Frameline Announces 2020 Completion Fund Recipients

Today, Frameline-the world's longest-running and largest showcase of queer cinema-announced the recipients of the 2020 Frameline Completion Fund, which provides much-needed grants to emerging and established filmmakers to complete projects that represent and reflect LGBTQ+ life in all its complexity and richness.

The awardees are: Fanny: The Right To Rock, directed by Bobbi Jo Hart; Hummingbirds, directed by TELOXÍCO Collective; No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics, directed by Vivian Kleiman; North By Current, directed by A. Madsen Minax; and Untitled Feature Documentary, directed by Rita Baghdadi.

The five projects-each receiving $5,000-were chosen out of 131 submissions that included feature films and shorts in documentary, narrative, experimental, and episodic forms. The 2020 Frameline Completion Jury was comprised of filmmakers, all of whom are Frameline Festival alums, including Elegance Bratton (Pier Kids, Buck, and a 2019 Completion Fund grantee), Vicky Du (Gaysians), and Sam Feder (Disclosure and two-time Completion Fund grantee). Since 1990, Frameline has awarded $595,000 to 168 projects to help ensure LGBTQ+ film/video projects are completed and viewed by wider audiences.

"On behalf of Frameline, I am honored to present these five filmmakers with a Completion Fund grant," said Frameline Director of Programming Allegra Madsen. "Now more than ever, it is critical to support filmmakers whose work explores diverse and complex LGBTQ+ stories. We look forward to premiering a number of these works at this year's festival."

FANNY: THE RIGHT TO ROCK

Directed by Bobbi Jo Hart | Documentary Feature | Canada
FANNY: The Right to Rock reveals the untold story of a Filipina American founded garage band from Sacramento that morphed into the ferocious rock group Fanny, the first band of women to release an album with a major record label (Warner/Reprise/1970).

HUMMINGBIRDS

Directed by TELOXÍCO Collective | Documentary Feature | USA
In this uniquely collaborative coming-of-age film, inseparable best friends Silvia and Beba emerge at night to escape the cruel summer heat of their Texas border town, wandering empty streets in search of inspiration, adventure, and a sense of belonging. When forces beyond their control threaten their shared dreams and they are faced with an uncertain future, they take a stand and hold onto what they can-the moment and each other.

NO STRAIGHT LINES: THE RISE OF QUEER COMICS

Directed by Vivian Kleiman | Documentary Feature | USA
Five scrappy and pioneering queer cartoonists journey from isolation and DIY work, to mainstream acceptance, and depicted everything from workplace discrimination and gender, to themes of love, sex, and a bad haircut day. Their work and personal stories are sure to make you laugh - but also make you think about the challenges and triumphs encountered and overcome along the way.

NORTH BY CURRENT

Directed by A. Madsen Minax | Documentary Feature | USA
North By Current is a visual rumination on the understated relationships between mothers and children, truths and myths, losses and gains. After the inconclusive death of his young niece, filmmaker Angelo Madsen Minax returns to his rural Michigan hometown prepared to make a film about a broken criminal justice system. Instead, he pivots to excavate the depths of generational addiction, Christian fervor, and trans embodiment. Like the relentless Michigan seasons, the meaning of family shifts, as Madsen, his sister, and his parents strive tirelessly to accept each other.

UNTITLED FEATURE DOCUMENTARY

Directed by Rita Baghdadi | Documentary Feature | USA
LOGLINE NOT AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME

Other projects finished with assistance from the Frameline Completion Fund include: Vision Portraits, Call Her Ganda, Chavela, Pariah, Appropriate Behavior, Call Me Kuchu, To Be Takei, Last Call at Maud's, The New Black, Brother to Brother, Kumu Hina, The Cockettes, Vito, Freeheld, We Were Here, Ahead of the Curve, and Gun Hill Road. For a complete list of previous recipients, click here.

The Frameline Completion Fund is supported by The Williams & Hart Rainbow Fund of Horizons Foundation.