The 49th San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival (Frameline49) taking place June 18–28, 2025, unveiled the lineup featuring nearly 150 films from 40 countries..
Frameline’s Opening Night film is Sophie Hyde’s Jimpa, a multi-generational drama starring Olivia Colman, and its First Friday film is Sam Feder’s 2025 Frameline Completion Fund film Heightened Scrutiny, a salient documentary that centers on ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio as he argues at the Supreme Court for trans rights.
Frameline49 will launch into Pride Weekend with artist Rashaad Newsome and filmmaker Johnny Symons’ Assembly, which combines performance art, music, dance, and film into a powerful illustration of the complexity and resilience of the Black experience; and James Sweeney’s Twinless, a Sundance standout, will serve as the Closing Night film.
“I want to emphasize how deeply I value the extraordinary work of our filmmakers this year — their vision and courage are truly remarkable. All of us are weathering challenges that threaten our identities, our histories, and our everyday lives. Like many of you, I’m exhausted and angry. With Frameline49, I want us to examine our past of LGBTQ+ activism and art and I want to honor the powerful stories of this moment, to remind us all that Frameline is both a celebration and a statement. We’ll still engage in difficult conversations and recognize the realities reflected in our films, but we’ll also create spaces where we can untense our shoulders and laugh together, without having to defend our existence,” said Allegra Madsen, Frameline’s Executive Director.
In a continuation of Frameline48’s Juneteenth celebration, the Festival will present a special screening at KQED of Daniel Junge and Sam Pollard’s I Was Born This Way, a documentary centered on icon and activist Archbishop Carl Bean, who sang the titular gay anthem and founded both the Minority AIDS Project and the world’s first LGBTQ+ church for people of color. Bolstered by beautiful rotoscope animation, the doc features appearances by Billy Porter, Lady Gaga, Dionne Warwick, and Questlove.
Other highlights include the World Premiere of Oriel Pe’er’s A Deeper Love: The Story of Miss Peppermint, an intimate documentary about trailblazing artist and activist Peppermint; a free advance screening of Netflix’s The Ultimatum: Queer Love season 2 at the newly opened Rikki’s sports bar; a free outdoor screening at PROXY of Yashaddai Owens’ Jimmy, an impressionistic imagining of James Baldwin’s (Benny O. Arthur) time in Paris; and a screening at Oasis of Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror, a documentary about the queer touchstone directed by Linus O’Brien, the son of Rocky Horror writer Richard O’Brien.
Frameline’s annual Out in the Silence Award, which is generously underwritten by Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson, honors an outstanding film that highlights brave acts of LGBTQ+ visibility. This year’s recipient is Grace Hughes-Hallet’s The Secret of Me, which centers on Jim Ambrose, who, after learning he was born intersex, helps uncover the truth about a bogus, bigoted medical study that harmed thousands of children. In addition to playing Heightened Scrutiny, Frameline49 will showcase the other features that were awarded 2025 Frameline Completion Fund grants: Niñxs by Kani Lapuerta for its North American premiere and Only Good Things (Apenas Coisas Boas) by Daniel Nolasco for its US Premiere.
Festival films will be screened at venues like the Roxie Theater, the American Conservatory Theater’s (A.C.T.) Toni Rembe Theater, CinemaSF’s Vogue Theatre, the Herbst Theatre, Oasis, Rikki’s, KQED, PROXY, and The New Parkway Theater. While the majority of the Festival will take place in San Francisco and Oakland, Frameline’s first-ever partnership with CAFILM Pride will bring a selection of Festival films to San Rafael (June 13–15).
2025 San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival (Frameline49) Festival Program
BIG NIGHTS
Jimpa — Opening Night Film
DIR Sophie Hyde
I Was Born This Way — Juneteenth Film
DIR Daniel Junge & Sam Pollard
West Coast Premiere | Queer Premiere
Heightened Scrutiny — First Friday Film, followed by the First Friday Party at Charmaine’s
DIR Sam Feder
SF Bay Area Premiere
Assembly — Pride Kickoff Film
DIR Rashaad Newsome & Johnny Symons
West Coast Premiere
Twinless — Closing Night Film
DIR James Sweeney
SF Bay Area Premiere | Queer Premiere
FEATURES
300Letters (#300cartas)
DIR Lucas Santa Ana
West Coast Premiere
Baby
DIR Marcelo Caetano
SF Bay Area Premiere
Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day (Lijepa večer, lijep dan)
DIR Ivona Juka
International Premiere | Queer Premiere
Between Goodbyes
DIR Jota Mun
SF Bay Area Premiere | Queer Premiere
A Body to Live In
DIR Angelo Madsen
West Coast Premiere
By Design
DIR Amanda Kramer
SF Bay Area Premiere | Queer Premiere
Castration Movie: Part I
DIR Louise Weard
SF Bay Area Premiere | Queer Premiere
Come See Me in the Good Light
DIR Ryan White
Queer Premiere
Coming Attractions: An Orgy of Gay Erotic Movie Trailers — Erotic Evenings
DIR Elizabeth Purchell
Preceded by GANGBANG.
A Deeper Love: The Story of Miss Peppermint
DIR Oriel Pe’er
World Premiere | Queer Premiere
Diciannove
DIR Giovanni Tortorici
SF Bay Area Premiere | Queer Premiere
Dreamers
DIR Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor
North American Premiere
Dreams in Nightmares
DIR Shatara Michelle Ford
West Coast Premiere
Drive Back Home
DIR Michael Clowater
SF Bay Area Premiere
Drone
DIR Simon Bouisson
West Coast Premiere
Four Mothers
DIR Darren Thornton
SF Bay Area Premiere
Fucktoys
DIR Annapurna Sriram
Queer Premiere
GEN_
DIR Gianluca Matarrese
West Coast Premiere
I’m Your Venus
DIR Kimberly Reed
SF Bay Area Premiere
If You Are Afraid Put Your Heart Into Your Mouth and Smile (Wenn du Angst hast nimmst du dein Herz in den Mund und lächelst)
DIR Marie Luise Lehner
North American Premiere
In the Best Interests of the Children (1977) — Retrospective
DIR Frances Reid, Cathy Zheutlin, & Elizabeth Stevens
Preceded by Lesbian Custody.
It’s Dorothy!
DIR Jeffrey McHale
West Coast Premiere | Queer Premiere
Jean Cocteau
DIR Lisa Immordino Vreeland
SF Bay Area Premiere | Queer Premiere
Keep Coming Back (Siempre vuelven)
DIR Sergio de León
US Premiere | Queer Premiere
Lakeview
DIR Tara Thorne
US Premiere
Lesbian Space Princess
DIR Emma Hough Hobbs & Leela Varghese
US Premiere
The Librarians
DIR Kim A. Snyder
SF Bay Area Premiere | Queer Premiere
Lucky, Apartment (럭키, 아파트)
DIR Kangyu Garam
North American Premiere
The Meatrack (1970) — Erotic Evenings // 2K Restoration
DIR Mike Thomas
World Premiere | Queer Premiere
A Mother Apart
DIR Laurie Townshend
SF Bay Area Premiere | Queer Premiere
The Nature of Invisible Things (A Natureza das Coisas Invisíveis)
DIR Rafaela Camelo
Night in West Texas
DIR Deborah S. Esquenazi
West Coast Premiere | Queer Premiere
A Night Like This
DIR Liam Calvert
West Coast Premiere
Night Stage (Ato Noturno)
DIR Filipe Matzembacher & Marcio Reolon
North American Premiere
Niñxs
DIR Kani Lapuerta
North American Premiere | Queer Premiere
Only Good Things (Apenas Coisas Boas)
DIR Daniel Nolasco
US Premiere | Queer Premiere
Outerlands
DIR Elena Oxman
Perro perro
DIR Marco Berger
World Premiere | Queer Premiere
Pink Narcissus (1971)— Erotic Evenings // 4K Restoration
DIR James Bidgood
SF Bay Area Premiere
Plainclothes
DIR Carmen Emmi
SF Bay Area Premiere
Playing with Fire: An Ecosexual Emergency
DIR Annie Sprinkle & Beth Stephens
World Premiere | Queer Premiere
Pooja, Sir
DIR Deepak Rauniyar
SF Bay Area Premiere
Queerpanorama
DIR Jun Li
West Coast Premiere
Preceded by Carpobrotus.
Really Happy Someday
DIR J Stevens
US Premiere
Preceded by Tessitura.
River of Grass
DIR Sasha Wortzel
West Coast Premiere | Queer Premiere
Room Temperature — Frameline Fangs
DIR Dennis Cooper & Zac Farley
SF Bay Area Premiere | Queer Premiere
Row of Life
DIR Soraya Simi
SF Bay Area Premiere
Sally
DIR Cristina Costantini
Sandbag Dam (Zečji nasip)
DIR Čejen Černić Čanak
West Coast Premiere
Sauna
DIR Mathias Broe
West Coast Premiere
The Secret of Me
DIR Grace Hughes-Hallett
2025 Out in the Silence Award Winner
The Serpent’s Skin — Frameline Fangs
DIR Alice Maio Mackay
World Premiere | Queer Premiere
Preceded by The Age of Flowering Plants (La era de las plantas con flor).
She’s the He
DIR Siobhan McCarthy
SF Bay Area Premiere | Queer Premiere
Silent Sparks (愛作歹)
DIR Ping Chu
Queer Premiere
Preceded by Like What Would Sorrow Look (愁何狀).
Skinny Love (Einskonar Ást)
DIR Sigurður Anton
North American Premiere
Some Nights I Feel Like Walking
DIR Petersen Vargas
West Coast Premiere
Thesis on a Domestication (Tesis sobre una domesticación)
DIR Javier Van de Couter
Queer Premiere
To Live, To Die, To Live Again (Vivre mourir renaître)
DIR Gaël Morel
Touch Me — Frameline Fangs
DIR Addison Heimann
West Coast Premiere | Queer Premiere
Trans Memoria
DIR Victoria Verseau
West Coast Premiere
Valencia (2013) — Retrospective
DIR Various
We Are Faheem & Karun
DIR Onir
North American Premiere
We Are Pat
DIR Rowan Haber
West Coast Premiere | Queer Premiere
Went Up the Hill — Frameline Fangs
DIR Samuel Van Grinsven
SF Bay Area Premiere
WICKET
DIR Lily Plotkin
World Premiere | Queer Premiere
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
Jimmy at PROXY
DIR Yashaddai Owens
SF Bay Area Premiere | Queer Premiere
Note: This is a FREE outdoor screening.
MĀHŪ: A Trans-Pacific Love Letter at KQED
DIR Lisette Marie Flanary
SF Bay Area Premiere | Queer Premiere
Followed by a performance led by hula master Patrick Makuakāne.
Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror at Oasis
DIR Linus O’Brien
West Coast Premiere | Queer Premiere
The Ultimatum: Queer Love Season 2 Premiere Watch Party at Rikki’s
Netflix
SF Bay Area Premiere | Queer Premiere
Note: This is a FREE watch party.
SHORTS BLOCKS + SHOWCASES
Alien Extravaganza
Arctic Diva
DIR Federico Barni
Between Mars and Earth (Entre Marte y la Tierra)
DIR Diego Marzuil
Br00dm0ther’s e-Fable
DIR Zijing Zhao
The Burden
DIR Tish Arana
But wait… there’s more!
DIR Kialy Tihngang
The Last Story on Earth
DIR Aaron Immediato
PRIMALDIAL MAGMA_ZYGMUTROPHOOZE
DIR mirrored fatality
REDMAN
DIR Edith Morris
Space Plug
DIR Marcus Anthony Thomas
First Impressions, Lasting Connections: Date Night Shorts
Divine Intervention
DIR Ravenna Tran
Hold Me Close
DIR Aurora Brachman & LaTajh Simmons-Weaver
I’m the Most Racist Person I Know
DIR Leela Varghese
An Odd Turn (Un movimiento extraño)
DIR Francisco Lezama
Fun in Shorts
Gender Reveal
DIR Mo Matton
Homolita
DIR Jude Dry
Poreless
DIR Harris Doran
Girlfriend Girlfriend
DIR Sara Werner
Sister!
DIR John Onieal
Space Daddy
DIR Stephen Carruthers
Sweet Talkin’ Guy
DIR Spencer Wardwell & Dylan Wardwell
Teth
DIR Peter Darney
Homegrown Shorts
AutoErotica: We Buy Gay Stuff
DIR Jeremy von Stilb
Budget Paradise
DIR LaTajh Simmons-Weaver
En memoria
DIR Roberto Fatal
Liminality
DIR Tess Bliven
Rainbow Girls
DIR Nana Duffuor
Thanks, Babs!
DIR Jen Rainin & Rivkah Beth Medow
It’s a Family Affair
Correct Me If I’m Wrong (如你所愿)
DIR Hao Zhou
Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites (ចៅសំណព្វចិត្ត)
DIR Chheangkea
Tara
DIR Ashutosh S. Shankar
Who Raised You?
DIR Dani Guzman
You Don’t Have to Like Me
DIR Safiyah Chiniere
Saturday Morning Cartoons
27
DIR Flóra Anna Buda
Carrotica
DIR Daniel Sterlin-Altman
Chimera (Quimera)
DIR Gael Jara & Martín André
The Eating of an Orange
DIR May Kindred-Boothby
Hey Dad (嗨爸)
DIR Wei-fan Wang
Homunculus
DIR Bonheur Suprême
Tiger Lily Mountain Pass
DIR Nate King
Two Black Boys in Paradise
DIR Baz Sells
What It Takes (Pour exister)
DIR Fabien Corre & Kelsi Phụng
Scared Shortless — Frameline Fangs
Clean Slate
DIR Emily May Jampel
Dope Fiend
DIR Rosanagh Griffiths
Goodbye Party
DIR Sophia Lou & Nathan Pearson
The Holly King
DIR Tim O’Leary
Munchies
DIR Brittany Alexia Young
Take Care
DIR Brittany Ashley
Talk Shit
DIR Will Thede & Ben Weiss
Truth Be Told: Documentary Shorts
Dr. XYZ: A Medical Drag Transthology
DIR El Jaunts
Everywhere I Look
DIR November Nolan
Lloyd Wong, Unfinished
DIR Lesley Loksi Chan
Shelly’s Leg
DIR Wes Hurley
The Roaming Center for Magnetic Alternatives
DIR Brydie O’Connor
Queer Quickies: Erotic Shorts — Erotic Evenings
The angel
DIR Dorian Wood
Fist
DIR Romy Alizée
The Handyman (O Faz-Tudo)
DIR Fábio Leal
Mouse Klub Konfidential
DIR James Robert Baker
A Night in the Life
DIR Jonzo
Orgy Every Other Day
DIR Samuel Döring
Romy & Laure… And the Mystery of the Enchanted Plug (Romy et Laure… et le mystère du plug enchanté)
DIR Romy Alizée & Laure Giappiconi
The Wash
DIR Mike Feswick
Outside Voices: New Leaders in Queer Cinema Supported by Colin Higgins Foundation
Baba I’m Fine
DIR Karina Dandashi
Barbie Boy
DIR Remi Gabriel
A Bird Hit My Window and Now I’m a Lesbian
DIR AJ Dubler & Carmela Murphy
Unholy
DIR Daisy Friedman