Frameline’s mission is to change the world through the power of queer cinema. As a media arts nonprofit, Frameline’s programs connect filmmakers and audiences in the Bay Area and around the world. We work tirelessly year-round to fund, distribute, restore, and amplify queer films.

Founded in 1977, the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival is the longest-running, largest, and most widely recognized LGBTQ+ film exhibition event in the world. As a community event with an annual attendance of 60,000+, the Festival is the most prominent and well-attended LGBTQ+ arts program in the Bay Area. Frameline also presents year-round exhibitions, like members-only sneak previews and events, as well as special screenings featuring directors, actors, and other queer media icons.

Established in 1981, Frameline Distribution is the only nonprofit distributor that solely caters to LGBTQ+ film. Frameline’s collection has over 300 award-winning films that we distribute globally to universities, public libraries, film festivals, and community organizations.

Since 1990, more than 190 films and videos have been completed with assistance from the Frameline Completion Fund. Grants are awarded annually and provide much-needed support to filmmakers for their final editing and lab work. Once completed, these films often go on to receive international exposure. Submissions include documentary, educational, narrative, animation, and experimental projects about LGBTQ+ people and the issues that matter to us.

 Frameline Voices is an annual digital showcase of free, streaming content highlighting diverse LGBTQ+ stories, with an emphasis on films by and about people of color, trans and gender-expansive persons, youth, and elders.

Frameline Restorations ensures that queer films can be preserved and enjoyed by audiences for years to come. Film preservation is more than just physical restoration, it is also the process of cultural preservation, of valuing LGBTQ+ history and recognizing the artistic contributions of queer filmmakers to the history of cinema.