Compadre Media Group is pleased to present the World Premiere of NO STRAIGHT LINES: THE RISE OF QUEER COMICS at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival, running June 9-20. A lively look at the history of LGBTQ comics and some of the key individuals at its center, the film will appear in the Movies Plus section of the festival. A special panel conversation with featured cartoonists, director Vivian Kleiman and LGBTQ comics historian Justin Hall, will follow the June 12 premiere screening. Following Tribeca, NO STRAIGHT LINES will have June screenings at the Sheffield Doc/Fest and AFI DOCS.

The road to inclusion for LGBTQ comics from the margins of the underground comics scene to mainstream acceptance was fraught with challenges. NO STRAIGHT LINES chronicles the journeys of five scrappy queer artists — Alison Bechdel (Fun Home), Jennifer Camper (Rude Girls and Dangerous Women), Howard Cruse (Stuck Rubber Baby), Rupert Kinnard (B.B. And The Diva) and Mary Wings (Come Out Comix) — from DIY work and isolation to the international stage, and offers a fascinating window into everything from the AIDS crisis to the search for love and a good haircut. Also featuring a chorus of voices from a new generation of queer comic artists.

NO STRAIGHT LINES: THE RISE OF QUEER COMICS was directed by Vivian Kleiman and produced by Kleiman and Justin Hall. The film was edited by Christiane Badgley and Linda Peckham and shot by Andrew Black. Original music is by René-Marc Bini. Art director and animator is Suzanne Slatcher.

Vivian Kleiman is a Peabody Award-winning filmmaker and was a longtime producer with storied Black gay filmmaker Marlon Riggs, Her credits include additional cinematography on his landmark documentary Tongues Untied and she was nominated for a National Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement for her work with Riggs on Color Adjustment.  She executive produced the Academy Award-nominated documentary short Last Day of Freedom, Maquilapolis (Vicky Funari & Sergio de la Torre) and First Person Plural (Deann Borshay Liem).

Tribeca Film Festival Screenings

In-person: Saturday, June 12, 1:00 pm ET – Westside Pier
Location: Pier 76 in Hudson River Park, NYC
After the Movie: A conversation with dir. Vivian Kleiman, prod. Justin Hall and featured cartoonists Alison Bechdel, Jennifer Camper and Rupert Kinnard

Virtual: Sunday, June 13, 6:00 pm ET
Film becomes available online to public (in US only)

78 min. USA. Acquisition title.

Director Vivian Kleiman, Justin Hall and film subjects
are available for select interviews.