Today for KPFA Radio’s Women’s Magazine, we  celebrate Pride month by talking about some of the films I recommend that are showing  at the   the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, hosted by Frameline.  Frameline  was founded in 1977 and is the longest-running, largest, and most widely recognized queer film exhibition in the world so this year marks 50 years of Frameline films.  The films run from June 17th thru June 27th and are shown in both SF and the East Bay. We talk to Allegra Madsen,  the director of SF Frameline.   

And then Lisa Dettmer  talks to Cheri Gaulke about her new documentary “Acting Like Women” which looks at the Art, activism, and female-powered performance burst onto the scene in 1970s Los Angeles, forming a tight-knit and transformative creative community. Centered around the early days of the Woman’s Building, these artists explored the body, gender, and identity — challenging the entrenched sexism of the art world while forging groundbreaking new modes of expression that would influence generations to come.

We also  talk to Sasha Water, director of the new documentary Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World which  weaves Oliver’s own words through rare archival materials and candid reflections from those who knew and admired her, including John Waters, Stephen Colbert, and Oprah Winfrey. From her formative years marked by hardship to her quiet life in Provincetown with her longtime partner, the film traces the journey of a poet who found salvation in attention — to nature, to language, and to love. Tender, contemplative, and deeply human, this documentary invites us not only to understand Mary Oliver’s life, but to reflect on our own.

Then we talk to two of the women behind the Queer Women of Color Film Festival,  managing director Kebo Drew and founding Executive/Artistic Director of QWOCMAP, Madeleine Lim.

The QWOCFF features 49 films across seven curated screenings at San Francisco’s historic Presidio Theatre. It includes  Filmmaker Q&As and  community celebrations among other events. Every screening is  fully accessible with open captions, audio description, and ASL interpretation.

For 22 years, QWOCFF has been where LBTQIA+ BIPOC filmmakers bring their work showing  films  from across continents and generations. The in person festival is June 12-14 at the Presidio Theatre, 99 Moraga Avenue, San Francisco.  

And lastly Judith Masur  will remember lesbian feminist disability justice activist Jill Lessing who died last month at 83. 

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