Frameline 33, the 2009 San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival, kicks off on Thursday, June 18, with screenings of Richard Laxton's An Englishman in New York (above, top photo), starring John Hurt as Quentin Crisp, and Bonham Sláma's rural Czech drama The Country Teacher (above, lower photo), set universes away from glamorous Park Avenue and the superciliousness of Crisp and his milieu.
Among Frameline 33's other films are:
- Shine Louise Houston's Champion (above, top photo), the tale of a tough female wrestler who must decide between success and "being herself." ("If you liked Girlfight, but felt like it was missing strap-on action and penetration," reads Frameline's info on the film, "then Champion is for you!")
- Auraeus Solito's Boy, described as "An exquisitely tender evocation of the delicate, dreamy netherworld between lust and love." Banned in Singapore, Boy was presented at the Torino gay fest earlier this year.
- Nicole Haeusser's Little Joe (above, middle photo), a documentary about Andy Warhol's most famous male muse, Joe Dallesandro, this year's winner of the Honorary Teddy Award at the Berlin Film Festival.
- Jacqui Morris and David Morris' Mr. Right (above, bottom photo), about the emotional and romantic entanglements of a group of Londoners.
- Adrian Shergold's Clapham Junction, another London-set film dealing with a group of gay/bi men and their issues.
The eclectic festival runs until June 28.