New Voices Bay Area Trans, Intersex and Genderqueer Chorus is excited to perform before several movie screenings of Frameline’s 49th Annual San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival. The chorus will bring music in celebration of queer arts and storytelling in the Bay Area and beyond. The group will sing on 2 days of the festival, before films spotlighting current legal and political activism to preserve gender-affirming care for trans youth in the US, as well as films exploring music—as a tool for discovering identity and expression, and the challenges of navigating the art form of traditional opera as a transgender vocalist.
Sunday, June 22, 2025
Vogue Theater (3290 Sacramento St.)
Tessitura and Really Happy Someday film screening from 1–2:48pm
Choir performance at 12:45pm
Really Happy Someday: Z lives to sing — musical theatre is his whole world, and his star is rising fast. But when a big audition goes off the rails, he’s left questioning everything: his career, his relationship, his voice, and how his identity as a newly trans masc performer fits into it all. Just when it seems like curtains, Z meets a warm, no-nonsense vocal coach who helps him rediscover his sound. Add a new gig as a barback and a charming boss named Santi into the mix, and suddenly life is hitting a different kind of high note. As Z finds a new voice that reflects who he is now, the story becomes a celebration of resilience, self-discovery, and newfound identity.
Blending historical overview with character portraits, Tessitura explores the entangled ways that voice, character, and gender are continuously reformulated in opera by those who contend with these connections daily. The film delves into the ways that contemporary transgender opera singers navigate the traditional rule and categories of their art form, interweaving personal stories with historical contexts to highlight the ongoing dialogue about gender fluidity in opera. By purposefully deemphasizing the historical figures of the castrati and women performing trouser roles, the film instead focuses on transgender opera singers who are contending with the constraints their genre imposes.
Additional Performances: Friday, June 20 at 7pm before Heightened Scrutiny (more info here)
Frameline’s mission is to change the world through the power of queer cinema. As a media arts nonprofit, Frameline’s programs connect filmmakers and audiences in the Bay Area and around the world. We work tirelessly year-round to fund, distribute, restore, and amplify queer films.
Founded in 1977, the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival is the longest-running, largest, and most widely recognized LGBTQ+ film exhibition event in the world. As a community event with an annual attendance of 60,000+, the Festival is the most prominent and well-attended LGBTQ+ arts program in the Bay Area. Frameline also presents year-round exhibitions, like members-only sneak previews and events, as well as special screenings featuring directors, actors, and other queer media icons.