Established in 1986, the Frameline Award is given every year to a person or entity that has made a major contribution to LGBT representation in film, television, or the media arts. Past honorees range from film historian and author Vito Russo, to Hong Kong director Stanley Kwan, avant-garde lesbian filmmaker Barbara Hammer, drag artiste extraordinaire Divine, producer Christine Vachon, long-time leader of the Festival and the organization Michael Lumpkin, and producer/distributor Marcus Hu.
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Director of Exhibition & Programming Des Buford, Marcus Hu, B. Ruby Rich, and Executive Director K.C. Price. Photo by Barak Shrama. |
When she introduced the term “New Queer Cinema” to LGBT film culture some twenty years ago, renowned critic and scholar, B. Ruby Rich was simply acting in the line of duty; reporting on what was timely and significant in moving image culture, and in queer culture.This year, Frameline's Board and Staff are proud to present the Frameline Award to B. Ruby Rich.
Happily, this time the news was good: queer audiences faced the promise of a cinema that might finally do justice to the complexity of LGBT lives, and—as a bonus—one that the mainstream film establishment could little afford, nor in fact manage, to ignore. That we are still talking about "New Queer Cinema" in its twentieth year, in a culture so (ironically) fixated on the "new," is a testament to Rich's insight.
For years an essential contributor to American and international film discourse, Rich has fashioned a unique role within film culture. Currently a Professor in the Film and Digital Media Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz, she is also a fixture within the worlds that she documents. Her body of work combines the rapt enthusiasm of the most ardent fan with the discerning eye of the critic, and the long view of the historian. The incisiveness of her writing and speaking on these topics (not to mention its accessibility) bespeaks a palpable urgency, without compromising a sense of excitement for the possibility, and importance, of having fun at the movies.
More than this, Rich situates films not only as artifacts, but as human exchanges within specific social contexts and historical moments. Her attentiveness to the way films play out within culture is best symbolized by her presence at film festivals; moderating panel discussions, posting reports about emerging talents and trends, and helping to foster an experience of film as something shared. Not incidentally, she has pointed out the powerful place that LGBT film festivals have come to assume in queer lives, not as mere backdrops but as new generators of community.
Illuminating film history, the American independent scene, world cinema trends, and situating queer film within these contexts, Rich has made a salutary and indispensable contribution to a community’s sense of its own achievements and challenges; holding our feet to the fire while directing our eyes to the screen. We are the richer for it.