Four films get completion funds from Horizons/Frameline

Frameline and Horizons announced Thursday that four films would be the 2003 recipients of the Horizons/Frameline Completion Fund, established more than 10 years ago to assist lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered media artists with the final stages of production. Previous grant recipients include Brother to Brother (premiering at January's Sundance Film Festival), By Hook or by Crook, The Watermelon Woman, Go Fish, The Cockettes, Living With Pride: Ruth Ellis @ 100, and The Brandon Teena Story. This year, $15,000 in completion funds will be shared by Victor Silverman and Susan Stryker's Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria, a documentary about a 1966 riot that sparked San Francisco's transgender movement ($6,000); Mary Jordan's You Don't Know Jack, a documentary on artist and filmmaker Jack Smith ($3,000); Ellen Flanders's Zero Degrees of Separation, a documentary that explores the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the eyes of gay and lesbian couples who live in the region ($3,000); and Shira Avni's John and Michael (fall down and giggle at the stars), an animated short for children about a gay couple with Down syndrome ($3,000). "Each year we are so proud to see the films we have funded go on to top positions at mainstream festivals like Sundance, Berlin, and Toronto," said Jennifer Morris, Frameline festival codirector, in a statement. "I am confident that we can expect great things from these four exciting new films. Watch for them in late 2004 and 2005!"