The California Film Institute has been on a roll lately, and its upcoming CAFILM Pride series keeps that streak alive with five LGBTQIA+ films and conversations spread across the weekend of Friday, June 13, through Sunday, June 15.
Now in its third year, the festival is presented in collaboration with San Francisco’s venerable Frameline Film Festival, which recently celebrated its 49th year. This year’s selection of films was curated via Frameline. All screenings take place at the Rafael Theater in downtown San Rafael.
The timeliness and importance of this year’s festival were summed up by João Federici, who curated the CAFILM Pride program: “At a time when LGBTQIA+ rights are increasingly challenged, CAFILM Pride affirms the power of cinema to foster visibility, uniting and empowering our community, and celebrate its resilience.”
As basic human rights continue to be challenged daily, showing up and hearing the stories of the LGBTQIA+ community is one of the most impactful ways to demonstrate solidarity. Those stories take many forms—music, writing, art—but gathering in a safe, inclusive space to experience queer stories through cinema is more vital than ever. Bonus: This year’s lineup has a little something for everyone.
CAFILM Pride kicks off at 7pm Friday, June 13, with Outerlands, the feature debut of local filmmaker Elena Oxman, who will be in attendance. Described as “a tender feature debut,” the film is “a poignant love letter to San Francisco and the resilient, vibrant communities that often go unseen on the screen.”
The film stars Asia Kate Dillon (Orange Is the New Black, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum) as Cass, a quiet, nonbinary gig worker navigating life in the big city. Things take a turn when Cass is asked to babysit a coworker’s 11-year-old daughter (Ridley Asha Bateman). Initial tension gives way to an unexpected and powerful bond. The film explores themes of chosen family, economic struggle and quiet resilience with poetic realism and deep compassion—all set against a scenic San Francisco backdrop.
Oxman, born in Greenwich, Connecticut, and raised in New York City, fell in love with film via her father’s 8mm camera and a formative exposure to the 1956 classic The Bad Seed.
While an undergrad at Yale, she made documentaries about New Haven and lo-fi short films. After receiving an Emerging Artist Fellowship at Yale’s Digital Media Center for the Arts, she co-founded the documentary collective American Beat with Elihu Rubin, which focused on “films about the American landscape.”
During her graduate studies in film theory at UNC–Chapel Hill, Oxman explored the cinematic philosophies of André Bazin, Roland Barthes and Gilles Deleuze. Her creative spark reignited while making a short film about Kmart, prompting her return to filmmaking. After moving to San Francisco in 2011, she wrote and directed Lit, a short that screened at Outfest, Frameline and festivals nationwide. In 2018, she was selected for the SFFILM FilmHouse Residency to develop Outerlands, which premiered in the narrative competition at South by Southwest in 2025.
On Saturday, June 14, the program features The Nature of Invisible Things at 5pm, with filmmaker Rafaela Camelo in attendance. The story follows 10-year-old Gloria, who is spending her summer in the hospital alongside her mother, a nurse. While wandering the halls, she meets Sofia, a girl who believes her great-grandmother’s declining health is tied to the hospital. The two girls bond through a shared longing to escape. Eventually, they and their mothers retreat to the countryside to savor the final days of a transformative summer.
Next, Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor’s Dreamers screens at 7:30pm Saturday, June 14. It follows Isio (Ronke Adekoluejo), an undocumented immigrant in the U.K. held at the Hatchworth Removal Centre awaiting possible deportation. She hopes for a fair asylum hearing and believes compliance with the rules will secure her release—despite her roommate Farah’s warning to the contrary. Complicating matters further, Isio falls for Farah. When her asylum is denied, Farah plots their escape. In today’s climate, it’s unlikely to be easy.
Sunday, June 15 screenings begin at 3pm with Four Mothers, a comedy from Irish filmmaker Darren Thornton. Edward (James McArdle, Andor) is a novelist caring for his elderly mother while on the verge of literary success. Things spiral when he’s unexpectedly saddled with looking after three of his friends’ eccentric and combative mothers as well.
The festival concludes with two films by legendary documentarians Frances Reid, Elizabeth Stevens and Cathy Zheutlin, whose seminal collective, the Iris Film Collective, helped shape queer cinema.
At 5:30pm Sunday, June 15, their 1977 documentary In the Best Interests of Children screens, profiling eight lesbian mothers and their children as they navigate the legal and emotional minefields of custody battles amid rampant homophobia and misogyny.
That is followed by a 2025 short video essay by Samuel Topiary and Molly Skonieczny which examines the personal and political legacy of the original film. The documentary short features retired filmmaker Reid and her “stepdaughter,” Julie Stevens, as they revisit archival footage and reflect on the making of the film and their relationship.
More information about CAFILM Pride, including ticket pricing and featured guests, is available at rafaelfilm.cafilm.org.
