Transamerica won the audience?s choice for Best Feature Film at this year?s Frameline Film Festival. In the flick, Felicity Huffman plays a transgendered woman who is trying to reconnect with her family, which includes rebellious teenage son Toby (Ke

The closing night of Frameline 29, the SF International LGBT Film Festival, featured what turned out to be the audience’s choice for Best Feature Film, Transamerica. Comedian Marga Gomez hosted the show at the Castro Theatre with her usual wit and humor. “To all of you way back in the balcony, let me describe myself. I am three inches tall and I have no facial features,” she cracked in her opening statement. She introduced Tom De Maria, the original executive director of Frameline back in the ‘90s and filmmaker of Tom’s Flesh. He is now a volunteer for Frameline. “You see how this works? Just when you think you’re out, Frameline sucks ya back in!” joked Gomez.

De Maria spoke about his volunteer efforts with the $1.25 million capital campaign, “Changing the World, One Movie at a Time.” The idea is to give $100,000 a year to queer filmmakers; to increase distribution of lesbian/gay media across the US; and to increase year round exhibition of free movies in SF. “In 1991 when I worked at Frameline, we produced the first lesbian/gay film festival in Leningrad,” said De Maria. “The KGB was pouring hot asphalt all over the sidewalks and streets leading up to the festival site.” He said one of the attendees at the festival was with his wife and kids, and told De Maria the reason he was there was because in Russia they are told gay people don’t exist. “Yes, Tom, to change the world, we need to sleep with one moviegoer at a time,” Gomez jested. De Maria said in seriousness, “Whoever controls the media for the next decade is going to control our future, and with our images on the screens we will show the world our fabulous diversity.”

Gomez introduced Frameline Executive Director Michael Lumpkin and Director of Programming Jennifer Morris. “You’ve been seeing a lot of great films and characters over the last 11 days: lesbian grandmothers to gay Republicans to transgender college students to rugger buggers,” said Lumpkin. We hope that we’ve educated you, challenged some of your beliefs, lifted your hearts, and most of all entertained you.” He added, “We even hope you saw some things you didn’t like, because if you liked everything, we’re not doing our jobs.” Morris thanked the over 300 volunteers for their help and the 12 people on staff that work all year long. She said how excited she was when she first saw Transamerica at the Berlin Film Festival, and knew at once it had to be screened for San Francisco.

It’s a wonderful film about Bree—a transgendered woman, played to a tee (pun intended) by Desperate Housewives’ Felicity Huffman, and her search for identity while reconnecting with family—one of whom is a rebellious teenage young man, Toby—played by the handsome Kevin Zegers—who Bree unknowingly fathered back in the hetero male days). “This is a story we have yet to see on TV or reality shows or any theaters, so we are so very pleased to be able to screen this tonight,” said Morris. It has been picked up for major distribution by the famous Harvey Weinstein for wide release in December and later in DVD form. Duncan Tucker, the writer and director said a year ago he was in Arizona, rushing to finish it so his leading lady Huffman could get to the Housewives set by July 5. He said he has enjoyed his trip from New York to SF and thinks he might possibly want to move here. He said that although the movie is not based on actual incidences, the part of the uptight, protective mother is a lot like his 85-year-old mother, and he did experience a bit of a shock when a female friend decided to reveal she had a dick. Huffman is an absolute genius in this film, and is sure to receive an Oscar nod for her amazing work—everything about her expresses a being who is extremely uncomfortable in his male body and is desperate for a sex change. Her walk portrays someone not altogether comfortable in heels, and she told the director she made her hands look larger than they were by pretending they were moving slowly underwater. Her voice is quite a bit lower because she has not had the procedure yet. When Tucker cast the role, he said he didn’t want a man in a dress, and that he wanted to emphasize “a transsexual from the viewpoint of where they’re going, not from where they came.”

After Transamerica received a well-deserved standing and stomping ovation, many of the theatergoers gathered for the gala in the ballroom of the Old Federal Reserve Building to hear the funky, punky, fabulous Pepperspray tranny band rockin’ the house with such hits as “Cutting Edge,” “Accidents,” “Tranny,” “Push It,” “Porn,” “Quadrasexual,” and “Balls.” It was also a time to find out who that year’s filmmaker winners were. The Michael J. Berg Documentary Award of $10,000 was given to Zero Degrees of Separation by Elle Flanders, who had flown back to Toronto and was unable to accept in person. The film integrates complex imagery of lesbian and gay lives in Israel with broader political and social concerns. The Levi’s First Feature Award for $10,000 went to Jan Dunn’s GYPO for putting a fresh twist on a lesbian love story told from three perspectives about an unlikely relationship in England between a working class married woman in her forties and a female Czech refugee. Dunn was in the UK and it was too late to call her, so she would have to wait until the morning to receive the good news. The Audience Award for Best Short Film went to In My Shoes about youth and their LGBT parents, directed by Jen Gilomen and many young people from COLLAGE. Best Documentary was Blood, Sweat, and Glitter by Sasha Aicken, taking us backstage at the grueling and sometimes gruesome Miss Trannyshack pageant. Aicken gave thanks to Bill Weber who co-edited with him, and he promised Sister Dana a screener so I can review it for Bay Times. And again, the Audience Award for Best Feature Film went to Transamerica. Duncan and Zegers both gave rather humble and short thanks. “That’s it,” added Duncan. “I’m definitely moving to San Francisco!”