Frameline Film Fest features two furry documentaries – furs invited to a red carpet event.
by Patch O'Furr
Wear YOUR best carpet!
- FURSONAS – Sunday, June 19, 9:15 PM (86 min.) Victoria Theatre, 2961 16th St, San Francisco. “Through a furry fray of intimate dramas and dilemmas, the fascinating individuals and universal longings of furries—or folks who don anthropomorphic body suits for role-play—come into snuggly view.” Tickets here.
- FURRIES – Monday, June 20, 9:15 PM (33 min.) Victoria Theatre, 2961 16th St, San Francisco. Info here: “Furries looks beyond the fur to discover the importance of identity, creativity, and the community’s people.” Tickets here for the ONLY IN SAN FRANCISCO shorts program: “From dancing leather daddies and celebrated drag kings and queens to the imaginatively sexy and romantic and a trip to a Furry convention, this batch of shorts truly embodies the “only in San Francisco” spirit.”
- $12 for each show. Ticket sales open on June 3, 2016. Find more at their site, and here’s a program for the whole festival.
“I can’t believe it – we’re right next to Michael Moore’s latest on Google Play,” said Fursonas director Dominic Rodriguez. “It finally got real for me when I realized you could watch it on planes.”
I checked the “documentary” category, and there it was, the second most popular movie. Since mid-May, it’s still on the front page. That’s quite a step up from all the years when Dominic was working on just another student project made for passion. He said the crew still felt like students even when they were accepted to the Slamdance fest, where a distributor picked up the movie.
There’s more greatness to come. And the public is loving it as much as furries who praise it. (Not all, since it is polarizing in some ways – but man, it is special to read outsider opinions like this.)
“…a tender and nuanced meditation on a community that’s still trying to find itself… a noteworthy achievement for having the skill and will to let the narrative breathe.” – Criterioncast.com
The next greatness? Frameline Film Fest is the oldest ongoing festival for LGBT cinema. During the height of Pride month in San Francisco, 80,000 people come out for this world class queer art event that’s now getting Furries in the mix. What an honor. Not just for the Fursonas crew and supporters, but also for Ash (Eric), director of Furries:
“I am very proud to announce the film festival debut of my documentary, FURRIES, at Frameline40 in San Francisco!
You can catch the film, paired with various shorts, as part of their “Only In San Francisco” shorts program… I’m told that special seating arrangements are being made for those wanting to attend the premiere in their fursuits!
I can’t express in words how much of an honor this is. I simply cannot wait!”
Fursuiters in the audience will probably be stars as much as the movies. While sadly Dominic can’t make it, Ash will be there to help present and make a great fandom event. That’s the coolest thing about this – furs are invited to a big event, but the movies are their own home-grown labors of love. Just like everything else they do. This is going to be a great match for previous years of Furry floats in the SF Pride parade.
Ash explains more:
“I’m excited to finally share the film with audiences at Frameline, the world’s largest LGBTQ film festival. Frameline is excited too…very exited, in fact, that the Bay Area has such a big, local group of furries. They are hoping for a furry audience at the premiere.
Both Dominic and I explored the fandom in different ways, allowing both films to feel like unique experiences that (although there is SOME overlap in defining certain terminology) our films are not mutually exclusive. Collectively, I think they cast a wide net of understanding over the furry experience.”
Inaccurate summary of FURRIES, which should read: “In Furries, local filmmaker Eric Risher takes a trip to a convention in downtown Pittsburgh where thousands gather, wearing tails, hats with ears, and full-body animal costumes. They are furries: members of a growing subculture who share an appreciation for anthropomorphic animal characters. Frequently defined by the mainstream media as a purely sexual community, they must struggle against public misconceptions as they explore and develop their lives as furries. This film offers a humanizing perspective on an often misunderstood community. Look beyond the fur to discover the importance of identity and creativity, and the true essence of the furry fandom: its people.”
That one’s linked above – summary is for the full 80 minute shorts program it’s part of. If the part about leather daddies and sexy stuff is bothersome, keep in mind that you wouldn’t want to get an inaccurate summary of the event and take kids to it, right? But, I rearranged the links to help.