ago and there was something about that that brought people to their feet and that was similar last night.

iW: I think last night was more than the fact she's a famous singer though...

JM: No, it was more than that, she's been to the Bay Area before. It was the movie itself because people see her through the movie and relate to her journey and what she had to go through. They really related to her through the film and how the filmmakers chose to tell it. They really respond to that and understand.

KCP: One of the great things about Frameline audiences is that they're a long standing audience and have been with us for years. They're a cinematically sophisticated audience that really knows how to respond to a film.

JM: Like with "Bob's New Suit" (directed by Alan Howard), the filmmakers were amazed how the audience laughed at all the right places, and said this was the first time that has happened. I'll never forget way back when we showed "Bound," (1996), the Wachowskis' first film. They sent us a letter afterward because the audience really responded saying they're never going to watch the movie with an audience ever again because that was so perfect and they always wanted to keep that memory.

iW: Changing focus a bit, how are things going for LGBT filmmaking generally on an artistic level? You see a lot of films obviously in programming a large festival in addition to the many more submissions.

KCP: I've been hearing from a lot of people that it's getting better. People come up to me and say that quality is 'better than before'...

JM: It's getting better because we've been freed from the typical coming out stories and the falling in love with your straight roommate stories. I mean, we still have the coming out stories, but they're deeper and more intense. Not so much 'drama, drama, drama - I'm gay, end of story'... Now, it's 'I'm gay, and what does that mean?' And there are a lot more stories.

Films now are honest and unapologetic so you're seeing the real thing, whereas before we felt like we had to put on a polite face. Now they're raw and honest films.

iW: So how about on a commerce level?

JM: Well, just like other indie films, things had looked up, but then it changed. Though it seems like now a lot more films are being picked up, most are not getting theatrical. With the technology change, there has been an increase in the ability to make a film across the board and therefore a lot more films are now submitted. There are also a lot more amazing documentaries because people have access to telling stories they weren't able to do before.

We have a lot of first-time filmmakers again. Actually it's interesting because we hadn't had a lot of U.S. feature filmmakers in recent years, but this time, there has been a lot more. Though a French film we're showing, "Tomboy" (dir. by Celine Sciamma) is really good and I'm sure people will really like it.

KCP: This year, Eldar Rapaport's "August" was based on a short he had done some years before, and we gave him some completion funds and he came back with his feature and had his screening here Saturday which was great.

JM: And "Codependent Lesbian Space Aliens" (directed by Madeleine Olnek) is a first feature that you have to see. It's one of the smartest gay Sci-Fi films, it's also funny.

KCP: Alan Brown did a short that was inspired by Matthew Shepard who's here with a first feature ["Private Romeo"] that's like an all-male military academy twist on Romeo & Juliet and it's really challenging but the audience loved it. Wolfe Releasing picked it up out of the festival.

iW: So what sort of advice would you give to first time filmmakers gay or straight who may be undertaking a gay-oriented story today?

JM: The films that do the best - because I see what people respond to - are the films with a genuine story and genuine characters. I go to the audience and they like "Bob's New Suit." You might think, what is this going to be? But the characters are relatable and they like them. You need to have a real story and not just a formula. Formulas don't really work anymore, they want a good story that takes them somewhere.

iW: And what is to look forward to?

JM: [Looking back] we're doing the 20th anniversary of "Paris is Burning" (directed by Jenni Livingston) today and then "Leave it on the Floor" (directed by Sheldon Larry) this weekend is going to big. It's very special and we're looking forward to it.

"Gun Hill Road" & "Christopher and His Kind" to Bookend 35th Frameline Among Other Highlights

Nigel M Smith — Wed, 25 May 2011 07:33:06 GMT

Over 200 films from more than 30 countries make up the slate for the 35th anniversary edition of Frameline35, the San Francisco international LGBT film festival. The event kicks off of June 16th with Rashaad Ernesto Green's drama "Gun Hill Road." Geoffrey Sax's BBC-produced dramatization of Christopher Isherwood's 1976 memoir, "Christopher and His Kind," will close the festival.

Among other highlights at the upcoming festival: Ash Christian's dark comedy "Mangus!" starring Jennifer Coolidge; Richard Laxton's adaptation of Sarah Waters's novel "The Night Watch," Tom Tykwer's Berlin-set "Three"; P. David Ebersole's profile of Patty Schemel, the out lesbian drummer of Hole; and Madeleine Olnek's Sundance-approved "Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same."

In addition, comedian Margaret Cho will be on hand to accept this year's Frameline Award.

Framline35 runs from June 16-26. For more information on this year's complete lineup click here.

"Croquettes" & "Undertow" On Top at Frameline34

Brian Brooks — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 10:39:42 GMT

Brazilian film "Dzi Croquettes" by Raphael Alvarez and Tatiana Issa won Frameline34's "Outstanding Documentary Award," while the fest's "Outstanding First Feature Award" went to Javier Fuentes-León’s "Undertow," which screened as the event's Centerpiece. "Postcard for Daddy," meanwhile received an Honoralble Mention, capping the jury awards at the festival, the world's largest and longest-running event dedicated to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender films and filmmakers, which takes place annually in San Francisco.

In audience prizes, best feature film went to Tunisian film "The String," described as a "story of romance and filial duty during a hot North African summer." New Zealand group Topp Twins and director Leanne Pooley were awarded the best documentary award for "The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls," a personal story of the yodeling lesbian songstresses. Hector Ceballos' "Remember Me In Red" won best short in the audience category. The film centers on Fidelia, who arranges her best friend’s funeral amidst conflicting family demands around the transgender woman’s burial.

Director James Kent's "The Secret Diaries of Anne Lister" opened Frameline, while Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman’s "Howl" closed out the fest. The festival screened 219 films in eleven days from June 17 - 27 at the Castro Theatre, the Roxie Film Center, the Victoria Theatre, and the Rialto Cinemas Elmwood in Berkeley, with attendance this year topping 57,000.

Frameline34’s annual Frameline Award for excellence in LGBT filmmaking went to distributors Wolfe Video’s Kathy Wolfe and Maria Lynn. The distributor is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Film critic and academic B. Ruby Rich, who coined the term “New Queer Cinema,” was on hand to give out the award.

Frameline34's Juried prize winners with descriptions provided by the festival:

Outstanding First Feature Award: "Undertow" (Contracorriente), directed by Javier Fuentes-León (Peru)

Miguel and Mariela are a happily married couple, well-respected in their small seaside fishing village and looking forward to the imminent arrival of their first child. Miguel genuinely adores his devoted wife, yet also carries on a clandestine affair with handsome drifter Santiago, a painter of sensual nudes who is euphemistically referred to as “Prince Charming” by the village gossips. Santiago yearns to celebrate his love openly, while Miguel insists on secrecy for fear of jeopardizing his domestic bliss.

As the story takes an otherworldly turn, rumors force Mariela to question her husband’s sexuality, and Miguel must accept his dual nature in order to refute Santiago’s angry claim that “There are thousands of ways of being a man, and you are none of them.”

Stunning views of Peru’s Cabo Blanco coast provide an appropriately stormy backdrop to the tempestuous emotions of the three protagonists. As its ominous title suggests, Undertow dives far below the seemingly placid surface of self-identity and family ties, churning up waves of passion — and a fateful accident — that overwhelm the film’s bisexual love triangle.

This Sundance award-winner enchants with unforgettable seascapes, and director Javier Fuentes-León eschews melodrama to present a transcendent romance in his remarkably assured feature debut. With moving performances by some of Latin America’s star actors, Undertow makes it easy to get swept away. (Description written for Frameline by Steven Jenkins)

Outstanding Documentary Award: "Dzi Croquettes," directed by Tatiana Issa and Raphael Alvarez (Brazil)

Performing troupes come and go but social justice with sequins never truly goes out of style. Dzi Croquettes tells the tale of the rise and fall of Brazil’s theater group that revolutionized queer performance art in the context of the political, social and cultural climate of Brazil in the 1970s.

A scene from Tatiana Issa and Raphael Alvarez's "Dzi Croquettes."

This colorful documentary uncovers the livelihood of Dzi Croquettes, a Brazilian drag troupe loosely based on San Francisco’s The Cockettes. In order to assert the merits of individualism, nonconformity and the arts, the fully sequined, all-male cabaret Dzi Croquettes formed in the early 1970s in Brazil as a response to the military dictatorship’s violence and censorship.

The group of thirteen stage performers embodied masculinity and femininity in ways that had never before been seen; they were not female impersonators yet refused to call themselves men, and this sexual ambiguity quickly earned the adoration of men and women, gay and straight.

With tantalizing archival footage, directors Tatiana Issa and Raphael Alvarez lead viewers through the glamorous years of Dzi Croquettes — including the group’s rise to fame in Paris thanks to Liza Minelli — and how drugs and incessant bickering led to its demise. This vibrant tribute is a celebration of the fabulous troupe that captivated audiences and revolutionized gender expression. (Description written for Frameline by Alex Chousa)

Special Mention: "Postcard to Daddy," directed by Michael Stock (Germany)

The Stock family photos look like conventional portraits of everyday life: trips to the beach, bright-eyed children, lively images of smiling faces and innocence. Pictures sometimes lie. What they don’t show is the painful secret that Michael Stock kept hidden away during his childhood that would affect his entire life: Michael’s alcoholic father sexually abused him for eight years.

A scene from Michael Stock's "Postcard to Daddy."

Using interviews with family members, photos, and clips from his first feature film, Michael chronicles his personal quest for inner peace, often through frank self-reflection. Driven to drinking and drug use in order to numb the pain of his abuse, Michael’s life is one of complicated relationships and depression but also one of hope and survival.

As a gay man with both HIV and Hepatitis C, he works through shame to declare himself a survivor. His mother, who left his father after she discovered the abuse, feels tremendous guilt but wishes that everyone would put the situation to rest. His sister refuses to speak to their father or let him see his grandkids. His brother, however, has a difficult time reconciling his own happy memories with Michael’s truth.

After having a series of strokes, Michael’s wish is to bring his story to TV to give a voice to other victims. Following the cathartic work of most of the film, Michael agrees to sit down with his father. It’s an emotional climax that demonstrates the human complexity of hurt and forgiveness. (Description written for Frameline by Angelique Smith)