The second week of Frameline’s 48th program ushers in more top-tier offerings to be viewed in person or online.
Here are a few standouts in the remaining days of the world’s largest LGBTQ film festival, which wraps up Saturday night, a day before San Francisco’s Pride parade on June 30. (Screenings of films covered here are at the Roxie in San Francisco unless noted.)
One film I can’t stop thinking about is director Matthew Fifer’s disturbing, purposefully disorienting and downright strange “Haze.” It’s a daring, sexy follow-up to his linear, romantic dramatic debut “Cicada,” co-directed by Kieran Mulcare.
In “Haze,” Fifer and evocative cinematographer Eric Schleicher serve up a surreal, Gothic-like vibe, appropriate to this unsettling film about a gay freelance journalist Joe (Cole Doman) uncovering shocking secrets linked to an eroding, rundown psychiatric hospital that towers over his former hometown and casts a long shadow on its residents.
Now abandoned, the hospital’s surrounding grounds are a hot hookup spot for Joe and hunky and enigmatic Luke (Brian J. Smith). As their relationship intensifies, dead bodies pile up. Meanwhile, Joe’s investigation into horrific long-ago hospital practices dredges up buried memories of his own tortured past, including the disappearance of his sister. “Haze” does leave you in a haze, particularly by Doman’s quirky performance and its fever dream sequences. The hypnotic mood piece won’t be for all tastes, but it’s quite the head trip. Some may want to rewatch it to see how it’s layered. It screens at 8:30 p.m. June 28 (with Smith and Fifer slated to attend). It also will stream on the Shudder platform in fall.
Karen Knox’s energetic, music-driven (the soundtrack is worth downloading) “We Forgot to Break Up” should have more buzz. In it, two queer members of a punk rock band that practices in a barnyard in rural Emmett Lake, Canada in 1999 can’t wait to leave their sometimes-hostile environment for the big city of Toronto. Three band members follow. Living together, friction and attraction mount, leading to differing interests, reignited passions and the fallout of overnight success after playing one gig. The youthful cast hits all the right notes; Lane Webber ignites the screen as Evan, The New Normals trans lead singer-songwriter who’s emotionally connected to his college-serious girlfriend Isis (June Laporte) and to the kinda-nerdy, in a cute way, guitarist Lugh (Daniel Gravelle). Based on the book “Heidegger Stairwell” by Kayt Burgess (winner of the 3-Day Novel contest), “We Forgot to Break Up,” screening at 3:30 p.m. June 28, is one of the best unexpected finds in this year’s lineup.
Another film I’ve raved about since CAAMFest is Ray Yeung’s somber and stirring “All Shall Be Well.” Here’s another opportunity to see one of 2024’s best films, an elegant Hong Kong-set drama about a once-welcoming family so preoccupied with their wants, they overlook the emotions of a grieving older woman. As Angie (Patra Au) struggles to move on after Pat, her longtime female partner of more than 30 years dies, she starts to receive the coldest of shoulders from Pat’s family. “All Shall Be Well” (at 6 p.m. June 27 at the Herbst Theatre with Yeung attending) is quietly devastating as Angie endures one indignity after another. Yet Yeung gently offers hope, as Angie finds comfort from her steadfast LGBTQ community.
In “The Queen of My Dreams,” the tragic death of a beloved father sends Toronto-based Azra (Amrit Kaur) grudgingly back to Pakistan where she must deal with her tradition-bound Muslim mother Miriam (Nimra Bucha). Leaving behind her female lover, Azra starts feuding immediately with Miriam while refusing to acquiesce to her mother and Muslim traditions. Director-screenwriter Fawzia Mirza’s energetic debut feature also looks at Azra’s parents’ courtship and marriage as mother and daughter start to mend broken fences and understand each other. The funny, personal film screens online at Frameline through June 30.
Frameline includes numerous fiction and nonfiction movies centered on LGBTQ athletes. A standout is Benjamin Howard’s blunt, uncompromising “Riley.” Anchored by an electrifying performance from Jake Holley, Howard’s semi-autobiographical, passionate debut film focuses on high school football sensation Dakota Riley, a closeted gay big man on campus who’s attracted to his teammate friend (Colin McCalla), hooks up with an older guy (J.B. Waterman), and fumbles about with a sort-of girlfriend (Riley Quinn Scott). The movie is a raw, brutally honest depiction of the extreme lengths to which anxiety-ridden Dakota denies his sexuality in a masculine environment (and aggravated by his dad being the coach). Tickets for the film’s 6 p.m. June 27 screening are at rush.
Many of this year’s Frameline short films are by Bay Area filmmakers, including a sizzlin’ hot 14-minute comedy-drama from award-winning Oakland author-filmmaker-artist-dancer Brontez Purnell. His “100 Boyfriends Mixtape” (included in “Erotic City Shorts” at 10 p.m. June 27) catalogs DeShawn’s (Purnell) racy pursuit for sexual satisfaction in San Francisco as his boyfriend shows little interest in having sex with him.
I enjoyed director Jonathan Andre Culliton’s kooky 15-minute horror comedy “Spookable.” It’s about trans besties (Marval Rex and Alexandra Grey), both seeking R&R at a cabin in the woods, who scurry their way into serious werewolf trouble. The charismatic actors’ impeccable comedic timing and Culliton’s bouncy direction make this funny homage to old-screen horror irresistible. It’s part of Frameline’s ever-popular “Fun in Shorts” screens at 6 p.m. June 29. It also streams through June 30.
For ticket information and a full lineup, visit frameline.org/festival/browse.
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