By Gary M. Kramer–
The 68th annual San Francisco International Film Festival, April 17–27, showcases more than 150 films and more than a dozen LGBTQ titles. The festival opens with Rebuilding starring Josh O’Connor as a rancher and closes 11 days later with Outerlands, a set in San Francisco story about Cass (non-binary Asia Kate Dillon) who finds themself unexpectedly caring for a coworker’s daughter (Ridley Asha Bateman).
A few queer films of note include the inspiring documentary, Come See Me in the Good Light, about the lesbian poet laureate Andrea Gibson managing cancer with her partner, Megan Falley, and the Korean drama 3670, about a gay North Korean defector living in Seoul. The festival also provides SFFILM members with a chance to sneak preview the deadpan comedy Magic Farm, featuring out actor Joe Apollonio, prior to its release next month.
Here is a rundown of a handful of LGBTQ films screening at this year’s fest.
Rafael Ruiz Espejo’s sizzling debut feature, The Last First Time, chronicles a rural Mexican teenager’s sexual coming-of-age. When Eduardo (Alejandro Quintana) travels to Guadalajara to take an exam, he flirts with Mario (Carlos E. López Cervantes). After the teens fool around a bit, Eduardo joins Mario and his queer friends for a night of tattoos, drinking, and clubbing. Eduardo gets a bit reckless as he enjoys his freedom away from home, ignoring his nagging mother’s calls, and trying to fit in with these fast new friends. The baby-faced Quintana delivers a sensational performance, conveying Eduardo’s anxiety and excitement as he has a series of sexy encounters (and drinks more than he should). Both gritty and affecting, The Last First Time is a piercing character study.
Writer/director Gala del Sol’s stylish and quixotic debut, Rains Over Babel, takes viewers into a queer and contemporary version of Dante’s Inferno, where La Flaca (Sarai Rebolledo) plays games of chance with people’s lives and Dante (Felipe Aguilar Rodríguez) sends the dead into the next world. Enter a host of characters, queer and straight, including Jacob (William Hurtado), who experiences moments of stigmata, and secretly performs in drag as Andria—hoping his pastor father Don Alfonso (Jhon Narváez) won’t find out. Other storylines feature Monet (Johan Zapata), who suffers an overdose, and Timbí (José Mojica), who partners up with Uma (Celina Biurrun) to find the musician El Callegueso (Jacobo Vélez) to save his father Salai’s (John Alex Castillo) bar. Rains Over Babel features some fabulous performance sequences, some inventive, candy-colored visuals, a talking salamander, and some queer twists that will keep viewers rapt as this magical realist fable about life, love, and death unfolds.
Sally is a celebratory documentary about Sally Ride, the first American woman to go into space. A role model for breaking a glass ceiling, Ride endured incredible sexism and gendered expectations on the job and in the media— before, during and after her famous shuttle flight. As director Cristina Costantini’s informative documentary shows, she handled it all with aplomb. However, Ride did not publicly disclose her sexuality, or her decades-long relationship with her partner Tam O’Shaughnessy, and it was only revealed after her death. She was even reluctant to tell her sister, Bear, who was also a lesbian. Sally recounts Ride’s life and work, her ambitions and training at NASA, her positive impact on women in STEM, as well as her marriage to fellow astronaut Steve Hawley and her relationship with O’Shaughnessy, making points about how things are harder for women in general and queer women in particular. As a pioneering lesbian who remains an inspiration, Ride gets some overdue love and even more respect with this flattering portrait.
Where the Wind Comes From is a standard-issue road movie about teenage Alyssa (Eya Bellagha) and her best friend Mehdi (Slim Baccar), who hope to win an art contest that will enable them to go abroad. But what distinguishes this film is that it is set in Tunisia, where both characters are oppressed by social forces as well as trapped by economic circumstance. To visualize her escape, Alyssa has some surrealistic flights of fancy, such as seeing rich people with pig heads or picturing lecherous old men in dresses. One sequence, set in a nightclub, has her floating and kissing a woman, much to Mehdi’s surprise. The queer content is minimal, but Eya Bellagha and Slim Baccar are appealing as the friends encounter setbacks, like car trouble, prompting Alyssa to find workable solutions to the problems she creates. This drama about Arab youth struggling for a better life is heartfelt even when it feels cliché.
Writer/director Rohan Kanawade’s tender romance, Cactus Pears, has Anand (Bhushaan Manoj) returning to his hometown for his father’s funeral. When he reconnects with Balya (Suraaj Suman), a local farmer, both men are wary of acting on their attraction. Cactus Pears pivots on whether Anand and Balya will go live together in Mumbai, or experience heartbreak. This beautifully made and well-acted film teases out the answer with a slow burn, but it is very affecting.
Writer/director Trương Minh Quý’s atmospheric Viet and Nam has lovers Viet (Dao Duy Bao Dinh) and Nam (Pham Thanh Hai) stealing private moments together before Nam emigrates to Europe. The film’s second half has Nam’s mother Hoa (Nguyen Thi Nga) searching for answers regarding the death of Nam’s father. This dense film asks important questions about identity, family, and home, as it lets viewers connect the dots and form answers about queer lives and history.
In the mid-length films program, don’t miss Two People Exchanging Saliva, by filmmakers Natalie Musteata and Alexandre Signh. Shot in luminous black and white in the Galeries Lafayette department store, this fantastic film depicts a lesbian love triangle that plays out in a unique society where the rules slowly come into focus. Using dark humor, the film incisively comments on issues of power, beauty, and status, and how these things distort human behavior.
For tickets, schedules, and more information, visit https://sffilm.org/
© 2025 Gary M. Kramer
Gary M. Kramer is the author of “Independent Queer Cinema: Reviews and Interviews,” and the co-editor of “Directory of World Cinema: Argentina.” He teaches Short Attention Span Cinema at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute and is the moderator for Cinema Salon, a weekly film discussion group. Follow him on X @garymkramer
Film
Published on April 10, 2025
Recent Comments