Founded in 1977, the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival is the longest-running, largest, and most widely recognized queer film exhibition event in the world. As a community event with an annual attendance of more than 63,000 (89,000 virtual attendance in 2020), the Festival is the most prominent and well-attended LGBTQ+ arts program in the Bay Area. In 2018 Frameline's Festival was named by MovieMaker to be one of the 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World.

Frameline46: the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival returns to the Bay Area with its signature showcase of the world’s leading queer cinema. Frameline unites diverse communities for 11 days of innovative and socially relevant content. Discover emerging talents and embrace an unparalleled community of festival-goers at the world’s largest celebration of queer media. The Festival pays tribute to LGBTQ+ experiences through pioneering documentaries, gripping features, delightful shorts, cinematic classics, and more.

Each year, Frameline hosts 400 official Festival Guests, including directors, producers, actors, programmers, distributors, and buyers that range from small, independent entities to major studios such as Strand Releasing, Wolfe Video, The Film Collaborative, TLA Releasing, HBO, Showtime, and Warner Bros. The Festival is one of the largest annual business meeting places for theatrical and educational film and video buyers in Northern California.

Committed to showcasing the best and most diverse work by, about, and of interest to the LGBTQ+ community, we strongly encourage applications from women, people of color, transgender people, intersex people, asexual people, non-binary people, disabled people, and other underrepresented people and communities. The Festival is produced by Frameline, a non-profit arts organization dedicated to the exhibition, distribution, funding and promotion of LGBTQ+ media arts.

Frameline46 will be presented safely and could be online, at venues, or a mix of both. Frameline will provide updates on these plans as they emerge.

Awards & Prizes

Since 1983 our audience has been responsible for selecting the Best Narrative Feature Film, Best Documentary Film and Best Short Film of the Festival. Putting the power in the audience's hands, the Frameline Audience Awards offer cash prizes to the favorite Feature, Documentary, and Short in the festival. In Frameline42 we started an Audience Award for Episodics.

Outstanding First Feature
A juried award for the most Outstanding First Feature to be awarded to the Director. Submitted film must be a San Francisco Bay Area Premiere to qualify.
Sponsor: Frameline

Outstanding Documentary Jury Award
A juried award for the most Outstanding Documentary Feature to be awarded to the director. The submitted film must be a San Francisco Bay Area premiere.
Sponsor: Frameline

Rules & Terms

Frameline, the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, accepts films of any length and genre about LGBTQ+ people and their communities.

ENTRY FORM
All submissions must be made via FilmFreeway. We do not accept submissions by email. A separate Entry Form is required for each film being submitted. Once a film is submitted for entry, it may not be withdrawn.

SUBMISSION FEE
We encourage filmmakers to submit by the Early Bird Deadline before fees increase. Entry fees are not refundable. Frameline only allots a small number of fee waivers for Festival alumni as well as filmmakers based in countries that cannot legally send money to the U.S. Discounted submission fees are granted on a case-by-case basis for filmmakers who demonstrate a financial need. No additional discounts are available with Student Discounts or Early Bird pricing. Requests can be directed to programming@frameline.org

REQUIREMENTS & PREMIERE STATUS
Feature films previously exhibited publicly in the Bay Area — either theatrically, at another local festival, or via television — are not eligible for submission. There is no premiere requirement for short films.

ELIGIBLE EXHIBITION FORMATS
For theatrical screenings, Frameline46 will exhibit all films via DCP. For streaming screenings we will reach out with format specifications. All non-English language entries must have English subtitles.

ROUGH CUTS & WORKS-IN-PROGRESS
Rough cuts and works-in-progress are eligible for submission only if completed by May 9, 2022.

NOTIFICATION
All FilmFreeway submissions will be marked "In Consideration" once payment, entry forms, and an online link of the film have all been received. Entrants will be notified of festival selections in early May 2022.

SHIPPING
Exhibition copies must be sent to the festival prepaid. The Festival will pay for return or forward shipping. The Festival cannot accept nor assume responsibility for damage or loss of materials while in transit. In case of loss or damage during the Festival, the responsibility of the Festival is limited to the costs for repair or replacement of the print.

AWARD ELIGIBILITY
All films selected are eligible for the Audience Awards.
To be eligible for a juried cash award a film cannot have screened or been broadcast on television or on VOD in the San Francisco Bay Area prior to the Festival.

PROGRAM SELECTION
All entries will be reviewed in their entirety by at least two members of the Festival Screening Committee or by one Programmer. The Screening Committee is composed of industry professionals, filmmakers, students, longtime festival screeners, and movie lovers.

RENTAL FEES
The Festival does not pay rental fees; instead, we choose to invest our resources in producing the best possible showcase for your work and promoting your work as widely as possible.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS
I give Frameline permission to use up to 3 minutes of footage or photographic stills from the work for broadcast, web publication or other promotional purposes. Frameline must be notified in writing of any press or photo restrictions.

Frameline must be notified in writing of any press restrictions, including hold reviews.

If accepted to the Festival I agree not to have a full copy of the film available online or thru VOD prior to the Frameline screening.
12 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Discoverscape Projects

    We loved attending Frameline as our first film festival! They are a hardworking and dedicated team of talented filmmakers. We hope to cross paths with each one of them in the future. We had the absolute best time. 10/10 would encourage Black and Queer filmmakers to apply here! They care deeply for our stories and our experiences.

    We also received their Completion Fund Grant for 2021-22, it was a straightforward and rewarding process!

    July 2022
    Helpful
  • Roman Nemec

    Awesome experience! Quality program, great organization, many interesting and pleasant meetings. Thanks to all the people behind the scenes of the festival, especially Peter Stein, the great presenter of the screening of our film Where Butterflies Don't Fly.

    July 2022
    Helpful
  • Micheal Rice

    Frameline is everything! the professionalism, the attention to details, the way the staff made me feel as an artist was nothing short than incredible. The staff was wonderfully helpful, they knew my name and film. the team worked hard to make sure the screening was promoted and well attended. The patrons of this festival came out to support so many new filmmakers it really warmed my heart at the large support of the community

    July 2022
    Helpful
  • Hisonni Mustafa

    Frameline is it!!! They treat each filmmaker like they matter, and for me, an indie film guy propelled forward by nothing more than my morale, being treated with such respect and care is premium gas in my tank. Thank you, Frameline!

    July 2022
    Helpful
  • Alex Sangha

    It was an honour and blessing to visit beautiful San Francisco for a screening of Vinay Giridhar’s debut feature documentary Emergence: Out of the Shadows at the prestigious Frameline film festival. Big thanks.

    July 2022
    Helpful