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The iconic San Francisco-based LGBTQ+ festival Frameline is ready to celebrate a half-century… almost. IndieWire can unveil the highly-anticipated lineup for the 49th annual Frameline festival, which is the largest and longest-running queer film festival in the world.

The 2025 festival will open with Sophie Hyde’s “Jimpa” starring Olivia Colman, and close with James Sweeney’s “Twinless.” The festival will take place June 18 to 28, and feature nearly 150 films from 40 countries. Highlights include a special screening at Kqed of Daniel Junge and Sam Pollard’s “I Was Born This Way” documentary about activist Archbishop Carl Bean, who sang the titular gay anthem and founded both the Minority AIDS Project and the world’s first LGBTQ+ church for people of color. Lady Gaga, Questlove, Dionne Warwick, and Billy Porter appear in the film. “Heightened Scrutiny,” which was part of the Frameline Completion Fund, will also screen; the documentary feature centers on ACLU...

The fifth annual NewFest Pride summer film series has a sizzling lineup. IndieWire can announce that NewFest Pride 2025 will feature the New York premiere of Sundance winner “Plainclothes” starring Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey, as well as the highly-anticipated opening night film “Jimpa,” which was previously announced.

Highlights also include an early screening of “And Just Like That…” and a free outdoor screening of Cristina Costantini’s “Sally” in partnership with the Meatpacking District Business Improvement District and Rooftop Films. NewFest Pride will take place May 29 to June 2 to kick-off LGBTQ+ Pride Month.

“In a moment when LGBTQ+ rights are under renewed attack, telling our stories boldly and unapologetically is an act of both defiance and hope,” NewFest Executive Director David Hatkoff said. “The films in this year’s NewFest Pride lineup reflect the depth, diversity, and power of queer experiences — from urgent political documentaries to joyful celebrations of identity.

Entertainment tech company Gathr has announced a full Api (Application Performance Interface) integration with Artinii.Pro, a software service aimed at secure delivery and exhibition of films worldwide. Gathr and Artinii.Pro’s new collaboration combines film booking, event management, ticketing, and exhibition into a “fully automated system for non-theatrical screenings.”

“This partnership exemplifies Gathr’s mission to remove the barrier between storyteller and audience by empowering filmmakers, connecting audiences, and transforming how independent films are experienced globally,” said Gathr founder and CEO Scott Glosserman. “Our unique approach ensures that even in countries where certain web browsers and third-party video players are restricted, audiences can still host screenings and engage with impactful content.”

Films slated for global screenings and discussions under the new collaboration include Monument Releasing’s “Dinner in America,” Vanessa Hope’s “Invisible Nation,” and Stephen Maing’s “Union.”

Friday, March 7 Marc Maron Documentary ‘Are We Good?’ to...

BFI Flare: London Lgbtqia+ Film Festival (March 19-30) has unveiled its full line-up, with 56 features across three strands, exploring subjects such as Kenya’s ballroom scene and the appeal of dating apps.

The programme has films and shorts from 41 countries, with six world premiere features. These include Kenyan filmmaker Njoroge Muthoni’s documentaryHow To Live, which explores Nairobi’s vibrant ballroom scene and celebrates queer African joy.

In Yu-jin Lee’s Manok, the owner of a South Korean lesbian bar must return to her small hometown after clashing with the city’s younger queer community.

Buenos Aires-set comedy drama Few...

Projects come from 34 different countries.

Projects from Rodrigo Reyes, Ike Nnaebue and Sean McAllister are among 48 titles that will be pitched to international and UK industry representatives and experts at this year’s Sheffield DocFest MeetMarket.

One of the world’s largest documentary and factual pitching forums, MeetMarket moved to the beginning of the festival and will take place on June 15-16 with all projects in the development or production stage.

The projects have been selected from more than 500 submissions. Rodrigo Reyes, whose doc Sanson And Me was the winner of DocFest’s 2022 international competition, is pitching Mexican-us co-pro Warrior Mothers.

“Pray Away,” a documentary that holds a microscope to the “pray away the gay” movement, is coming to Netflix.

The film, from executive producers Jason Blum and Ryan Murphy, will debut on the streaming service in August. Prior to its arrival on Netflix, “Pray Away” will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 16.

“Pray Away” was initially slated to open at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival, which was paused in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. This year’s edition will run from June 9 through 20 and will be held across New York City’s five boroughs.

Kristine Stolakis directed the film in her feature filmmaking debut. The doc examines the enduring harm of conversion therapy and centers on former leaders of religious anti-gay campaigns. It also focuses on survivors, who seek healing and acceptance from more than a decade of trauma.

Stolakis produced “Pray Away” with Jessica Devaney and Anya Rous.

Ahead of the pic’s June 16 world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, Netflix has snapped up the Blumhouse TV and Ryan Murphy executive produced documentary Pray Away which investigates the enduring harm of conversion therapy and the “pray the gay away” movement. An August release on the streamer is currently set.

In the Kristine Stolakis-directed and produced docu, former leaders of the “pray the gay away” movement contend with the aftermath unleashed by their actions, while a survivor seeks healing and acceptance from more than a decade of trauma. In the 1970s, five men struggling with being gay in their Evangelical church started a bible study to help each other leave the “homosexual lifestyle.” They quickly received over 25K letters from people asking for help and formalized as Exodus International, the largest and most controversial conversion therapy organization in the world. But leaders struggled with a secret: their...

“Pray Away” will premiere at Tribeca Film Festival on June 16

The documentary “Pray Away,” executive produced by Jason Blum and Ryan Murphy, has landed at Netflix, the streamer announced on Wednesday.

“Pray Away,” which examines the harm of conversion therapy and the “pray the gay away” movement, will have its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 16. It will then debut on Netflix in August.

Kristine Stolakis directed the documentary and also produced alongside Jessica Devaney and Anya Rous. Murphy and Blum executive produced alongside Jeremy Gold, Marci Wiseman, Mary Lisio, Amanda Spain, Daniel J. Chalfen, Jim Butterworth, Katy Drake Bettner, Johnny Symons, Julie Parker Benello, Patty Quillin, Nion McEvoy, Leslie Berriman, Regina K. Scully and Alexis Martin Woodall.

The official logline reads: “Former leaders of the ‘pray the gay away’ movement contend with the aftermath unleashed by their actions, while a survivor seeks healing and acceptance from...

Feature had been invited to Tribeca, Telluride in 2020.

Netflix has acquired global rights to upcoming Tribeca Festival world premiere and gay conversion documentary Pray Away.

Ryan Murphy and Jason Blum are among executive producers on the title, which was invited to screen at Tribeca and Telluride last year before the pandemic scuppered plans.

It will premiere at Tribeca on June 16 prior to debuting on the platform in August.

Kristine Stolakis made her feature directorial debut on Pray Away, which follows former leaders of the “pray the gay away” movement as they contend with the aftermath of their actions.

Meanwhile a...

Pride 2020 will be like no other. Typically, it’s a time when the LGBTQ+ community and allies come together and celebrate progress made since the 1969 Stonewall Riots, but with Pride parades and events across the world cancelled, it feels like a time to reflect on the work that still needs to be done to ensure an inclusive movement worldwide.

Inequalities within the LGBTQ+ community exist. Through the power of film, Qe: Docs4Pride aims to uplift and amplify the voices of those marginalised in the LGBTQ+ community, aligning with wider global conversations and reflections about racial justice and the recognition of minority groups.

The four carefully selected films from China, Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines feature compelling stories of resistance, the fight for civil rights, legal protection and the LGBTQ+ liberation movement in respective countries.

The documentaries are: Out Run, Shanghai Queer (China), Taipeilove* and Of Love and Law. Each...

Ironically launching at the stellar Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, North Carolina right as the anti-lgbtq HB2 legislation hit the fan, S. Leo Chiang and Johnny Symons’s Out Run follows the Ladlad Party in the Philippines — the only Lgbt political party in the world — in the run-up to what could be a history-making election. An artistic political doc, Out Run is both riveting and familiar, as the leaders (including Bemz Benedito, a trans woman who serves as the face of the party) deftly employ campaign strategies that include everything from transforming beauty parlors into headquarters to […]...

The nation’s only non-profit designed to aid in the funding, distribution and promotion of Lgbt films will support seven films through the final stages of their production after receiving a record 112 submissions.

Winning narrative features are Appropriate Behavior directed by Desiree Akhavan and Awol directed by Deb Shoval.

Documentaries features receiving grants are The Joneses directed by Moby Longinotto, Kumu Hina directed by Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson, Out Run directed by Johnny Symons and S Leo Chiang, Radical Love directed by Hillevi Loven and documentary short Sticks And Stones directed by Silas Howard.

“These seven phenomenal projects feature exquisite filmmaking craft and refreshingly bold voices in Lgbt cinema,” said Frameline’s director of exhibition and programming Des Buford. “It is a thrill for the organisation to support such a talented crop of dynamic filmmakers which includes both new artists and veteran mediamakers in this cycle of funding.”...

After watching Tasha deal with some serious homophobes on The L Word, where she dealt with the effects of the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, I couldn’t help but agree with what Alice had to say: “You've worked your whole life to just deny who you are?”

The big ol’ mess that is “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” technically started in 1993, when Bill Clinton became a thorn in the proverbial gay side after promising to allow people of all sexual orientations to serve in the military — only to approve a ban on gays in the military after he was elected. Dubya signed off on the official “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” bit when he took office in 2001, and the gist of the law is this: Sexual orientation will not bar anyone from serving in the military, unless you’re gay. If you’re gay,...