The latest Donald Strachey mystery helps kick off Frameline 32, the San Fran LGBT film festival

Frameline: The San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival starts this Thursday, and is celebrating its 32nd year with screenings of over 200 films from around the world (some of which, like the delirious musical Were The World Mine, were also part of NewFest, which we blogged about two weeks ago). For a complete listing of the schedule, and info about tickets, visit the website, but here a few choice selections.

On The Other Hand, Death: A Donald Strachey Mystery

Before it premieres on Here July 11th, you can see out actor Chad Allen in his third Strachey mystery.

"Even before the opening credits roll, Strachey (Chad Allen) finds himself surrounded by cops with guns drawn when the shadowy female he’s tracking through the city’s gritty back streets turns out be an officer of the Albany Police Department. Under arrest, he explains that her husband hired him to follow her to see if she was having an affair. The only problem is, she isn’t married. To save his hide, Strachey has to figure out who the so-called husband really is and why he hired him to tail a cop. He gets thrown off course when a small-town lesbian couple (Margot Kidder and Gabrielle Rose) becomes a target of homophobic vandalism and threats. Strachey can’t resist volunteering to help track down the perpetrators, even as he continues his search for his phantom client. Seeking both of them at once proves to be tough, but as the violence escalates, his twin investigations start to seem suspiciously like one and the same case."

All My Life

Described as "most daring and sexually explicit portrait of homosexual life in Egypt yet put on screen", All My Life is about the political and sexual lives of some gay friends in Cairo.

"Maher Sabry’s film evocatively details the tribulations of 26-year-old Rami, an accountant and dance student living in Cairo. Rami’s boyfriend, Waleed, has just ended their relationship in order to get married. His best girlfriend Dalia is leaving Egypt for San Francisco. And his doctor pal Kareem is pestering him to be more involved in the city’s quasi-underground gay community. As Rami pursues his own romantic path of one-night stands with closet cases and fetishizing tourists, Kareem is arrested in a police raid on a floating discotheque called the Queen Boat (based on an actual incident in 2001, which catalyzed gay Egyptians and a variety of international human rights organizations into action). In his ambitious profile of the multifaceted world of his main character, Sabry’s wide-reaching story also includes a devout man living upstairs from Rami, who is trying to quell his longing for women, and an unhappily closeted kid named Mina, who lives across the way. All of these characters are portrayed with palpable compassion — and often in various states of undress — with a variety of dramatic denouements."

You can see more festival entries and a couple of trailers (including one for a gay horror movie featuring Tori Spelling, after the break

The Art Of Being Straight

Jesse Rosen directs and stars in a comedy-drama about a man coming to terms with his sexuality.

"John thinks he’s got it all figured out. He’s young, good looking and has always had a way with the ladies. After a break-up with his girlfriend, he moves west to Los Angeles for a fresh start. He is officially back on the market and looking to score. Crashing on his buddy ,strong>Andy’s couch is a comforting return to the college patterns of partying, womanizing and trash talk with the guys. However, reconnecting with his old flame Maddie proves to be surprising when she introduces him to her girlfriend, Anna. An aspiring photographer, John takes an entry-level position at an ad agency, determined to prove himself. Things get a little confusing when Paul, a successful executive at the firm, takes a special interest in John, and when John ends up in Paul’s bed, his world is turned completely upside down."

The Lost Coast

The Lost Coast is an avant-garde piece by filmmaker Gabriel Fleming, and has received rave reviews. You can see the trailer below.

"The stimulating streets and wondrous natural beauty of San Francisco come alive in this moody, sexually charged film. It’s Halloween night in The City. Quiet twenty-something Jasper is hanging with his cocky high school pal Mark and their friend Lily. Joined by Mark’s friend and sometimes lover Caleb, the group’s epic, all-night journey begins in the center of the Halloween universe: The Castro. When the massive mob of costumed partiers becomes too overwhelming, the foursome make off for less populated places. As they wander the streets in search of adventure, Mark and Jasper engage in a complicated cat-and-mouse game in which surprising emotions emerge and several haunting truths are revealed. Delivering deep, understated performances, the ensemble cast brings the inner lives of each character to the surface. Writer-director Gabriel Fleming’s hypnotic film uses a non-linear narrative style, gorgeous camera-work and eerie, evocative music to create a beautiful and disturbing urban dreamscape. From the fluorescent Zen of a westbound 5 Fulton bus to the magical music of fog horns up close, The Lost Coast captures the sublime rhythms and mysterious energy of a night in San Francisco as four lost young people search for identity and connection."

Cthulhu

This "updating" of the H.P. Lovecraft classic The Shadow Over Innsmouth has been compared to the movie The Wicker Man. I hope they're talking about the original, and not the atrocious Nicolas Cage remake. It does have Tori Spelling in a supporting role, so you make of that what you will.

"Following the death of his mother, Russ (Jason Cottle), a respected history professor in Seattle, treks home to his coastal Oregon village. A gay man who’s happily moved on from his isolated hometown, Russ hasn’t seen or heard from his family in years. His sister Dannie (Cara Buono) gamely tries to reintegrate him into the town, with mixed results. Her staged reconciliation for Russ and their father falls flat, but Russ does rekindle his deep (and complex) friendship with the rugged, sensitive Mike (Gus Van Sant regular Scott Patrick Green). When Russ spends time with Dannie’s friend Susan (a scene-stealing Spelling), things take a particularly weird turn. Stilted interactions lead to frightening encounters, as Russ attempts to piece together the town’s frightening, hidden history — and his family’s role in it."