Today, Frameline announced the full lineup for the 49th San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival (Frameline49), the largest and longest-running queer film festival in the world. Taking place June 18–28, Frameline49’s 11 days of programming feature nearly 150 films from 40 countries and bring many notable premieres to the Bay Area, including 17 World Premieres, 2 International Premieres, 12 North American Premieres, and 11 US Premieres, and numerous West Coast, California, and Bay Area Premieres.

Previously, Frameline shared its Opening Night film, Sophie Hyde’s Jimpa, a multi-generational drama starring Olivia Colman, as well as its First Friday film, 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. As of today, Frameline has revealed the films for the Festival’s other two big nights, Pride Kickoff and Closing Night. Frameline49 will launch into Pride Weekend with a screening of internationally acclaimed 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. On the final day of the Festival, James Sweeney’s Twinless, a Sundance standout, will serve as the Closing Night film.

“Usually we kick these things off by talking about how ‘thrilled’ we are, and while we areexcited for our filmmakers and eager to share their incredible work with you all, those familiar expressions of enthusiasm feel insufficient right now,” said Allegra Madsen, Frameline’s Executive Director. “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.”

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.

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). 

“More than ever before, the Festival program was curated with community in mind,” Madsen added. “Not only do we want to center stories by and for the LGBTQ+ community, but we want to create experiences and spaces that foster crucial conversations, illustrate our collective supportiveness, and allow for resilience to the hard times to coexist with having a really good time together.”

In April, Frameline revealed its Pay-It-Forward initiative, calling upon the queer community and allies to show up for trans and nonbinary film-goers by covering the cost of their tickets to the First Friday screening of Heightened Scrutiny. Building on that momentum, the organization is launching its Queer2Queer Campaign, encouraging supporters to reaffirm their commitment to making LGBTQ+ films accessible by “adopting” a screening. By helping to cover the cost of a Festival screening, these supporters will help Frameline49 bring filmmakers and their works to the Bay Area in the face of grant cuts by The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and shifting corporate priorities.

Frameline’s new Director of Partnerships & Development, Matthew Ramsey, added that, “The NEA’s decision is a setback, but it will not diminish our resolve. Now is the time for our community to rally together through our Queer2Queer Campaign. Your support will directly enable us to bring vital queer stories to the screen, ensuring our filmmakers can realize their visions. Let’s show the world the unwavering strength and solidarity of the queer community!”

In that spirit of community, Frameline will continue its long legacy of throwing some of June’s best parties. Following the screening of Heightened Scrutiny on Friday, June 20, Frameline will host its First Friday Party at Charmaine’s, the Proper Hotel’s rooftop bar, where attendees can enjoy complimentary food and drink as well as a night of great music and conversation. On Friday, June 27, the screening of Assembly will be followed by Frameline’s iconic Pride Kickoff Party at Oasis, featuring drag performances by Reparations, an all-Black drag group curated by local star Nicki Jizz.

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. 

Other Festival awards, which will be presented on the final day of the festival, include Frameline’s four juried awards — Outstanding First Feature Award; Outstanding Documentary Feature; Outstanding Narrative Short; and Outstanding Documentary Short — as well as the Audience Awards for Narrative Feature and Documentary Feature.

Alongside all of the new entries into the queer cinema canon, several retro films will also screen at the Festival, including the new 4K restoration of James Bidgood’s seminal underground classic Pink Narcissus; Mike Thomas’ newly-restored, San Francisco-shot landmark of early queer cinema, The Meatrack; Frances Reid, Cathy Zheutlin, and Elizabeth Stevens’ groundbreaking doc In the Best Interests of the Children; and Valencia to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Michelle Tea’s iconic SF-set book on which the film is based. Beloved film series, including Erotic Evenings and the horror-focused Frameline Fangs, will also return.

Frameline49 will also feature its first-ever showcase dedicated to past and present Colin Higgins Youth Filmmaker grantees. Now in its third year, the program, made possible by the Colin Higgins Foundation, provides young LGBTQ+ filmmakers with the much-needed financial support to continue their work and kick off their careers. The showcase, Outside Voices: New Leaders in Queer Cinema Supported by Colin Higgins Foundation, will screen at the Roxie Theater on June 25. In addition to spotlighting 2025’s films, A Bird Hit My Window and Now I’m a Lesbian by Carmela Murphy and AJ Dubler and Barbie Boy by Remi Gabriel, Outside Voices will feature the first two films made with the support of the Colin Higgins Youth Filmmaker Grant: Daisy Friedman’s Unholy and Karina Dandashi’s Baba I’m Fine. 

As in years past, short films are each part of one of nine programs curated around certain themes or genres. Frameline49’s shorts programs include: Alien Extravaganza; It’s a Family Affair; Truth Be Told: Documentary Shorts; First Impressions, Lasting Connections: Date Night Shorts; Queer Quickies: Erotic Shorts; Fun in Shorts; Saturday Morning Cartoons; Homegrown; and Scared Shortless. Additionally, all four shorts projects that were awarded 2025 Frameline Completion Fund grants will screen as part of the shorts programs. These titles include: Budget Paradise by LaTajh Simmons-Weaver; Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites (ចៅសំណព្វចិត្ត) by Chheangkea; Rainbow Girls by Nana Duffuor; and The Roaming Center for Magnetic Alternativesby Brydie O’Connor.

The weekend before Frameline49 officially opens, CAFILM will help bring some Festival films to the North Bay in an exciting first-time partnership. CAFILM Pride Presents Frameline49 Picks, which runs June 13–15, will feature Elena Oxman’s San Francisco-based Outerlands, which stars Asia Kate Dillon (Billions); Rafaela Camelo’s coming-of-age drama The Nature of Invisible Things (A Natureza das Coisas Invisíveis); Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor’s Berlinale standout Dreamers; Darren Thornton’s award-winning dramedy Four Mothers; and the groundbreaking, recently restored In the Best Interests of the Children (1977) from directors Frances Reid, Cathy Zheutlin, and Elizabeth Stevens. This San Rafael-based showcase, as well as the Festival’s added screenings in Oakland, are part of The Bay & Beyond: Frameline49 in San Rafael, Oakland & SF, Presented by Bank of America. All five CAFILM Pride films will also play in the main Festival lineup.