Frameline 2019: Here’s what to see at SF’s LGBTQ film fest

Frameline43, the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ film festival, celebrates Pride Month with a diverse program made up of 174 films  screening from June 20 to June 30. The East Bay gets in the picture as well, with festival screenings slated for Landmark Theartes in Berkeley and Oakland.

The fest kicks off Thursday with “Vita & Virigina,” a dramatic retelling of the romance between aristocrat Vita Sackville-West (Gemma Atherton) and author Virginia Woolf (Elizabeth Debicki). It closes June 20 with “Gay Chorus Deep South,” a documentary following the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus and the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir on a tour through the South.

There are many films with Bay Area ties, including the documentary “We Are the Radical Monarchs,” about an Oakland program that encourages young girls to be active in social issues so they can get their voices heard.

Here are 10 features worth seeing:

“Bit”: Director/writer Brad Michael Elmore stakes a campy claim on the queer vampie genre with this fiesty American premiere that delivers gore, romance and — best of all – a fierce feminist message. An 18-year-old transgender (“Supergirl’s” Nicole Maines) is hanging with her bro for the summer in L.A. when she meets a queer vampire gang that is sinking teeth into male creepozoids. Boosted by a cool soundtrack, this is an energetic ride. Screens: 9:30 p.m. June 22, Castro Theatre, San Francisco.

“A Luv Tale  — The Series”:  Count on Frameline to grab the best LGBTQ+ web series going. Last year the fest featured the addictive “Bonding,” now on Netflix. This year, they nail it again with a sexy Harlem-set soap opera that deliciously tempts you to watch more. It opens with a steamy one-night stand (or is it?) between two queer women of color (Sheria Irving and Vanessa Williams), and goes on to show how the tryst affects those around them. The fest screens six episodes of this series adapted from Sidra Smith’s 1999 film “A Luv Tale.” Screens: 6:45 p.m. June 27, the Castro.

“Sell By”: Making two self-absorbed New Yorkers your protagonists comes with risks, but actor-turned-director Mike Doyle and his male leads navigate those tricky waters in Doyle’s debut feature. The relationship between a wealthy social influencer Marklin (Augustus Prew) and  Adam (Scott Evans), a ghost painter for an obonoxiously celebrated “artist” (Patricia Clarkson), gets tested to the breaking point while — in the background — neurotic friends wrestle with their messy lives. Co-stars Kate Walsh, Colin Donnell, Zoe Chao and scene stealer Michelle Buteau make it an entertaining surprise. Screens: 9:15 pm. June 26, the Castro.

“Unsettled: Seeking Refuge in America”: San Francisco filmmaker Tom Shepard’s topical documentary focuses on four LGBTQ+ asylum seekers — a Syrian refugee who has become a powerful advocate, lesbian partners who run into many roadblocks and a Congo man ostracized from his family — relocating to San Francisco. It’s as powerful and poignant as it is informing and hopeful. Screens: 1 p.m. June 23, the Castro.

“Temblores (Tremors)”: The plot probably sounds familiar — a married man outs himself to his evangelical family members, who then shun him and demand he enter conversion therapy. Rarely, though, has the theme been explored with such passion, precision and artistry than in Jayro Bustamante’s Guatamala-set drama. Pablo (Juan Pablo Olyslager) leaves his wife and kids to be with his lover, the extroverted Francisco (Mauricio Armas). What ensues is a nightmare. The acting, the directing and the photography are extraordinary. Screens: 6:30 p.m. June 25, the Castro.

“Before You Know It”: If you think your family is kooky, wait till you hang with the Gurner clan. Dad (Mandy Pantikin) and his two wholly different daughters (Hannah Pearl Utt and Jen Tullock) run a New York City community theater. When the sisters discover their assumed-to-be-dead mom (a hilarious Judith Light) is alive and flourishing on a soap opera, the past meets up with the present. Utt’s feature-length directorial debut sparkles while Tullock’s and Utt’s screenplay shifts tones with ease. Mike Colter and Alec Baldwin are terrific in small parts. Screens: 6:30 p.m. June 24, the Castro.

“Kattumaram”: The coming-out story of a school teacher (Preeti Karan) living with her fisherman uncle and younger brother in a small seaside village in India is tenderly etched in director Swarnavel Eswaran’s low-key, effective drama. As she evades her uncle’s attempts to marry her off, Anandhi — one of the survivors of a tsunami that killed her parents — finds an attraction growing for an out photographer on assignment. The music, unfortunately, clashes with the film’s subtleness. Screens: 6:45 p.m. June 23 at Roxie Theater, San Francisco; 7 p.m. June 27 at Shattuck Cinemas, Berkeley.

“History Lessons”: A repressed and ailing high school teacher (Veronica Langer in a flawless performance) finds her wilting life in Mexico blossoming when her encounters with fiery student Eva (Renata Vaca) evolve from combative to something more emotionally intense. Director/writer Marcelino Islas Hernandez is a perceptive director and he takes delicate care with these vulnerable characters. Screens: 4 p.m. June 23 at The Victoria, San Francisco; 6:30 p.m. June 29 at the Piedmont, Oakland.

“Changing the Game”: Michael Barnett’s illuminating documentary examines the achievements of three transgender high school athletes, in the face of the obstacles, hatred and the limitations imposed on them. Particularly affecting is wrestling star Mack Beggs, who wants to compete against boys but was originally forced to go up against the girls in Texas. His story and the support he receives from his grandparents and a coach moved me to tears. Screens: 10:30 a.m. June 23, the Castro.

“Brief Story From the Green Planet”: Transgender teen Tania (Romina Escobar) and her two friends Daniela (Paula Grinszpan) and Pedro (Luis Soda) journey from Buenos Aires to the rural home of Tania’s grandma, who has just died. There they discover a sick alien in the basement, and decide to help it get back home. Writer/director Santiago Loza’s award winner casts an odd, mesmerizing spell with a haunting allegory about people who always feel like they’re on the fringes of the world. Screens: 9:30 p.m. June 25 at Shattuck Cinemas; 6:45 p.m. June 27 at the Victoria.

Randy Myers is a freelance writer covering film. Contact him at soitsrandy@gmail.com.

FRAMELINE

When: June 20-30

Where: Various theaters in San Francisco, Berkeley and Oakland

Tickets: Most screenings $15-$20, opening- and closing-night events and screenings $35-$90; www.frameline.org