June 22, 2017
Frameline Grand Finales!
by David Lamble READ TIME: 4 MIN.
It's astonishing what the Frameline 41 programmers have packed into the San Francisco International LGBTQ Film Festival's final four days, June 22-25.
"Freak Show" What would it be like if your dearest dream was to be the most fabulous person possible in a small-town Southern, football-worshipping cauldron where the price of being a long-haired, cross-dressing gay male freak is, at best, a severe butt-kicking, and at worst, waves of humiliation followed by a crucifixion-style death?
The film's long suit is a tough-minded script that takes bullying seriously, and an excellent core cast headed up by British-born Alex Lawther as the embattled Billy Bloom, a brave adolescent student who takes a stand in his gender-polarized high school by running for homecoming queen against a blonde girl who uses Trump-style bullying techniques to turn students against Billy. (Castro, 6/24)
"Abu" ("Father") "There's nothing but shame when you fall in love in Pakistan. Nothing but shame." This is the first poignant takeaway from Arshad Khan's gripping 95-minute saga of a sensitive boy's coming-of-age, first in the brutally polarized climate of Islamabad, Pakistan, then in the sleepy suburbs of Toronto, Canada. Khan's tale is marked by family upheaval and the always-difficult task of admitting your attraction to the teen boys around you. The story is conveyed in a sprightly mix of pop music, home-movie clips and original animation. (Castro, 6/22)
"Hello Again" Tom Gustafson directs this carnal tale of sexcapades and romance across the 20th century, as inspired by the music of Michael John LaChiusa. With Cheyenne Jackson, Martha Plimpton and T.R. Knight. (Castro, 6/22)
"Whitney. 'Can I Be Me'" Bio-docmaker Nick Bloomfield and music-video artist Rudi Dolezal draw on a treasure trove of archival concert footage to tell the fabulous rise and fall of East Orange, NJ-born pop star Whitney Elizabeth Houston. The musical portion draws heavily on Houston's "My Love Is Your Love" world tour, plus in-depth interviews with people close to the star. (Castro, 6/22)
"Beach Rats" Eliza Hittman, whose 2014 first feature "It Felt Like Love" played Frameline, returns with the tale of a confused Brooklyn teen, Frankie (handsome newcomer Harris Dickinson), caught between a public life of drugs, Coney Island beach romps, handball games with macho, misbehaving buddies, and the dark world of online chats with older men. The film raises the question of whether Frankie can ever admit to his same-sex desires and still retain a social place in his traditional Brooklyn neighborhood. Hittman garnered a Best Director award at the 2017 Sundance Film Fest. (Roxie, 6/22)
"The Book of Gabrielle" British director Lisa Gornick examines the erotic sparks generated when a young female artist is mentored by older male novelist, the pair assigned to produce an illustrated sex manual. Saul (Allan Corduner) takes an interest in Gabrielle's (Gornick) affair with a younger woman, and in her history of relationships with both men and women. (Roxie, 6/22)
"A Million Happy Nows" Albert Alarr takes us in front of the cameras and behind the scenes of a long-running TV soap opera as its legendary star Lainey Allen (Crystal Chappell) grapples with reasons why she can no longer remember her lines. Of particular appeal to fans of the now-canceled soap "The Guiding Light." (Roxie, 6/23)
"Snapshot" Director Shine Louise Houston creates a melodramatic thriller as an erotic photographer accidentally captures a murder in progress, a mistake that makes her the killer's next target. Fans of obsessive-stalker tales "Rear Window," "Strangers on a Train" and "Blow-Up" should not miss this one. (Victoria, 6/23)
"The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson" David France examines the 1992 death under exceedingly suspicious circumstances of African American Stonewall-riots veteran and trans rights activist Marsha P. Johnson. (Piedmont, 6/22; Castro, 6/24)
"After Louie" This year's Frameline Award winner Alan Cumming (late of CBS' "The Good Wife") appears as a one-time visual artist still in mourning for a lover felled by AIDS. Sam's life takes an unexpected upswing when he meets a young man, Braeden (Zachary Booth of "Keep the Lights On"). Directed by Vincent Gagliostro, featuring David Drake ("The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me"), Justin Vivian Bond ("Shortbus") and Wilson Cruz ("My So-Called Life"). (Castro Closing Night, 6/25)
"No Dress Code Required" Director Christina Herrera Borquez follows a male couple, Victor and Fernando, through the long legal and emotional struggle it takes to win marriage equality in Mexico's remote Baja California. (Castro, 6/24)
"Santa & Andres" Set in 1983 Cuba, Carlos Lechuga's tale imagines an improbable friendship between an anti-Castro gay writer and the female warden assigned to seeing that he doesn't disrupt a Communist Party conference set for his small town. (Castro, 6/25)
"Against the Law" Fergus O'Brien brings the formidable resources of BBC-TV to tell the story of 1950s UK gay activist Peter Wildeblood (Daniel Mays of "The Bank Job"), who stood up against a homophobic witch-hunt particularly painful since he was singled out for persecution by his own boyfriend. (Castro, 6/24)
More info: frameline.org
