Frameline48 Awards

Executive Director Allegra Madsen and Publications & Programming Manager Joe Bowman announced the winners of six awards before the final film screening of Frameline48, Brian J. Smith’s A House Is Not a Disco, at the Herbst Theatre on Saturday evening.

For over 20 years, Frameline has presented the annual juried Outstanding First Feature Award to a notable narrative feature from an emerging voice in LGBTQ+ cinema. Since 2020, Frameline is proud to partner with the San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle to jury this award. This year, they awarded Luke Gilford’s National Anthem, with two honorable mentions for Alessandra Lacorazza’s In the Summers and Anthony Schatteman’s Young Hearts.

Outstanding First Feature ($2,500): National Anthem, directed by Luke Gilford

Jury Statement: “Jurors serving on this year’s Best Feature Award panel admit to having a tough time narrowing it down to one selection this year. But they did it, lassoing one that impressed the panel from the San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle the most: Luke Gilford’s National Anthem. The group praises it for being an atmospheric, romantic, and beautifully crafted celebration of LGBTQ+ experiences and gender diversity. The panel was particularly impressed with Gilford’s humane storytelling, graceful steerage, engagingly down-to-earth tone, and life-embracing characters. The group also came up with two honorable mentions: for the beautiful and tender Young Hearts and the poignant and moving In the Summers.”

Honorable Mentions for First Feature: In the Summers, directed by Alessandra Lacorazza & Young Hearts, directed by Anthony Schatteman

At the awards ceremony on Saturday, three additional juried awards were announced for Outstanding Documentary Feature, Outstanding Narrative Short, and Outstanding Documentary Short.

Outstanding Documentary Feature ($2,500): Fragments of a Life Loved (Frammenti di un percorso amoroso), directed by Chloé Barreau

Jury Statement: “This unique, fearless, and beautifully edited film combines personal archives with contemporary interviews in surprising and inspiring ways. We were captivated by its fascinating approach to storytelling and its affirmation of romantic queer love in its many different forms. As a self-portrait in which the self is only revealed through the eyes and experience of others, this film is a beguiling, delightful, and creative cinematic achievement celebrating the capacity for personal change and growth over time through love.”

Outstanding Narrative Short Award ($750): Paradise Europe (Du Bist so Wunderbar), directed by Leandro Goddinho & Paulo Menezes

Jury Statement: “The jury commends Paradise Europe for its skillful use of the filmic medium — including screenwriting, casting, camerawork, and editing — to depict the intersectional layers of discrimination facing a queer Brazilian immigrant in Berlin.”

Honorable Mention: If I’m Here It Is by Mystery (Se Eu Tô Aqui é Por Mistério), directed by Clari Ribeiro

Jury Statement: “The jury would like to give an honorable mention to Clari Ribeiro’s If I’m Here It Is by Mystery for its inventive and creative uses of genre filmmaking to create a political and magical film focused on trans Brazilians overcoming adversity.”

Honorable Mention: Ripe!, directed by Tusk

Jury Statement: “The jury awards Tusk’s Ripe! with an honorable mention for its sumptuous visual storytelling, engaging performances, and dynamic editing, altogether making for a viewing experience as buzzy and beguiling as the burgeoning attraction between its leads.”

Outstanding Documentary Short Award ($750): Seat 31: Zooey Zephyr, directed by Kimberly Reed

Jury Statement: “This portrait of Montana state representative Zooey Zephyr and her partner Erin Reed is a call to action, and a vivid and heartening depiction of queer and trans love not only as resistance in a fraught political and social environment, but as the fuel that sustains their activism.”

Honorable Mentions: Wouldn’t Make It Any Other Way, directed by Hao Zhou & You can’t get what you want but you can get me, directed by Samira Elagoz & Z Walsh

Jury Statement: “The jury awarded two Honorable Mentions: to Hao Zhou for Wouldn’t Make It Any Other Way, for its nuanced portrayal of a costume designer giving up a supportive community in exchange for a closer creative and emotional connection to home, and Samira Elagoz & Z Walsh for You can’t get what you want but you can get me, for its buoyant and rejuvenating depiction of queer/trans love’s ability to help us define ourselves.”

Voted on by Frameline48 audience members, the Comcast Audience Award went to All Shall Be Well for Narrative Feature ($1,500). And the Comcast Audience Award for Documentary Feature ($1,500) went to The World According to Allee Willis.

Comcast Audience Award for Narrative Feature ($1,500): All Shall Be Well (從今以後), directed by Ray Yeung
Comcast Audience Award for Documentary Feature ($1,500): The World According to Allee Willis, directed by Alexis Spraic

Frameline48 marks the third year of presenting the Out in the Silence Award. Presented during the Festival, the Out in the Silence Award, which provides $5,000 to the selected filmmaker, honors an outstanding film project that highlights brave acts of visibility, especially in places where such acts are rare and unexpected. This year, Frameline honored Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story, presenting the award to co-director Michael Mabbott following the film screening at the Palace of Fine Arts. Previous Out in the Silence Award winners include: Babatunde Apalowo’s All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White and Micheal Rice’s BLACK AS U R.

And physical awards were given to the two recipients of the Colin Higgins Youth Filmmaker Grants during the award ceremony. The recently announced 2024 filmmakers each received $15,000 in funding for their next projects. The 2024 recipients were Farah Jabir (Kasbi) and Leaf Lieber (Burrow). These grants are generously underwritten by the Colin Higgins Foundation, which is named after the late Colin Higgins, the acclaimed screenwriter and director responsible for such classic films as Harold and Maude, 9 to 5, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.