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The Frameline Film Festival has announced the winners from its 2024 program.

The top honors went to Luke Gilford’s “National Anthem,” which took home the Outstanding First Feature Award, and Chloé Barreau’s “Fragments of a Life Loved,” which won Outstanding Documentary Feature.

Frameline, the world’s largest and longest-running LGBTQ film festival, ran from June 19–29, with 120 screenings, programs and events held in theaters across the Bay Area, including the Herbst Theatre and Palace of Fine Arts Theatre.

Highlights of the festival included the Castro Theatre’s first-ever celebration of Juneteenth — a block party that featured the official re-lighting of the venue’s iconic neon blade sign and marquee, performances from the all-Black drag collective and a special outdoor screening of “Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero.”

Other highlights included a special 30th anniversary screening of the 4K restoration of “Go Fish,” attended by Rose Troche and Guinevere Turner, the...

As a child of the 1980s, I thought I knew pretty much everything I needed to know about Wham!, just as I thought I had a pretty good handle on the behind the scenes of the late-night all-star recording of “We Are the World.” But maybe that’s why I enjoyed the docs “Wham!” and “The Greatest Night in Pop” so much — a mix of the familiar with those moments of surprise.

In the case of “Wham!,” it’s how Andrew Ridgeley managed to be so gracious as his buddy George Michael went on to a massively successful solo career. In “The Greatest Night in Pop,” I learned just how instrumental Lionel Richie was in serving as traffic cop for producer Quincy Jones in creating “We Are The World” with dozens of A-list musicians over just one late night. The doc is filled with legend-help-legend moments, like when Stevie Wonder...

Frameline has announced the line-up for the 48th San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, otherwise known as Frameline48, which runs June 19-29.

Among the event’s 120 screenings are 16 world premieres, five North American premieres, three international premieres and eight US premieres.

Opening night events include a screening of music documentary Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero. Alessandra Lacorazza’s debut feature, In the Summers, which was awarded Frameline’s Completion Fund Grant before going on the win the Grand Jury Prize US Dramatic at this year’s Sundance, will screen on the festival’s second night.

World premieres will include Daniel Ribeiro’s Perfect Endings,...

Kevin Abstract has released a new single, “Tennessee,” featuring Lil Nas X.

“Tennessee” is the first single from Abstract since his album Blanket, which arrived last year. The single saw its live debut in April during the second weekend of Coachella 2024, when Abstract welcomed Lil Nas X onto the stage as a surprise guest.

Get Kevin Abstract Tickets Here

Now, the studio version of “Tennessee” has arrived in all of its glory, along with a music video celebrating queer romance. Lyrically, the song describes the excitement of a new love affair, with lines like “Never met someone like him/ Getting my reps in in the gym/ Skinny queen, I’m getting slim/ I’m the God of my life like a sim.” Watch the music video below.

Introducing “Tennessee” before its debut at Coachella, Abstract praised Lil Nas X, saying that he’s “very lucky to know him and to...

The 48th annual San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival (aka Frameline48) has announced its opening night film for 2024 and a block party to celebrate Juneteenth. The first-ever Castro neighborhood celebration of Juneteenth, Frameline48’s free outdoor event will feature an afternoon of music plus a screening of “Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero.”

In addition to joining Frameline48’s attempt to organize the largest, queerest Electric Slide ever, Bay Area moviegoers can attend 80-plus programs during the festival, which runs June 19–29. (The full program will be announced May 21). The 11-day celebration of film, queerness, and the San Francisco Bay Area will carry on the 2023 festival’s “Neighborhood Nights” spirit. The Juneteenth opening night film and block party will be followed by screenings all over the Bay in beloved venues like the Roxie Theater, the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, the Herbst Theatre, the Vogue Theater, and The New Parkway Theater in Oakland.

Lil Nas X’s feature documentary has been acquired by Universal Pictures Content Group for international distribution.

“Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero” is a fly-on-the-wall feature helmed by Oscar-nominated director Carlos López Estrada (“Billie Eilish: When the Party’s Over”) and filmmaker Zac Manuel. It follows the Grammy-winning artist as he embarks on his first world tour.

It is set to be released internationally on digital platforms May 20.

“The diaristic film is a remarkably intimate portrait of a musician navigating identity, family, expectations and acceptance, all while reflecting on his place within the legacy of Black, queer performers,” reads the logline. “Shot over the course of 60 days with unparalleled access, the film follows Montero Hill, aka Lil Nas X, on an emotional odyssey through the creation and performance of the critically acclaimed ‘Long Live Montero’ show.”

Variety called the documentary a “rambunctious and at times exhilarating backstage concert movie,...

Lil Nas X has become an icon of the American music scene in a relatively short time. Daring to push the boundaries of hip-hop and country, his story has gone largely untold until now. “Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero,” the HBO Original documentary which debuts on Saturday, Jan. 27 on Max aims to change that. The film takes fans along with Lil Nas X on the “Long Live Montero” tour, going behind-the-scenes for an intimate portrait of the artist and his work. You can watch with a 7-Day Free Trial of Max.

How to Watch 'Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero' When: Saturday, January 27, 2024 Where: Max Stream: Watch with a 7-Day Free Trial of Max. 7-Day Free Trial$9.99+ / month Max via amazon.com About 'Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero'

The 2019 hit single “Old Town Road” was Lil Nas X’s introduction to superstardom. He’s captivated audiences with his bold,...

Lil Nas X is reacting to the chart performance of his new song.

If you weren’t aware, the 24-year-old singer and rapper just released his HBO documentary, titled Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero. The film follows the artist’s tour of the same name through behind-the-scenes footage.

Lil Nas X also recently put out the first single off his upcoming sophomore album. The track, “J Christ,” was the subject of much discussion and controversy, however, it only debuted at No. 69 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The musician had a lot to say about the number!

Keep reading to find out more…

On Monday (January 22), he took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to react to his song’s No. 69 placement.

“we did it boys! we reached the funny number. be very proud of yourselves. this is our moment!” he wrote.

Despite his new track’s underwhelming chart performance, Lil...

As a subgenre of music film, tour documentaries naturally have a solid boundary – the tour. This clear and limited objective seems fitting for Lil Nas X, who looks a bit uncomfortable with the premise at points in his first feature-length doc, Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero. Streaming on Max starting Jan. 27, it follows the young, Grammy-winning firestarter from the summer of 2022, when he says he has just a month to put together his debut world tour of the same name. It then moves through opening night in Detroit and highlights stops in New York,...

It’s been two weeks since Lil Nas X made his Biblical return with “J Christ”; now, the pop star is back with a new single: “Where Do We Go Now?” written for his upcoming documentary, Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero.

With a slower tempo and a ballad feel, “Where Do We Go Now?” shows a more emotional side of Lil Nas X, with lyrics describing self-doubt and loss. The refrain asks “So where do we go now?/ We did everything so endlessly/And only to feel undone/ So where are we going?” while on the climatic bridge, Nas sings “I just wanna feel consoled inside/ I just wanna be somebody new inside/ I just wanna be somebody else out there/ I just wanna be somebody.”

Musically, the song speaks to Lil Nas X’s genre-blending approach, featuring elements of pop, hip-hop, and pop-punk, while having just the right...

Lil Nas X has shared an introspective single, “Where Do We Go Now?” The reflective song was written for his HBO Original documentary Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero, which premieres Jan. 27 on Max.

The rapper announced the song, co-written by Lil Nas X alongside Omer Fedi and Blake Slatkin, earlier this week, teasing its inward-leaning nature by noting on social media, “good news yall im dropping new music to match with your depression.”

Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero follows Lil Nas X as he prepares to embark on his first U.

The new HBO documentary “Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero” chronicles the Grammy winner as he embarks on his debut concert tour of the same name. The behind-the-scenes film includes the Grammy winner talking about how his family has come to not only accept his queerness, but embrace his sexuality. He’s even taken his dad to a gay bar.

“I thought [coming out] was just going to be like an elephant in the room for a very long time,” Lil Nas X told me Wednesday night at the doc’s Los Angeles premiere. “I never would have thought to do gay stuff with my dad, but he insisted. He was like, ‘No, I want to go with you guys!’ So, yeah, that was the best night ever.”

Lil Nas X’s brother, Tramon Hall, comes out as bisexual in the film. “I didn’t expect him to open up like that...

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Quick Answer: ‘Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero’ will be released on January 27th and can be streamed on Max, or Hulu with a Live TV plan.

Stream Lil Nas X documentary

Last week, Lil Nas X announced the release of his new documentary, Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero, only days after releasing his controversial music video “J-Christ.” “The problem is y’all judge everything at face value.

Lil Nas X opened up during a revealing Q&a with his fans online.

On Friday (January 19), the 24-year-old “Industry Baby” rapper hopped on his Instagram story to field questions from his followers.

Some of them were silly. However, he offered some interesting insight into how he responds to the hate he receives for his artistry and if he feels supported by his label, especially after the release of his new single “J Christ.”

The artist also responded to someone who demanded that he “repent” and insulted his sexuality.

Head inside to see what Lil Nas X had to say…

Lil Nas X stressed that he felt “Veryyy” supported by his team. He also revealed how he remains so unbothered in the face of online hate.

“I don’t think anything is fair as an artist, or person in general, and i believe you have to take the bad with...

Grammy-winning artist Lil Nas X is giving fans an all-access pass to his creative ingenuity in the full trailer for the upcoming HBO documentary Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero, which you can check out above.

Premiering Saturday, Jan. 27 at 8 pm (and streaming the same day on Max), the film “captures the creative dynamo and mesmerizing star power of Lil Nas X” as he prepares for and embarks on his first headlining tour in the U.S.

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On Twitter, we see Lil Nas X the troll. In his music, we hear Lil Nas X the musician. And in his new documentary, the “J Christ” singer hopes to give viewers a glimpse of Lil Nas X the human.

“Some people think my music is dope. Some people see me as this satanic devil. But me?” he reflects while laying down.

The trailer shows clips of his upbringing as he was grappling with deep anxiety attacks, and videos from his performances as he talks about the struggles of coming out to his family.

HBO has released the official trailer and key art for the original documentary Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero!

Produced by RadicalMedia and directed by Carlos López Estrada and Zac Manuel, the Lil Nas X special debuts Saturday, January 27 at 8:00-9:35 p.m. Et/Pt on HBO and will be available to stream on Max.

Per the network, the documentary “captures the creative dynamo and mesmerizing star power of Lil Nas X, the groundbreaking, Grammy award-winning rapper, singer, and songwriter, as he prepares for and embarks on his first-ever headlining U.S. tour. With unparalleled access, the film follows the genre-breaking artist on a personal journey of self-investigation and discovery as he creates, rehearses, and performs nightly in front of his legions of devoted fans.”

Keep reading to find out more…

The full synopsis: “Spanning 60 days of the Long Live Montero tour in 2022/2023, the verité-style film delves beneath...

Lil Nas X has returned after two years in between albums — surely the musical equivalent of 40 days in the desert — with his new song, “J. Christ.” The single released alongside a provocative video, marking the artist’s solo directorial debut.

The visual opens with a flock of people marching up the stairway to heaven, including a bunch of berated celebrity lookalikes with a bare minimum resemblance to Taylor Swift, Barack Obama, Oprah, Kanye West, and Ed Sheeran. The camera pans down to the depths of hell to find the artist...

Lil Nas X (Photograph by Courtesy of HBO)

HBO’s set a January 27, 2024 premiere date for Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero. The documentary from directors directed by Carlos López Estrada and Zac Manuel is a behind-the-scenes look at the Grammy Award-winner’s “Long Live Montero” tour.

In addition to interviews with Lil Nas X, the documentary features his show producer Saul Levitz, manager Adam Leber, creative director/stylist Hodo Musa, lead choreographer/show director Sean Bankhead, choreography assistant Christian Owens, horse designer Margot Rada, and tour videographer Aaron Idelson. Family members Chase White, Lamarco Hill, Robert Sleepy, Tramon Hill, Mia Stafford, and Robert Stafford also participate in the documentary which premiered at the 2023 Toronto Film Festival.

HBO offered this lengthy synopsis:

“Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero captures the creative dynamo and mesmerizing star power of Lil Nas X, the groundbreaking, Grammy award-winning rapper, singer, and songwriter, as he...

Lil Nas X’s concert documentary that captured his first global tour is coming to HBO.

Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero will debut on the network on Jan. 27 at 8 p.m. Et; it will also stream on Max. The film had its world premiere at last year’s Toronto Film Festival.

The documentary follows the Grammy-winning rapper, born Montero Hill, over 60 days as he performs on his Long Live Montero tour, which supported Montero, his full-length 2021 debut album. In the diary film, Lil Nas X discusses his career and his place in the pop world as a Black and queer performer.

Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero is directed by Zac Manuel and Carlos López Estrada, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker whose credits include Blindspotting, Summertime and Raya and the Last Dragon; he has also directed music videos for Billie Eilish, Katy Perry and Carly Rae Jepsen. Manuel’s cinematography and directing credits include Alone,...

Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Carlos López Estrada is launching the Antigravity Academy Screenwriters Camp, a program designed to develop and package five features from first-time emerging filmmakers.

The program will be run by Abiram Brizuela, Antigravity’s head of incubator, and backed by independent film financier and Unapologetic Projects co-ceo Chris Quintos Cathcart. Brizuela is the executive director of The Unusual Suspects Theater Company and previously served as director of artist community at the Sundance Institute.

“This is a program built out of necessity. We’ve met hundreds of incredible filmmakers waiting to be seen. Filmmakers who anchor their stories on their own identity and explore the nuances of life from unprecedented perspectives,” stated Brizuela and López Estrada. “We’re proud to provide a platform where these storytellers can exchange ideas, engage in artistic practice, explore the power of their creative voice, and ultimately find a path forward for their films.

Exclusive: FX is developing a half-hour comedy series based on the 2021 This American Life segment “I Was a Teenage Smuggler.” The series will be penned by Joanna Calo, Carlos López Estrada and the story’s reporter Kevin Sieff. They will serve also executive produce alongside Ira Glass and Alissa Shipp of This American Life.

FX had no comment.

The series will follow a group of Mexican teens who thanks to a loophole in U.S. immigration law that prevents anyone under 18 from being prosecuted, are enlisted by cartels to smuggle migrants across the border. The teens soon find themselves making unfathomable amounts of money and living the lives of their dreams but with an ever-ticking clock until they are legally considered adults.

Estrada is also attached to direct the pilot and produces via his Antigravity Academy banner.

Calo is the co-showrunner, executive producer, writer and director of FX’s The Bear,...

Most people don’t get a text from Bono in the middle of the night.

But Jon Kamen, the CEO, chairman and co-founder of RadicalMedia, found himself fighting off jet lag on a recent business trip to Japan as he fielded messages from the U2 frontman. That pair had worked together on the One campaign, the musician’s push to eradicate AIDS and poverty in Africa, and this time Bono needed help launching ticketing for the band’s upcoming residency at Las Vegas’ newly launched venue, the Sphere. Kamen assured him that there was someone on staff who could help him.

“I said, ‘let me call this guy and see if he can come up with something,'” he remembers. “We needed to turn this thing around in ridiculous time. I go to bed in Japan. Bono gives me a good recommendation for a restaurant in Kyoto. I’m dreaming of sushi,...

As far as the music documentary is an extension of a brand experience, Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero provides an illuminating look behind the scenes, demystifying the artist while also existing within the spirit of their on-screen persona. A boundary breaker, Lil Nas X (birth name Montero Lamar Hill) embodies a seductive enigma, allowing his co-directors Carlos López Estrada and Zac Manuel to interview him in bed at one point. The artist rose to fame with his country rap single “Old Town Road” before coming out on Twitter/X in what some viewed as a betrayal. Estrada and Manuel thankfully save us from Rudy Giuliani’s podcast commentary after his unapologetically queer album Montero drops with its first single “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).”

Lil Nas X’s identity has always been a lightning rod and the film’s TIFF premiere was allegedly delayed due to a bomb...

It’s been a Toronto Film Festival like few others. The writers and actors strikes meant that many A-listers opted not to touch down in Canada this year, depriving the gathering of film lovers of the star-studded red carpets and Q&As that make Toronto so memorable. Even if this year’s festival was starved for glamour, it was still a good opportunity to get a clearer picture of the awards race — and to check the pulse of Hollywood at a tumultuous time for the industry.

1. ) Venice and Telluride Stole Some Thunder

Toronto, which has the misfortune of appearing last on the calendar, is in danger of being seriously overshadowed by the other late summer and early fall festivals. Between them, Venice and Telluride played host to “Ferrari,” “Poor Things,” “The Bikeriders” and “Priscilla” — which emerged as likely Oscar contenders. But these films opted to skip Toronto, preventing it from...

Directors Carlos López Estrada and Zac Manuel were thankful to have not learned about the bomb threat that delayed the TIFF premiere of their documentary “Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero” until after the screening had ended.

“We were just hanging out in the green room and my agent showed me the [headline] and I was like, ‘Oh, no, that’s not true. We were just here. That’s really funny that they posted that,’” said Estrada.

When he showed the report to the rapper and his bodyguard, “They were like, ‘Oh yeah, it’s true. I was like, ‘Oh, whoa.’ I showed it to Zac and we couldn’t believe that we were oblivious to this,” said the director. “I had gotten a couple texts from some friends in LA, and they were like, ‘Did you see the news?’ And I was like, ‘I actually didn’t know,’” said Manuel.

A world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival for Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero — a concert documentary capturing rapper and gay icon Lil Nas X’s first global tour — was delayed on Saturday night after a bomb threat was called in.

The festival in a statement said Toronto police converged on the red carpet outside Roy Thomson Hall just before 10 p.m. after a threat had been received as the pop star, who is a Black and queer performer, was headed into the gala screening along with the film’s directors.

But after a sweep of the King Street location to ensure the safety of fest-goers, the rap artist and his entourage was completed, the TIFF gala screening received a green light to go ahead.

“Earlier this evening, we were made aware by the Toronto Police Service of an investigation in the vicinity of the red carpet for the...

When queer, genre-bending hip hop artist Lil Nas X first shot to fame with the infectious track “Old Town Road,” he appeared to be the culmination of Napster’s revolution. When the music download service emerged, it rendered the physical digital. Ever since then, music has been waiting for a totally viral music star. In 2019, “Old Town Road” and “Panini” became major hits. But the pandemic made touring those earworms impossible. So in the span of lockdowns, maskings, and a vaccine, the rapper released his debut album “Montero,” spawning even more chart-topping singles. For three years, in fact, Lil Nas X exclusively existed in streams and social media — the perfect digital icon for an identity conscious generation.

“Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero,” a hagiographic, thinly composed concert documentary, follows the artist on his debut tour. You’d expect that directors Carlos López Estrada (“Blindspotting”) and Zac Manuel (“Descendant”) would...

You know you’re watching a true pop star when that person’s identity — their very existence — smashes boundaries. Elvis Presley was a country boy who mixed country and rockabilly and the blues, and with his sneer and black hair and mascara he looked like no human had ever looked before. Prince was a one-man band who mixed funk and rock with his own synth-pop bitches’ brew and sang, “Am I black or white? Am I straight or gay?”

Lil Nas X, following in the footsteps of Elvis’s blue suede shoes and Prince’s James Brown-with-wings delirium, is a Black queer confessional pop hip-hop diva who put himself on the map with a viral single, recorded in about an hour, in which he appropriated the cowboy mystique of the Wild West — and did it with a wink of pure sincerity. In “Old Town Road,” he turned the tables on Elvis 70 years later,...

Update: This story has been updated with comment from TIFF and the Toronto Police Service.

The world premiere of Lil Nas X’s documentary “Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero” at the Toronto Film Festival on Saturday night was delayed after a bomb threat was called in targeting the artist.

The gala screening was scheduled for a 10 p.m. start at Roy Thomson Hall, one of TIFF’s premier venues. The documentary’s co-directors Carlos López Estrada and Zac Manuel and editor Andrew Morrow arrived on the red carpet first, posing with fans that lined the entryway. But as their subject, pop superstar Lil Nas X, pulled up in his car to join them, organizers were informed that a bomb threat had been called in and the artist was told to hold, sources told Variety. The threat specifically targeted the rapper for being a Black queer artist, one source added.

On the eve of heading up to Canada this week to attend the Toronto Film Festival, where his documentary “Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero” has its world debut Saturday night, pop superstar Lil Nas X was playing it nonchalant about stepping outside the music realm a bit to be the center of a splashy event in the movie world. “Not really,” he answers, when asked whether it means anything special to him to have a gala premiere at North America’s biggest film event. “I mean, I’m excited to go there and to see what people think, and also, I’ve never been to a film festival, so maybe I’ll meet people and and build some future relationships. That can be cool.”

His real sense of excitability is reserved for the impact he thinks the film might have out in the world, and how those who identify...

Toronto International Film Festival Photo: J. Countess Hollywood may be mostly shut down, but festival season is still chugging along. The Venice International Film Festival, which winds down this week, saw its fair share of pro-union speeches, controversial guests and opinions, and, as always, buzzy premieres ready to hit wider distribution in the coming months.

Toronto International Film FestivalPhoto: J. Countess (Getty Images)

Hollywood may be mostly shut down, but festival season is still chugging along. The Venice International Film Festival, which winds down this week, saw its fair share of pro-union speeches, controversial guests and opinions, and, as always, buzzy premieres ready to hit...