The Frameline LGBTQ film festival, which serves as the unofficial kickoff of SF Pride proceedings when it begins its ten-day run from June 15-25, posted its full 2017 lineup of 147 films from 19 countries in the wee hours last night. Queer film buffs already saw that Frameline previewed the 2017 schedule about a month back, with highlights including the opening night documentary about Armistead Maupin and the closing night flick featuring Alan Cumming (in person!) and Justin Vivian Bond (probably not attending).
Mick LaSalle has a little Frameline41 preview in today’s Chronicle, but that writeup doesn’t cover much more than what we’ve already known for weeks. So here’s a cursory look at some other standouts, based purely on a quick skim of the full schedule and no real inside knowledge whatsoever.
Trans actress and Orange is the New Black star Laverne Cox is in the mix with a new screwball comedy called Freak Show. We have a Whitney Houston documentary called Whitney. ‘Can I Be Me’. Alaska is a Drag depicts the adventures of a fish cannery worker who moonlights as a drag queen. 100 Men is a New Zealand film that literally documents having sex with 100 different men. A Date for Mad Mary is a standout from this year’s SFFILM Festival about an Irish woman fresh out of prison who immediately has to serve as a bridesmaid, and awkward hilarity ensures.
But you’re well advised to take a deep dive into the full Frameline41 schedule, which you can organize by genre, country, director, or the five Bay Area theaters hosting screenings.
Tickets go on sale to Frameline members this Friday, May 26 at the curious time of 3 p.m., and to the general public next Friday, June 2, also at 3 p.m.
If you’d like to volunteer for Frameline to get the t-shirt and those sweet free movie passes, the first Volunteer Orientation session is tonight at 7 p.m. at the SF LGBT Center. If you can’t make that one, there’s another Volunteer Orientation session on Thursday, June 1.
Frameline41 runs June 15-25 at the Castro Theatre, the Roxie Theater, the Victoria Theatre, the Rialto Cinemas Elmwood in Berkeley, and the Piedmont Theatre in Oakland.
Related: Frameline Breaks Out A Preview Of Its 2017 Festival Schedule