Frameline, the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, is the longest-running, largest, and most widely recognized queer film fest in the world. In June 2026. And still one of Queerguru’s favorites. It’s an 11-day in Jun 2026 and an excellent in-person showcase of the world’s leading queer cinema in venues throughout San Francisco and Oakland that champions the newest and best queer and trans films from around the globe.
As usual, we have had our QUEERGURU team of reviewers scour the entire Program in great detail to produce our TOP PICKS OF MUST SEE FILMS …. Here they are in alphabetical order :
A beautiful, naked, athletic, fifty-something woman strikes various bodybuilder poses with a cheeky glint in her eyes. Barbara Hammer is in control, and she knows how to get your attention. So begins Barbara Forever, a fascinating, intimate portrayal of the pioneering lesbian film-maker, feminist activist, lover, and artist. With an archived collection of over eighty films, plus a treasure trove of memorabilia, director Brydie O’Connor struck gold when she began her research into the life and times of the inimitable lesbian movie queen.
When it comes to movies, timing is everything. In the midst of all the mayhem caused by the current (temporary) tenant of the White House, which sets so many of us here in the US into another round of depression, this is the perfect time to watch a wee, joyous movie like Bookends. Written by openly gay Noam Ash (The Other Two) , who also stars in this story based on his life, as Nate, who, after a painful breakup from his boyfriend, is forced to leave his sophisticated city life behind and move in with his grandparents in their retirement community in the burbs. Nate is determined to finally start writing the novel he has been talking about for years, but meanwhile, he struggles to cope with his grandfather’s early-onset dementia. Dealing with this new family dynamic puts a strain on them all, especially as his grandmother is in total denial of her husband’s decline
Drunken Noodles follows an art student named Adnan (Laith Khalifeh), who comes to New York for a summer internship at an art gallery. He is young, gay, horny, and presumably single, so the city streets quickly lead him to cruising spots where desire lives and thrives. The film opens by giving us a portal into Adnan’s sexual encounters and history, told in three chapters sequenced in reverse chronological order. In Drunken Noodles, writer-director Lucio Castro powerfully depicts a restless, almost chaotic sexual energy that many queer people know intimately.
When HUNKY JESUS, the heart-warming story of San Francisco’s Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence annual Easter Event, had its World Premiere at London’s queer BFI Flare film Festival, we got to meet/interview the director Jennifer M Kroot and the star Sister Roma (i.e. The World’s Most Photographed Nun). Both they and the movie were a sheer delight. You’ll kick yourself if you miss this one
We always sit up excitedly when there is a new film from Gregg Araki one of the main proponents of New Queer Cinema and whose film Kaboom (2010) was the very first winner of the Queer Palm at the Cannes Film Festival This, his first movie in 11 years, “I Want Your Sex” is the story of Elliot (Cooper Hoffman) an ordinary guy who gets an internship with a hot artist named Erika Tracy (Olivia Wilde), a woman who uses her power and sexuality to get whatever she wants. For the bulk of “I Want Your Sex” Elliot is trying to figure out the rules with a woman who is his boss, mentor, teacher, sexual partner, and more.
“Jaripeo” is a clear-eyed survey of the queer culture that exists within Michoacán’s hypermasculine rodeos. The opening scene features a white Toyota truck winding through the hills surrounding Michoacán, reaching a crest where a vast expanse of cornfields comes into view. Mojica (Efraín Mojica) is the driver, while Zweig (Rebecca Zweig) occupies the back seat. From this spot, Mojica recalls their experiences visiting the rodeos where drunkenness, partying, flirtation, and queer desires take hold. Mojica and Zweig also speak to the many gay men who parse their lustful fixation on masculinity, either in themselves or in their flings and partners. It’s so refreshing to see that even in a small rural city in Mexico, there is acceptance and community to be found, which can/must lead to better things
Maspalomas is an interesting character study about what happens when an older man goes back into the closet. Older gay men are rarely given such visibility on our screens, and the directors dive in deep, with sex scenes, full frontal nudity, and main character profiles. The result is refreshing and thought-provoking. The tough relationship between parent and child is well portrayed and is very relatable. Soroiz is perfect at playing the contrasting sides of Vicente’s life, happily out of the closet and broken when concealing his sexuality. An important lesson in living your truest life.
To be perfectly honest, Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders, the latest documentary from one of Queerguru’s favorite filmmakers, Emmy Award Winner Jeffrey Schwarz, is the most anticipated film in the Fest for our whole team. It’s the story behind what is still one of the most controversial queer films ever made. During the summer of 1979, the hottest club in New York City was on the streets of the West Village, where the gay community came together to protest the filming of a new Al Pacino movie called Cruising. Spurred on by a series of articles by Village Voice writer Arthur Bell, these activists took offense to the idea of a film where homosexuality was explicitly linked to murderous depravity. In some quarters, Cruising has been reclaimed as a gay cinema classic, but we are leaving our options open right now. Like all of Schwarz’s films, this one is UNMISSABLE
On The Sea. Filmmaker Helen Walsh has created something very special here with her thoughtful and realistic portrayal of two men connecting in a rural community filmed in her native Wales. This beautifully slow story follows the development of a relationship between a man with a life to lose and another with no such ties. The sex between Jack and Daniel is portrayed with a realism that is rare in similar movies, where closeted, working-class men might normally be seen to go at it hammer and tongs. It’s not soft focus and romantic either; it feels authentic.
TEST, a compelling narrative feature from Sam McConnell, is the story of Eddie Owens ( Brock Yurich) a closeted small-town bodybuilder chasing a pro card, whs lives under the intense devotion of his religious mother, Joanne (the fabulous Tammy Blanchard), who manages his career through faith; unbeknownst to her, he quietly funds his training through late-night online sex work he keeps hidden. Struggling to win on the competitive circuit, Eddie turns to a new coach, Mike, and develops a secret romantic attachment. As these hidden worlds begin to collide, the pressure mounts. Torn between ambition, belief, and identity, Eddie searches for a path forward and one that allows him to live authentically while holding on to the relationships that matter most to him.
Uncle Roy, this intriguing doc makes such a fascinating contribution to the whole queer history canon that may have been lost for good except for the inquiring mind of award-winning documentary filmmaker Keri Pickett. It’s her Uncle in the title, whom she didn’t get to know until she followed him to NY to pursue her dream of becoming a professional photographer. He was a deeply private person and she had absolutely no idea that he was considered a “forefather of gay photography”, she took it upon herself to reintroduce his portraits of a generation largely lost to AIDS. Over the next three decades, their relationship deepens, and Keri realizes that his photography and the world’s largest archive of theatrical figure skating need a home. As Roy slips into dementia, Keri struggles to care for him, and her efforts to preserve his legacy become more urgent. TOTALLY UNMISSABLE ESP FOR ALL QUEER HISTORY BUFFS
| Frameline50
June 17–27 |
 for full reviews on over 2000 queer films, check out www.queerguru.com and whilst you are there, be sure to subscribe to get all the latest raves and rants on queer cinema …
best of all its FREE |
Leave a Reply