Frameline Voices Announces Lineup, Renewed Mission

Frameline Distribution – the world's only non-profit LGBTQ+ film distributor, serving cinemas, broadcasters, over the top platforms, educational institutions, film festivals, and the LGBTQ+ community at large – announced the acquisition of four new films as part the signature short film distribution program, Frameline Voices.

The films are: "Carving Space," a documentary about queering mainstream skateboarding culture by director Annie Dean-Ganek; "Flood," a dramatic short highlighting social disparity by writer/director Joseph Amenta; "Mr. Navajo," a biography of a Two Spirit Navajo committed to his community by directors Jasper Rischen and Saila Huusko; and "Were You Gay in High School?," a comedic short about navigating sexual identity by co-writer and director Niki Ang and co-writer and cinematographer Karen Du.

The four films will launch online and over the top (OTT) Friday, December 25 on Here TV, America's original LGBTQ+ network, and will also be accessible on other platforms in the coming months, including Alaska Airlines, GagaOOLaLa, Revry, Teen Vogue, and YouTube. The expansion of the Frameline Voices program is made possible through a generous Media Arts grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

"We are thrilled to relaunch the Voices program with a spotlight on creators and their fresh and entertaining films that amplify, celebrate, and support LGBTQ+ culture," said Lindsey Hodgson, Frameline's Director of Distribution & Educational Programming. "As Frameline Voices continues to expand and grow, we look forward to continuing to empower LGBTQ+ filmmakers and increase accessibility of their work to viewers around the globe."

Frameline Voices is a curated program of impactful short films representing experiences unique to LGBTQ+ people and communities. As part of its renewed mission, Frameline Voices will expand the mainstream media representation of LGBTQ+ people through career development of LGBTQ+ creators and the exhibition of their work. Since its inception in 2011, Voices' films have been viewed over 4 million times and have been accessed from nearly every country in the world.

"Carving Space"
Dir. Annie Dean-Ganek
Cast: Jeffrey Chung, Leo Baker

Unity Skateboarding, founded in 2016 by Jeffrey Cheung and his partner Gabriel Ramirez in Oakland, CA, seeks to create a safe space and visibility for queer skateboarders within the hetero-masculine mainstream skateboarding culture. Carving Space follows Unity and affiliated queer skate activists–including 2019 US Olympic Skateboarding team member, Leo Baker–as they provide spaces and voices to the often-overlooked queer community.

"Flood"
Dir. Joseph Amenta
Cast: Sanjay Pavone, Isabelle Franca

A teenage boy takes his younger sister on an adventure wearing face paint and glitter on her tenth birthday. They experience small joys while turning a blind eye to the harsh reality of a hardscrabble existence. It isn't until their celebration is interrupted that the cost of their freedom is exposed.

"Mr. Navajo
Dir. Jasper Rischen & Saila Huusko
Cast: Zachariah George

Zachariah George is a 25 year-old Native American living in the rural outcrop of White Rock, New Mexico. Going by the moniker, Mr. Navajo, George wears two hats – the first as a public figure renowned for event speaking and singing in the Navajo language; the second is as an advocate for LGBT communities.

"Were You Gay in High School?"
Dir. Niki Ang
Cast: Sierra Puett, Alex Song

Two queer women recall their awkward, closeted high school days of kissing boys and straight-girl crushes.

VOICES 2020 – FILMMAKER BIOGRAPHIES

FILM: CARVING SPACE
Annie Dean-Ganek (Pronouns: She/Her/Hers)
Annie is a queer skater from Boston, MA and works in the film/TV industry in Los Angeles as a set lighting technician. Her work includes projects for Spotify, Lenovo, Hollywood Reporter, Al Jazeera, NBA, BuzzFeed, Kevin Hart, and Oprah Winfrey. She became inspired to make this documentary after her first exposure to other queer skaters during a Unity Skateboarding meet-up in L.A. She brought together her knowledge and passion for skateboarding and filmmaking for the making of Carving Space.

FILM: FLOOD
Joseph Amenta (Pronouns He/She/They/Them)

Joseph has produced, written, and directed several short films which have screened internationally via broadcast and festivals including "Haus" (2018), "Cherry Cola" (2017) and "Wild Youth" (2015). Flood premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2019, when Joseph was also selected for participation in the TIFF Talent Lab. They are currently in development on their first feature film, "Tribe," for which they received the Toronto Screenwriting Conference Breakthrough Artist Award for their script.

FILM: MR. NAVAJO
Saila Huusko (Pronouns: She/Her/Hers)

Saila Huusko is a documentary filmmaker and journalist. For three years she was the in-house filmmaker for the conflict resolution NGO founded by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Martti Ahtisaari. While there, she worked around the world, including in South Sudan and Afghanistan. Saila graduated with honors from the Columbia Journalism School and earned her BA from Middlebury College. She was a Rotary Peace Fellow at the University of Queensland in Australia. She recently directed "Reading North" for Al Jazeera's Witness documentary strand.

Jasper Rischen (Pronouns: He/Him/His)
Jasper Rischen is a documentary filmmaker and photographer originally from The Netherlands and based in Los Angeles. He recently shot a new documentary project in the Republic of Congo and is directing a 10-part docuseries following a world tour of stars from "RuPaul's Drag Race." Jasper graduated with high honors from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism in 2015, winning a Pulitzer grant awarded to top students, as well as the Henry N. Taylor Award for best foreign student and a DuPont/Judy F. Crichton Award for best thesis film.

FILM: WERE YOU GAY IN HIGH SCHOOL?
Niki Ang (Pronouns: She/Her/Hers)

Niki Ang is a queer, Singaporean-Chinese American writer and director who was born and raised in Singapore before moving to the States at a young age. Her short film, "Were You Gay In High School?," was awarded the Frameline Completion Grant and the Inside Out re:Focus Fund and premiered in 2020. Her first feature film script, Wide Open Spaces, was accepted into the 2020 class of the CAPE New Writers Fellowship and featured on the 2020 CAPE List in partnership with The Black List. Previously she was a producer/director at BuzzFeed Motion Pictures, where her work amassed over 250 million views across digital platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Amazon, and Hulu. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her wife and is the quintessential middle child.