Tomer Heymann's (Paper Dolls, Frameline30) The Queen Has No Crown is a personal history that is the latest and finest in a set of films exploring the material exposed by his series The Way Home. Part reminiscence on gay life and part atmospheric chronicle of a family moving away from one another, this poignant documentary is smartly peppered with glimpses of current events in Israel.

Drawing from more than ten years of his own videos and a treasure trove of 8mm home movies passed down from his father and grandfather, Heymann, an accomplished filmmaker, moves weightlessly through time. He probes his own rootless lifestyle as he documents his parent's separation, the departure of several of his brothers for America, and his mother's failing health and subsequent softening of her own beliefs. The camera captures difficult questions and moments of vulnerability, revealing a family that thinks, loves, and feels deeply, despite all attempts on their part to portray the contrary.

The Queen Has No Crown is broad enough in scope to encompass a number of labels: coming out film, family history, and reminiscence about one's homeland—but its true heart rests in the moments spent between Tomer and his mother. She is a woman he admires, pities, loves, and fears in equal amounts, but still, for him, the nexus of his idea of family, and the closest thing to a home he can't seem to find.



In an effort to celebrate what Frameline brings to our community, organizations such as A Wider Bridge, Congregation Sha'ar Zahav, Consulate General of Israel Pacific Northwest, Contemporary Jewish Museum, Israel Center | Jewish Community Federation, Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, Keshet and LGBT Alliance | Jewish Community Federation are each providing support. Please join these groups in supporting Frameline by attending this film as well as some of the 200+ additional films featured at this years festival.