‘Elemental,’ ‘Bottoms,’ ‘Chasing Chasing Amy’ and ‘Our Son’ Among Frameline’s 2023 Festival Lineup

Abbey White
·4 min read
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Frameline’s 2023 festival lineup includes Pixar’s new film Elemental, the Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott-starring Bottoms, a screening of Chasing Amy and its new reflective doc, Chasing Chasing Amy, and the Billy Porter and Luke Evans-led Our Son.

The 47th edition of the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival runs June 14-24 and will feature 90 screenings of features and shorts across 11 days before offering a virtual encore between June 24 and July 2. That includes 12 world, 16 North American and nine U.S. premieres, with the opening night film Fairyland, Andrew Durham’s adaptation of Alysia Abbott’s memoir, set to feature an in-person appearance from producer Sofia Coppola.

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“There is nothing like seeing a great film at the cinema — sharing an experience in the same moment as friends and strangers alike,” James Woolley, executive director of Frameline, said in a statement. “Despite the challenges that have reshaped moviegoing, we are proud to present Northern California’s largest film festival this year. It says so much about the power and resiliency of queer art and community, as well as the urgent need for it.”

Other major screenings at this year’s festival include a free all-ages matinée for Pixar’s latest film, Elemental, which is set to wide release in U.S. theaters on June 16. Queer high school comedy Bottoms — which stars The Bear‘s Edebiri and Bodies Bodies Bodies‘ Sennott — is also slated to screen at Frameline47, with Shiva Baby‘s Emma Seligman directing the film about two girls who start a school fight club.

There is also the long-awaited YA big-screen adaptation of Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. Directed by Aitch Alberto, the story follows Aristotle and Dante, two Mexican American teens who explore through their blossoming friendship their struggles with things like their racial identity and sexuality while growing up in late-’80s Texas.

The Porter and Evans-led Our Son, which follows the lives of a gay married couple on the brink of divorce and facing a custody battle over their 8-year-old son, will screen following its Tribeca Film Fest debut. Meanwhile, Theater Camp, which had its debut at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and focuses on a group of camp staff who band together to save their theater camp after its owner ends up in a coma and her “crypto bro” son takes over, will screen. Amy Sedaris and Ben Platt both star.

Many of the programming slate’s selections explore the past and present of queer cinema history and collective history of the LGBTQ+, as well as its legacy. That includes an unofficial double feature of Kevin Smith’s long-debated Chasing Amy, starring Ben Affleck and Joey Lauren Adams, along with Sav Rodgers’ personal look at the film’s complicated legacy and impact on his own life, Chasing Chasing Amy.

“The pairing of Chasing Amy, Kevin Smith’s 1997 cult classic, with Sav Rodgers’ directorial debut, Chasing Chasing Amy, is a perfect encapsulation of not only this year’s festival, but of what it means to be a queer filmmaker,” Allegra Madsen, director of programming at Frameline, said in a statement. “How do filmmakers — and all of us — deal with our problematic cultural past when it was both so formative and so damaging? For queer people, there isn’t always a roadmap to follow. We’re charting our own paths, and the Frameline47 films explore this, no matter the genre.”

Another festival pairing is the Lea DeLaria, Tig Notaro, Kate Pierson, Peppermint and Ming-Na Wen-starrer Glitter & Doom, a musical that traces a budding romance between a young musician and a spirited circus kid to the soundtrack of The Indigo Girls. Fans of the folk-rock duo can also catch the Alexandria Bombach-directed documentary on the musicians, It’s Only Life After All, during the 2023 festival.

All of this will be screened along with marquee screenings Cora Bora, directed by Hannah Pearl and featuring Hacks actor Megan Stalter, and Jordan Danger’s Pride Kickoff film God Save the Queens, which features drag icon Alaska, who will perform during the film’s after party at Oasis.

“Frameline47 is meant to be eclectic. In the same way there’s no single queer or trans narrative, there’s no one way LGBTQ+ cinema should look,” Madsen said. “Instead, we have a multitude of stories that we’re so thrilled to share in June.”

This year’s Frameline festival will feature 47 screenings at the historic Castro Theatre, along with the Roxie, CinemaSF’s Balboa Theater, 4-Star Theater, Vogue Theater and The New Parkway Theater in Oakland. The festival’s return to the East Bay will see the first-ever Oakland Opening Night and Centerpiece films, along with a Centerpiece after party at Fluid510.

The full Frameline47 lineup can be found here.

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