An Open Letter to Frameline: Where is the B?
June 19, 2006

Hi, friends, bi and bi allies alike,

About a week and a half ago, I wrote a open letter to Frameline, the organization that puts on the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival (aka the best LGBT film fest in the world), expressing my concern over the lack of bisexual films in this year's program. Over 20 bisexuals and bi allies signed my letter (!), which I then sent to Frameline and to lots of other people as well. More and more people started signing the letter for themselves and mailing it in, too!

About a week later, I received a response from Frameline, which I have posted here so that all of you can hear their perspective. I really appreciate the promptness and thoughtfulness of the Frameline response. Unfortunately, there were a couple of ways in which I think my original letter was misinterpreted, so I wrote them back to clarify things. My reply to them is here.

The other reason I wrote them back was to share my ideas on how to move forward and promote bi visibility in films at Frameline. Since then, Frameline has contacted me to express a committment to continue this dialogue with me on these issues! If you share my interest in dialogue on bi issues in film, drop me a line...

Cheers,
Amy :)

1. Original open letter to Frameline
2. Frameline's response
3. My reply, with ideas on promoting bi visibility in films at Frameline

1. Original open letter to Frameline

June 2006

Dear Frameline,

We the undersigned wish to express our great concern regarding bi invisibility in this year's film festival selection. Based on a careful reading of the catalog, we have come to the conclusion that there is not one film being shown this year with a discernable stated focus on bisexuality or (positive) portrayal of bi characters. For a film festival of Frameline's caliber, ie., the finest and most respected LGBT film festival in the world, this is completely unacceptable. Are we to believe that not a single bisexual film was available and good enough for selection? That hardly seems likely, and, given that Frameline bills itself as an "LGBT" film festival, we are thus forced to ask:

Frameline, where is the B?

Besides a description of a film about New York's Harvey Milk High School, the one instance where the catalog's description of a film actually includes the word "bisexual" is for a film called "the sex movie." The description tells us that one of the characters in "the sex movie" is "a rampant bisexual." Not a single one of us bisexuals and bi allies who have signed this letter have a clue as to what a "rampant bisexual" is, and we wonder what this phrase is meant to imply. When it comes to sexual orientation identities, is there such a thing as a "rampant gay man" or a "rampant straight person" or a "rampant lesbian?" No, there is not. The idea that someone with a bisexual identity is "rampant" is more than just grammatically incorrect; it's offensive, derogatory, and biphobic.

It's a widely known fact that LGBT film festivals around the globe base their selections each year on Frameline's film festival catalog. Frameline, what you choose to screen literally sets the stage for the viewing LGBT world. If you don't have anything bisexual to offer, then neither will other film festivals, and bisexual images in film will continue to be silenced. We the bisexuals and bi allies who have signed this letter expect better of you.

Finally, your use of the word "hasbian" in your description of the film "Puccini for Beginners" is sexist, as it implies that it is okay to ridicule women whose sex lives are fluid and include relationships with men following their relationships with women. For a film festival that has done so much to promote and shed light on female sexual agency, this type of sexism is shocking and uncalled for. As feminists, we say, Frameline, shame on you.

Sincerely,
Amy André, M.A.
Tom Geller
Shelli Rawlings-Fein
Michelle Chase Cardenas
Jon Spinner
Lindasusan Ulrich
Dominque Akoury
Gerard A. Palmeri
Wallace J. Mueller
Lisabeth Castro-Smyth
Verlena Johnson
Alisha Diego Klatt
Logan Gutierrez-Mock
Oneida Chi
Isabel Millan
Lila Ponce
Heather Cassell
Bonnie Brooke Bullock
Carolyn Nork
Tina Amina Zaman
Dolissa Medina

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2. Frameline's response

Dear Concerned Friends of Frameline,

We do take pride in the B of LGBT and do our best to program for our bisexual community. Of the two of our 123 program descriptions your letter listed as offensive, one unfortunately was a misreading. In the description for the sex movie the term “rampant bisexual” is part of a sentence describing, “hardened stereotypes” that the film “throws open” including “male-bashing lesbian” and “cocksure straight guy.” The film is one of several films in our festival that is trying to break through the damaging and restrictive stereotypes around sexuality that still exist in our community.

In our Opening Night film PUCCINI FOR BEGINNERS, a self-identified lesbian enters into a relationship with both a man and woman and must deal with the reactions from her lesbian friends. It was in this program description that your letter referred to your dislike of the use of the word “hasbian.” The director of this film is a self-professed “hasbian” and enjoys the playfulness of this term and its uses for herself, as her own personal descriptor.

We have a number of other films in our festival that deal with bisexual themes. In LOVE LIFE a married couple grows apart and enters into new relationships that just happen to be queer. In THE GYMNAST, a woman married to a man also enters into a relationship with a woman. In the eye-opening documentary FAG HAGS: WOMEN WHO LOVE GAY MEN, two of the friendships followed become more than “platonic amour” and the film illustrates how “sexuality does not fit into neat categories.” This last quote from the program note for FAG HAGS describes the sentiment of many films in this festival.

The fact that the word “bisexual” does not appear is more a factor of the ever-changing nature of the description of sexuality and of our community. As you say in your letter it has become more accepted that sexuality is fluid and this is indeed how filmmakers are choosing to represent sexuality in current LGBT films. While the sexual behavior of many characters would be characterized as bisexual, they are not necessarily identified as such in these films. You infer that there are great bisexual films that we have chosen not to screen. I know of exactly two documentaries on bisexuality that are currently being filmed. Neither has been completed, but when they are we will certainly give them our full consideration for future programming. If you know of any others, please let us know. For those of you who are filmmakers please continue making the kind of films you want to see and telling the kind of stories that need to be told. This is one of Frameline’s greatest missions – to tell the stories that aren’t being told and we need your help – the help of all filmmakers in all aspects of our community, to ensure those stories and images are portrayed.

Every year we try hard to find community organizations that can co-present films in the festival that speak to their community. We have historically found it difficult to locate bisexual nonprofit organizations to do co-presentations and outreach to the bisexual community. I encourage everyone who signed this letter to form a group that will work to help increase the visibility of bisexuals in our community. I also encourage you to offer your solutions and input as to how we can serve the bisexual community more fully, and how we can obtain more bisexual-focused film submissions. Let’s work together towards a solution.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Morris
Director of Programming
Frameline30

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3. My reply, with ideas on promoting bi visibility in films at Frameline

June 18, 2006

Jennifer,

Thank you so much for your kind and thoughtful response. I will happily share your message with the people who signed my letter. I want to reiterate, as I mentioned in the letter, that I see Frameline as the best LGBT film festival in the world. I love the work that you do and the space that you create, and I wrote the letter out of that love, mixed with a desire to foster dialogue on bisexual representation. I attend Frameline every year, and this year I even have a short film in the festival (although not on a bisexual subject), which I am thrilled about! It's the world premiere of my film, "On My Skin" (in the Trans Francisco program), and I am deeply honored that my film was selected for your festival.

I apologize if I mis-read the description of "the sex movie" and its "rampant bisexual" character. I still find it disheartening that this is just about the only time in the catalog that the word "bisexual" is used to describe a character, that is, in the context of stereotypes, thrown open though they may be. I long for a film about a "happy, well-adjusted bisexual" or a bisexual who just is.

I understand that Maria Maggenti uses the word "hasbian" to describe herself. As a feminist, although I support her right to call herself whatever she likes, I also happen to find the term offensive and sexist. So did the people who signed my letter. If the Frameline catalog is going to feature a term like that, I felt that you should know that I and my co-signers were offended by it.

I have to disagree with you on your interpretation of what makes a "bisexual theme." As I read the catalog, I did see very clearly that there were films featuring characters who have relationships with partners of more than one gender. (This is sometimes incorrectly referred to as "bisexual behavior" -- when in fact many monosexually-identified people have relationships with partners of more than one gender, too, and many bisexuals have only same-sex or only non-same-sex partners.) However, what I didn't see in the catalog (except in the case of "the sex movie") was the use of the term "bisexual" to describe these characters or their films. And to me, the absence of the term is an indication that they are not bisexual films and not bisexual characters, because if they were, they would be described as such.

On the flip side of this equation, a film in which a character has only same-sex relationships might be equally likely to be a bisexual film, as bisexuals are often in same-sex relationships. Ditto films featuring characters only in non-same-sex relationships. In other words, the behavior and/or relationship style of the character does not a bisexual film make. Saying a film is a bisexual film, or a character is a bisexual character, does.

I didn't say in my letter that it has become more accepted that sexuality is fluid, only that the use of the term "hasbian" implies that it is okay to ridicule women whose sexuality is fluid. If sexual fluidity is becoming more accepted, though, and filmmakers are choosing to explore that fluidity, I say more power to them. However, that is a separate issue from the issue of using the term "bisexual" to describe a film and its characters. Gays and lesbians also may have fluid sexualities, and the catalog uses the terms "gay" and "lesbian" to describe many, if not most, of films and film characters. Bisexuals have no monopoly on fluidity (nor would I want us to). So a film with a character whose sexuality is fluid is not automatically a bisexual film and that character is not automatically a bisexual character.

Therefore, I have to take issue with the idea that "the fact that the word 'bisexual' does not appear is more a factor of the ever-changing nature of the description of sexuality and of our community." If that were true, the words "gay" and "lesbian" wouldn't appear either.

I am not trying to infer that there are bisexual films that haven't been chosen. I state that there is "not one film being shown this year with a discernable stated focus on bisexuality or (positive) portrayal of bi characters." There may be films in your festival that are bisexual films, but they are not being described as such. As I say, "Are we to believe that not a single bisexual film was available and good enough for selection? That hardly seems likely." In other words, if you have bisexual films, please describe them as such, because there is nothing in your catalog to let us know that you do. That being said, a film with a character whose sexuality is fluid is not necessarily a "bisexual film"; a "queer film" is not the same thing as a "bisexual film"; and a film where characters have partners of multiple genders is not necessarily a "bisexual film." Only a "bisexual film" is a bisexual film, and no film is described thusly.

Finally, I'm sorry to hear that you have had difficulty finding bisexual organizations to co-present films. Although I can't speak for them, perhaps the Bisexual Foundation, BiNet USA, the Bisexual Resource Center, the Bi Tribune, or the Bay Area Bisexual Network might be of assistance.

Thank you for inviting input on how to serve the bi community. My letter was part of my attempt to increase visibility of bisexuals, and your very much appreciated response shows that Frameline is already working to serve the bi community, simply by hearing us! I would be happy to continue this dialogue with you. I know that you are very busy with the festival -- and I am amazed that you even found time to respond to the letter during such a hectic season -- but I invite you to stay in touch with me after the festival is over and we can move forward collaboratively.

With best regards and appreciation,

Amy André, MA

P.S. I requested (above) that if you do have bisexual films in the festival, that they be described as such in the catalog. However, if it is the case that there are no bisexual films or films (aside from "the sex movie") with characters that are identified as bisexual, I think that that is a major problem, just as it would be a major problem if there wasn't a single lesbian film or film with a lesbian-identified character, for example. I'd like to suggest a few solutions that just came to mind, as food for Frameline thought and a springboard for any future conversation we may have:

1. Bisexuals, as one of the most marginalized groups of sexual minorities, often lack access to financial resources in the arts. There are funds specifically for gay men, lesbians, and (thankfully, increasingly) transgender people in filmmaking, but none that I know of for bisexuals. Set up a completion grant specifically for bisexual filmmakers and people making films featuring bisexual characters or themes about bisexuality.

2. Offer scholarships to the Persistent Vision Conference for bi filmmakers and those making films about bisexuals/ bisexuality.

3. Bisexuals also often lack access to information specifically geared towards us about filmmaking. Offer free workshops for bisexual filmmakers and those making films about bisexuals/ bisexuality, on how to locate funding and resources to create films.

4. Invite bisexuals to join the Frameline Board of Directors.

5. Strongly encourage bisexuals to apply for staff positions.

6. Create a Bisexual Advisory Committee, to find ways to promote bi visibility in filmmaking.

7. Send Frameline representatives to bisexual conferences such as the North American Conference on Bisexuality and the International Conference on Bisexuality, to lead workshops and discussions on bisexuals in film.

8. Add questions to the film entry form specifically around bisexuality, such as:
a. Does your film include any character(s) who is bisexual? If so, is this stated in the dialogue and/or film synopsis?
b. Does your film include a bisexual theme and/or is it about bisexuality? If so, is this stated in the dialogue and/or film synopsis?

9. If one year, Frameline received not one single film about gay men or with a single character that the filmmaker described as a gay man (even if there were films featuring men who had relationships with other men - something that bi men and even some straight men do, and is therefore not necessarily something that would make these characters gay), I would imagine that there would be an investigation into where identifiably gay men had gone in film. Well, that is the situation for bisexuals as I see it in this year's film selection, since, as I've mentioned, characters and films are not being described as "bisexual." In either case (if gay men were missing or, as it is now, bisexuals are not present), I would suggest the creation of a Task Force. A Bisexual Task Force of Frameline would be charged with the task of finding out why filmmakers are not describing their films or characters as bisexual and what can be done about it.

10. Remove all references to sexual orientation identity labels from the catalog. If bisexuals aren't in the catalog, but they are mentioned in the title of the festival (LGBT Film Festival), then take out references to gay men, lesbians, and heterosexuals too.

11. Remove the letter B from the title of the festival. (Note: I am not a fan of this idea. I think it would be a bad decision, but I'm putting it out there as one possibility.)

12. Create festival awards for Best Bisexual Feature and Best Bisexual Short, and ask filmmakers to specify if their film would qualify for such an award, on the entry form.

13. Create a "Fun in Bi Shorts" type of program and encourage filmmakers to specify if their film would fit in this program, on the entry form.

14. Ask a bisexually-owned business to sponsor an award or shorts program.

15. Make bisexuality a theme of next year's Festival.

Again, these are just a few solutions that came to mind today; I'm sure there are many more. I hope that we can continue this dialogue at some time in the future. Thank you for your attention and support.

Amy

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