Announcing the latest queer cinema treasure lovingly remastered as part of Frameline Restorations! Starring Ally Sheedy, Radha Mitchell, and Patricia Clarkson, Lisa Cholodenko's stunning directorial debut High Art (1998) will screen in a brand new digital restoration, co-funded by Frameline, on Saturday, November 2, 2024 at SFMOMA, twenty-six years after opening Frameline22. Ranked #18 on Autostraddle’s 2024 list of Best Lesbian Movies of All Time, High Art signaled the last hurrah of a particular era of queer women’s cinema in the heyday of American independent cinema in the 1990s. Made with a predominantly all-female crew, Cholodenko (The Kids Are All Right) premiered the film at Sundance, taking home their Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. Sometimes labeled as a “comeback” performance, Ally Sheedy won several critics circle prizes and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her raw and captivating performance at the center.

A leaky ceiling becomes the catalyst for a flood of powerful, unexpected (and complicated) emotions for neighbors Syd (Radha Mitchell), a twentysomething associate editor at a popular photo magazine, and Lucy (Sheedy), a once-celebrated Nan Goldin-esque photographer who retired from the art world years prior. Both live with their long-term partners — for Syd, a milquetoast Manhattanite named James (Gabriel Mann), and for Lucy, a washed-up, heroin-addicted German actress named Greta (an unforgettable Patricia Clarkson). As passion takes hold of the women, Syd and Lucy collectively trample over a sea of red flags, each holding out hope that they can rescue each other from the complacency that’s weighing heavily on their lives. Existing somewhere between a faded Polaroid of old flame and sobering reminder of the lessons we’ve learned since then, High Art is just as potent and striking as it was all those years ago.