Bega, A

1996

Jessica Bega's documentary Worthy Mothers follows two very different lesbian couples as they go through the adoption process. Joy and Margo are an interacial professional couple who adopt their daughter Felicia through a private agency. Sheila and Jo have motherhood thrust upon them with little time to prepare when Jo's sister gives up custody of her sons Jeffrey and Cody. Both these couples must battle the legal and social issues lesbian mothers are confronting today.

Reichman, Rachel

1996

Rachel Reichman’s debut film is a hauntingly realistic look at life in a rural town with a failing economy. Cynthia Kaplan plays Jenny, an out of work twentysomething who is stuck in a passionless marriage with a boring factory worker. She spends most of her day going to interviews for dead end jobs, all to no avail. The only thing that seems to bring her any joy is the clandestine affair she is having with her next-door neighbor. June, played by Sonja Sohn, is everything Jenny’s husband is not: twenty, self-assured, black and female. The two walk around town barely suppressing the sexual energy between them that is just waiting to explode. They have to make do with finding back alleys, abandoned cars and clearings in the woods where they can be alone. But while Jenny doesn’t seem to mind being stuck in this depressed town, June is planning her escape. She is in school and has plans to go to a university and these plans do not include Jenny. Rachel Reichman’s careful direction and subtle script are brought together by the strong performances from the lead actresses in this powerful character study of two women trapped and yearning for a way out.

George, Tanja

1996

Three women, two centuries, one desire. When three women from different centuries realize that there is more to life than a carear, a marriage, a beauty, they finally take control of their lives.

Saalfield Gund, Catherine

1996

Documentary video about the rise of the far right in the U.S., and the effective grassroots resistance to their agenda.

For anyone who’s lost faith in democracy in America, this program offers an inspiring antidote to end-of-the-Millenium cynicism. Begin with Barney Frank’s public service announcement about the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a landmark piece of legislation which protects gays and lesbians in the workplace. Then thrill to the effective grassroots resistance strategies documented in When Democracy Works, a practical andpositive compendium of ways to fight the Right. Finally, grab a ringside seat for Our Private Idaho, a documentary about a vicious battle over an Idaho gay-rights amendment. You may not know whether to laugh or cry when you see Pat Connor, who’s trained his dog to bark ferociously at the word “queer,” but you’ll stand up and cheer when mother-of-two Dallas Chase announces, “I was a Mormon matron for 26 years and a lesbian legend for seven!”

Rinkenberger, Ginger R.
Pickford, Kathryn M.

1996

A bunch of tea ladies get a little more than they bargained for when they invite Mrs. Roosevelt to lunch in the hilarious new comedy from Ginger Rinkenberger, What Became Known As . . . The Eleanor Affair.

Dunye, Cheryl

1996

Winner of the Teddy Award from the Berlin Film Festival and recipient of Frameline's Completion Fund Award, Cheryl Dunye's debut feature film The Watermelon Woman is one of the first (openly acknowledged) feature films by a black lesbian. Set in present day Philadelphia, The Watermelon Woman is the story of Cheryl (played by the director herself), an aspiring filmmaker working "temporarily" as a video store clerk with her best friend, the quick-witted Tamara (Valerie Walker). Obsessed with a mammie character actress from the 1930's, Cheryl decides to make a documentary about this elusive woman who is known only as "The Watermelon Woman." She soon discovers that her real name is Fae Richards and that she was probably a lesbian living in the Philadelphia area. As her documentary begins to come together, Cheryl experiences an upheaval in her personal life. She finds herself falling for Diana, a whiter-than-white rich girl (played by Go Fish's Guin Turner) and receiving a lot of flack from her friend Tamara. As she explores the history of "The Watermelon Woman", Cheryl begins to question her own identity. Her relationship with Diana and her interactions with the gay and black communities all become subject to her constant re-evaluation of her life and actions. The Watermelon Woman is like a film within a film, with many parts being played by popular black, lesbian, gay and feminist academics such as Michelle Wallace, Douglas Crimp, Cheryle Clarke and a not-to-be-missed performance by Camille Paglia. Cheryl Dunye's The Watermelon Woman is quite an accomplishment, both hilarious and provocative, and it is certain to keep us contemplating the subtle complexities of race, gender and romance in the 90's for some to come.

Savage, Eleanor

1996

A documentary about aging and ageism in the lesbian community

Voicing the Legacy, a beautifully filmed documentary, takes a close look at aging and ageism in the lesbian community. As the population of aging lesbians increases, it is more important than ever before to listen to the voices of these courageous and strong older women as they tell their heartfelt stories.

Evans, Rodney

1996

A film which chronicles the lives of two exotic dancers, one male and one female, who perform for gay and lesbian audiences.

The Unveiling offers a riveting peek into the lives of three strippers: Eldad, a Latino dancer who wants to make it in films; Dixie Evans, once billed as the Marilyn Monroe of burlesque; and Michele, an African-American single mother who’s a trained choreographer. All three of them grapple with questions of identity and objectification, and by the end they’ve smashed all of our stereotypes; as Michele says, “Dancing puts me in a space where I’m happiest.”

1996

Di Feliciantonio, Tina
Wagner, Jane C.

1996

Set against a harsh backdrop of the poor, white American South of the 1950's, Two or Three Things but Nothing for Sure is the coondensed story of critically acclaimed author Dorothy Allison.

Dorothy Allison (Bastard Out of Carolina) tells of her growing up poor and white in the South in Tina Di Feliciantonio & Jane C. Wagner’s award winning short Two or Three Things But Nothing for Sure.