The cover of this issue of the San Francisco Bay Times—the first of two Pride Month issues—pays tribute to some of the memorable films shown at the Frameline Film Festival over the past 50 years. One is the documentary short Zeitgeist 1977: The First Festival, which explores the birth of the original “Gay Film Festival of Super-8 Films.” This grassroots festival that evolved into Frameline involved queer filmmakers and photographers such as Marc Huestis, Rob Epstein, David Weissman, and Dan Nicoletta, and was organized with the help of civil rights leader Harvey Milk. The documentary short can be viewed in its entirety at YouTube: https://bit.ly/4e8B3O6
Moving to the present, the film Hunky Jesus, one of Frameline50’s major screenings, has several Bay Times connections. It was created by filmmaker and former Bay Times columnist Jennifer Kroot and was executive produced by former Bay Times columnist Robert Holgate. Longstanding columnist Sister Dana Van Iquity is included in the film, as are photos by Bay Times lead photographer Rink.
A great strength of Frameline is that its lineups include, not only such familiar local subjects and filmmakers, but also international films with novel perspectives. All the more magical this year is that the milestone 50th festival can take place, in part, at the newly renovated Castro Theatre (in addition to 7 other theaters). The Bay Times congratulates Frameline, a fellow Legacy Business, on 50 successful years and looks forward to the next half century of the world’s largest and oldest continuously running LGBTQ+ film organization.
Pride Season 2026
Published on June 11, 2026
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