Frameline49 Festival Gives Awards To ‘I’m Your Venus,’ ‘Wicket’ & More

EXCLUSIVE: Frameline49 — the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival – has announced jury and audience awards winners after wrapping an 11-day event that tallied a remarkable 50 sold out screenings.

Kimberly Reed’s I’m Your Venus, about New York ballroom scene legend Venus Xtravaganza, whose 1988 murder remains unsolved, won Outstanding Documentary Feature.

“On behalf of our team, we are deeply honored,” said I’m Your Venus producer Jonovia Chase. “This film is a call to action and a testament to the brilliance, resilience, and love within Black and Latinx queer and trans communities. It sets a precedent for honoring our lives and legacies—showing that when someone claims their truth, it deserves celebration, not violence. That is exactly what Venus embodied, and what this film so powerfully affirms.”

The Librarians, Kim A. Snyder’s documentary about librarians at public schools and libraries who are coming under increasing attack from right-wing conspiracy theorists, earned Honorable Mention in the documentary feature category.

The Frameline49 Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature went to Wicket, directed by Lily Plotkin. The film tells the story of breakdancing great Bboy Wicket who came out after 41 years in the closet.

Outstanding First Narrative Feature, chosen by the San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle to honor an emerging voice in LGBTQ+ cinema, was awarded to The Nature of Invisible Things (A Natureza das Coisas Invisíveis), directed by Rafaela Camelo.

“Beautiful, deep, funny — Brazilian director Rafaela Carmelo has composed an intimate tour de force that begins with two little girls, the daughters of nurse and patient, desperate to be noticed,” wrote the jury. “Their summer of finding who they are, the end of invisibility, will evoke longing and a sense of loss they won’t soon forget — nor will we. The Nature of Invisible Things is among the best of international cinema this year and we may expect to see their nomination at the Academy Awards.”

Honorable Mention in the Outstanding First Narrative Feature category went to Lucky, Apartment (럭키, 아파트), directed by Kangyu Garam, and Plainclothes, directed by Carmen Emmi. Scroll for the full list of awards.

Frameline49’s Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature resulted in a tie: Castration Movie: Pt. I, directed by Louise Weard, and Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day (Lijepa večer, lijep dan), directed by Ivona Juka.

“In their own ways, all of the Audience Award-winning films and our jury selections meet the moment,” observed Allegra Madsen, Frameline’s executive director. “Some are more immediately obvious than others: Croatian Oscar contender Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day examines the intersection of art and activism in the face of authoritarian rule, while Castration Movie: Pt. I sees trans filmmakers coming together to make their film no matter what — and sharing their own stories in the face of harmful media bias and misinformation.”

Frameline, the world’s largest and longest-running queer media festival, presented nearly 150 films from 40 countries, and brought 200 filmmakers from around the world to the Bay Area.

“Festivals like Frameline are the vanguard of independent cinema,” Madsen commented. “We’re changing the face of art and culture at large, no matter the odds. Frameline49 spotlighted filmmakers who are committed to making their stories in the face of a harsh political and financial landscape. As a film festival, and a queer organization, Frameline is tasked with not only showing crucial works, but bringing filmmakers and audiences together to create community.”

Added Madsen, “This year, we really played with the form of the Festival to see how we could strengthen our community and our connections to each other. This is how movements are built. Frameline49 laid that groundwork by bringing artists, activists, and festival-goers together in productive ways. Now, we must continue that work and leverage these connections so that our queer and trans stories remain ours to tell.”

Frameline49 opened with a screening of Sophie Hyde’s intergenerational family drama Jimpa, which played to an audience of 1,000 attendees. James Sweeney’s Twinless closed the festival.

Among the many highlights of this year’s festival was a very timely screening of the documentary Heightened Scrutiny about the battle over United States v Skrmetti, a trans rights Supreme Court case argued last December. The screening happened just days after the court’s conservative supermajority upheld what Frameline called “a bigoted and misinformed Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care for transgender youth.”

Sam Feder’s film, featuring ACLU attorney Chase Strangio who became the first openly trans person to argue a case before the highest court in U.S. v Skrmetti, played to a full house at Frameline49.

“This year has been challenging for the entire queer community, but when we show up for one another and lift up our fellow community members in solidarity, we can make lasting progress,” noted Matthew Ramsey, Frameline’s new director of partnerships & development. “As someone new to the organization and the Bay Area, I was blown away by the talent, creativity, and depth of storytelling, as well as the resilience and sheer joy expressed by all Frameline49 participants. Our ability to combine powerful storytelling with love and celebration is, quite simply, queer magic.”

This is the full list of Frameline49 awards winners:

OUTSTANDING FIRST NARRATIVE FEATURE AWARD

The Nature of Invisible Things (A Natureza das Coisas Invisíveis), directed by Rafaela Camelo

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Lucky, Apartment (럭키, 아파트), directed by Kangyu Garam

Plainclothes, directed by Carmen Emmi

OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

I’m Your Venus, directed by Kimberly Reed

HONORABLE MENTION

The Librarians, directed by Kim A. Snyder

OUTSTANDING NARRATIVE SHORT

The Eating of an Orange, directed by May Kindred-Boothby

HONORABLE MENTION

An Odd Turn (Un movimiento extraño), directed by Francisco Lezama

OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY SHORT

Tessitura, directed by Lydia Cornett & Brit Fryer

HONORABLE MENTIONS

AutoErotica: We Buy Gay Stuff, directed by Jeremy von Stilb

Thanks, Babs!, directed by Jen Rainin & Rivkah Beth Medow

FRAMELINE49 AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE — TIE

Castration Movie: Pt. I, directed by Louise Weard

Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day (Lijepa večer, lijep dan), directed by Ivona Juka

FRAMELINE49 AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Wicket, directed by Lily Plotkin

LIST OF FRAMELINE49 AWARD WINNERS, PRE-FESTIVAL:

Out in the Silence Award:

The Secret of Me, directed by Grace Hughes-Hallett

Colin Higgins Youth Filmmaker Grants:

A Bird Hit My Window and Now I’m a Lesbian, directed by AJ Dubler & Carmela Murphy

Barbie Boy, directed by Remi Gabriel