Since 2020, the San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle has served as the official jury for the Outstanding First Narrative Feature Award at the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival (Frameli). This distinction is presented annually to an exemplary debut narrative feature, recognizing a significant emerging voice in LGBTQ+ cinema. The recipients to date are as follows:
- 2026:
- Leviticus (Australia 2026 | 88 min. | dir. Adrian Chiarella)
- Test (USA 2026 | 113 min. | dir. Sam McConnell)
- 2025: The Nature of Invisible Things (A Natureza das Coisas Invisíveis | Brazil/Chile 2025 | in Portuguese | 90 min | dir. Rafaela Camelo)
- 2024: Lucky, Apartment (럭키, 아파트 | South Korea 2024 | in Korean | 96 min. | dir. Garam Kangyu)
- 2023: Big Boys (USA 2023 | 90 min. | dir. Corey Sherman)
- 2022: So Damn Easy Going (Så jävla easy going | Sweden/Norway 2022 | in Swedish/German | 91 min. | dir. Christoffer Sandler)
- 2021:
- Language Lessons (USA 2021 | in Spanish/English | 91 min. | dir. Natalie Morales)
- Firebird ( 2021 | UK/Estonia 2021 | 107 min. | dir. Peeter Rebane)
- 2020: Two of Us (Deux | France/Luxembourg/Belgium 2019 | in French/German | 99 min. | dir. Filippo Meneghetti)