Frameline Unveils Opening Gala ‘Young Hearts’ and Juneteenth Block Party Celebration with Lil Nas X Doc

The 48th annual San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival (aka Frameline48) has announced its opening night film for 2024 and a block party to celebrate Juneteenth. The first-ever Castro neighborhood celebration of Juneteenth, Frameline48’s free outdoor event will feature an afternoon of music plus a screening of “Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero.”

In addition to joining Frameline48’s attempt to organize the largest, queerest Electric Slide ever, Bay Area moviegoers can attend 80-plus programs during the festival, which runs June 19–29. (The full program will be announced May 21). The 11-day celebration of film, queerness, and the San Francisco Bay Area will carry on the 2023 festival’s “Neighborhood Nights” spirit. The Juneteenth opening night film and block party will be followed by screenings all over the Bay in beloved venues like the Roxie Theater, the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, the Herbst Theatre, the Vogue Theater, and The New Parkway Theater in Oakland.

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“In this climate, our queer joy, community, and visibility are all political statements,” said Allegra Madsen, Frameline’s executive director. “Cultural change always begins with art and storytelling, what sets Frameline apart is that our organization is built by and for LGBTQ+ people. This year the festival program sets out to highlight how queer artists and queer cultural production have shaped the world we live in.”

Frameline will celebrate opening weekend with a screening of the coming-of-age romance “Young Hearts,” directed by first-time feature writer/director Anthony Schatteman.  This screening will be followed by Frameline’s traditional opening gala celebrating the commencement of the festival.

Opening weekend will also feature Fawzia Mirza’s “Queen of My Dreams,” at once a universal tale of mother-daughter relationships and a story of specific shifting South Asian cultural and political dynamics.  Early bird tickets for Young Hearts and Queen of My Dreams will go on sale May 1, 2023.

Frameline48 will partner with KQEDLive and local filmmaker Deborah Craig for a screening of the artist’s documentary, “Sally!,” which chronicles the life of lesbian-feminist author Sally Gearhart and the social change she inspired. Additionally, Frameline48 will partner with Oakland’s own Drunken Film Fest for a free program about the legacy of queer spaces — appropriately set in an iconic Bay Area queer space.

“I am so proud to lead Frameline and be part of its revolutionary history and future. Our organization does the essential work of ensuring that queer people can tell, share, and see their own stories,” Madsen said. “Film can push people — filmmakers and audiences alike — to create change and shape our cultural moment. To further that, Frameline48 is redefining what it means to be a film festival in today’s landscape.”

The full program announcement for Frameline48 will be released on May 21, 2024.

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