San Francisco LGBT film fest features 5 Filipino-interest entries

“Anita’s Last Cha Cha CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

SAN FRANCISCO, California — Frameline38: the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival will feature five Filipino-interest films during its run in four Bay Area theaters. Frameline is the world’s largest LGBT media arts nonprofit organization.

This year’s internationally renowned showcase for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) cinema runs June 19-29, with San Francisco screenings at the historic Castro Theatre (429 Castro Street), Roxie Theater (3117 16th Street) and the Victoria Theatre (2961 16th Street), and in Berkeley at Rialto Cinemas Elmwood (2966 College Avenue).

With an expected attendance of 65,000, the 11 days of Frameline38 will bring together film lovers, media artists, and LGBTQ communities from the Bay Area and all across the globe to behold the best in queer cinema from nearly 800 film submissions.

More than 30 countries will be represented, including Germany, Venezuela, Slovenia, Mexico, Finland, France, and a spotlight on LGBT Films in Today’s Russia.

As a world-renowned stage for the newest and most exciting voices in independent cinema, Frameline38 will feature 23 films that examine queer life in films created by, for or about the Asian, Pacific Islander, South Asian and Asian American LGBT communities.

This year, the festival features Filipino-interest films:

Anita’s Last Cha-Cha (Director-Sigrid Bernardo / Narrative / Philippines) –  As a tough Armed Forces Reservist prepares to visit her childhood village, she flashes back to the sweet innocence of being a 12-year-old and the first time she fell in love with a beautiful and mysterious woman.

Quick Change (Director-Eduardo Roy, Jr. / Narrative / Philippines) – Walking a legal and moral tightrope, transwoman Dorina administers beautifying (but illegal and dangerous) collagen injections to her friends and beauty pageant contestant clients in Manila’s transgender community.

Alec Mapa:  Babby Daddy (Director-Andrea James / Documentary Features / USA)  America’s “Gaysian Sweetheart,” Filipino-American actor and comedian Alec Mapa (Ugly Betty), sparkles onstage with spot-on incisive and flirtatiously filthy stand-up.  Mapa’s high-paced, award-winning off-Broadway show is coupled with touching backstage scenes with his husband and their child, whom they adopted through foster care.

Limited Partnership(Director-Thomas G. Miller / Documentary Features / Australia and USA In 1975, Filipino-American Richard Adams and Australian Tony Sullivan became one

“Limited Partnership” CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

of the first same-sex couples to legally marry—and the first to be denied legal immigration status. This documentary tells the story of a pioneering bi-national couple who paved the way to defeat DOMA.

Prinsesa (Director-Drew Stephens / Shorts / USA)  Rey, a young Filipino-American father, recalls the Singkil folk dance tale to his children to calm them after an earthquake, but his young boy seems to identify more as the princess than the prince. Should Rey “straighten out” the boy to prove his own masculinity to his friends?

Frameline38: the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival screens June 19-29, 2014 at the Castro Theatre, (429 Castro Street), Roxie Theater, (3117 16th Street), and the Victoria Theatre, (2961 16th Street) in San Francisco, and in Berkeley at Rialto Cinemas Elmwood, (2966 College Avenue).

Tickets are also available 24 hours daily online (www.frameline.org/festival) and via fax (415-861-1404). Unless otherwise noted, tickets for matinee screenings, (Monday-Friday, 5 p.m. and earlier), are $10 for the general public and $8 for Frameline members, while evening and weekend shows are $12 for the general public and $10 for members.

Castro Passes, good for admission to all screenings at the Castro Theatre, other than Opening Night and Closing Night, are available for $225. Weekday Matinee Passes, good for admission to all weekday matinee screenings starting at 5 p.m. or earlier at the Castro Theatre are available for $40 for the general public and $35 for members. For more information, visit www.frameline.org/festival.