Briggs, David

1997

In an homage to the 70's Karen Black classic, "Trilogy of Terror", a sexually repressed gay man named Emil is terrorized by a sexual demon.

Bull, Marilyn

1997

An ode to a certain lesbian passion (or is it more than one)

Janger, Lane

1997

A man and a woman reach a disagreement on just how to spice up their love life.

Brownsey, Maureen

1997

A mockumentary that follows the life of a single joke over 8 years.

Parmar, Pratibha

1997

Produced for broadcast in conjunction with the Channel Four co-production The Celluloid Closet, these four works examine the special relationships between two Hollywood stars, a collection of soulful singers and a British soap. Black Divas looks at how such singers as Diana Ross, Chaka Khan, Lena Horne and others reflect the gay experience. The Street looks at the quintessential English soap Coronation Street and tries to explain its huge gay fan base. A tribute to River Phoenix, This Road Will Never End features interviews with some of the key characters in the young star's life. Lastly, since she first hit cinema screens in a series of unconventional teenage roles, Jodie Foster has been adored by lesbians who identify with her tomboy traits and admire her consistently powerful portrayals. Pratibha Parmar's Jodie illuminates the Jodie phenomenon with interviews and a wonderful selection of scenes from Foster’s film career.

Thompson, Hope

1997

A frumpy librarian checks out lesbian love in It Happened In The Stacks.

Oxley, Chris

1997

A woman investigator in the british army forced to expose homosexuals is herself expelled for being a lesbian.

Caroline Meagher was serving in the British Army in 1984 when she decided she wanted to be a detective. So she was promoted into the S.I.B. (Special Investigations Branch) of the Royal Military Police, and given the job of investigating and expelling homosexuals from the military. Meagher takes the job, reluctantly participating in lesbian witch-hunts, but when she realizes that she too is a lesbian, she becomes one of the hunted herself. Based on a true story, The Investigator uses a dramatic noir-style, intercutting Meagher's own interrogation in 1989 with flashbacks of her raids on recruits, her coming-out (with a fellow officer!), and her struggle to keep her growing relationship discreet. Definitely a highlight of the festival, this suspense-filled film explores the torments of being closeted in the military.

Cheung, Jacob

1997

Intimates is an epic tale of love found, lost and hopefully to be found again. Director Jacob Cheung has created a sweet, honest and compassionate story of an unexpected love between two women that also reveals the existence of fascinating women-only organizations within traditional Chinese society. Wai (Theresa Lee), a lusty young architect living in modern San Francisco, is fed up with her wimpy boyfriend, and decides to get out of town by taking a journey to China with her "Auntie" Foon (Gua Ah-leh). To her surprise, it becomes a voyage of self-discovery for both women, as Foon attempts to help Wai with her love life, and starts to recall her own true love. Fifty years earlier, Foon (portrayed as a young woman by the winsome Charlie Young) chose the virgin life of the Comb Women in order to avoid marrying a man she did not love. At first Foon is distracted by a hunky fisherman. But when she is hired as a maid by the beautiful Wan (Carina Liu in an outstanding performance that won her best acting honors at the Hong Kong Film Awards), Foon finds real love. Cheung's beautifully crafted film evokes all the pain, the joy and importance of that love, and Foon's undying devotion to Wan five decades after they met.

Neal, Sarah

1997

Independently Blue dives into the heady decadence of the 1930's club scene to explore the impact of betrayl through the memory of an old woman.

Gottlieb, Amy

1997

Amy Gottlieb's film In Living Memory examines her relationship with her father, who developed dementia at age 93.