Frameline presents multiple awards during the annual San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival. Most awards are handed out onstage on the final in-person day of the Festival.

Since 1984, our audience has been responsible for selecting the Audience Awards for Narrative Feature and Documentary Feature — as well as audience prizes for short films and episodics at different points in the Festival history. The 2026 winners will be announced in the days following Frameline50.

Please Note: All past Frameline Audience Award winners are archived on our website.

For over 20 years, Frameline has presented the annual juried Outstanding First Narrative Feature Award to a notable narrative feature from an emerging voice in LGBTQ+ cinema. Since 2020, Frameline is proud to partner with the San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle to jury this award.

Each year, juries convene during the Festival to recognize standout films in the Outstanding Documentary Feature, Outstanding Narrative Short, and Outstanding Documentary Short categories. These awards will be announced on Saturday, June 27.

Please Note: All the past Frameline Juried Award Winners are archived on our website.

The Out in the Silence Award is an annual honor conferred to an outstanding film project that highlights brave acts of visibility, especially in places where such acts are rare and unexpected because of the dominant systems that make it difficult for LGBTQ+ people to live authentic lives. The Out in the Silence Award is generously underwritten by longtime film community members Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson. The 2026 Out in the Silence Award will go to Kai Stänicke‘s Trial of Hein (Der Heimatlose).

• 2025: The Secret of Me, directed by Grace Hughes-Hallett
• 2024: Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story, directed by Michael Mabbott & Lucah Rosenberg-Lee
• 2023: All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White, directed by Babatunde Apalowo
• 2022: BLACK AS U R, directed by Micheal Rice

Since 2023, Frameline has worked in collaboration with the Colin Higgins Foundation to present grants to emerging LGBTQ+ filmmakers as part of our artist development programs. In addition to receiving up to $15,000 in cash prizes, the grantees are given the opportunity to attend the 11-day San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival.

The 2026 winners are franny trinidad and Kelly Liu for Babaylan, Edward Nguyen for Sweat (Mồ Hôi) and Matthew Sorgie for So Be It.

To learn more, including how to submit your work for consideration, please visit our dedicated Colin Higgins Youth Filmmaker Grant Program page.

Frameline is one of the partner festivals for the Iris Prize in the United Kingdom. Each year, Frameline nominates one short film for the annual Iris Prize, one of the top LGBTQ+ film honors in the world. The Iris Prize for short film comes with a £40,000 cash prize — the largest cash prize for shorts in the world. Dee Rees’ Pariah, a Frameline Completion Fund recipient, was the inaugural Iris Prize winner for shorts in 2007.