Gaffney, Stuart

1994

No further information available.

Katsapetses, Nicholas

1994

A Gus Van Sant–style short about the comic difficulties of forming long-term relationships in a small town like San Francisco.

Reed, Peter

1994

Peter Reed's steamy contemporary drama about the reunion of two brothers (hunky Eric Swanson and Robert Kneeper) with their mother (the redoubtable Lee Grant) is reminiscent of (and possibly an homage to) all those live television dramas and Broadway plays of the ‘50s and ‘60s. You know the ones—about generational conflicts and repressed passions in the Midwest and South, usually of a heterosexual nature—but this time the gay subtexts and sensibilities that were off-stage, off-screen and between the lines are squarely, unapologetically in your face. In Under Heat, 36-year-old Dean (Swanson) comes to tell his family he has AIDS, but this is overshadowed by the neediness of his mother and older brother (not to mention the boy who cuts the grass, a Calvin Klein wet dream). In an effort to reconcile past and present issues—which include health, addiction, sexuality, and the father's suicide many years before—these characters begin a journey wherein they reveal themselves to each other. Ultimately, Dean's perspective on his own crisis evolves to the realization that death is the inescapable destiny each individual must face. With the inevitability of Greek tragedy, but sprinkled with dollops of wit and slathered with some very ripe melodrama, Under Heat traces an arc extending roughly from Eugene O'Neill to William Binge, with nods to Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, and Horton Foote, among others. Affording Lee Grant her biggest screen role in quite a spell, this is juicy fun indeed.

Audry, Jacqueline

1950

Like the more well-known Maedchen In Uniform, this story of a young girl's love for her teacher was written and directed by women. Although it ends tragically, the film's lesbian characters are sympathetically portrayed. Olivia is a beautifully photographed melodrama, and the only film of the 1950s to deal openly with lesbianism. Released in the United States in 1954 as Pit of Loneliness, this rarely seen French lesbian boarding school drama was censored for American audiences. In The Celluloid Closet Vito Russo reprints the following censor's notation on the film: "Eliminate in Reel 5D: Scene of Miss Julie holding Olivia in close embrace and kissing her on the mouth. Reason: Immoral, would tend to corrupt morals." The film's advertising campaign sensationalized the "immoral" lesbian angle as only Hollywood can, promising viewers a look at "The secret of a woman's love-starved soul in the daring drama of an unnatural love." The film's stars are French leading lady Simone Simon and Edwige Feuillere, the noted actress, stage director, and member of La Comedie Francaise, who received excellent notices for her performance. The script by Colette is remarkable for the unblinking, if sometimes furtive, passion of Miss Julie and Olivia, which, unusual for films or books of the period, grows out of a genuine attraction to each other rather than a failed heterosexual romance or other such disaster.  Olivia was directed by Jacqueline Audry, whose film credits include Gigi (1949) and Mitzou ( 1956). Audry, known for "sensitive observations of the sentiments of women," lives up to her reputation in Olivia. Although the film ends with the tragedy and condemnation of deviancy requisite of 1950s films about homosexuality, throughout most of the film Audry succeeds in creating a generally credible ( and oftentimes steamy) relationship between the protagonists.

Zando, Julie

1994

A seductive rereading of Pauline Réage's Story of O. A man and woman narrate O's evolving relationship with Rene (played by New York lesbian poet Eileen Myles). O's submission is seen very differently than it is heard. The voice-over refers to a "he" and a "she," but the images depict O being whipped and chained by women in cowboy drag.

Boyd, Amy

1994

The sequel to a popular lesbian movie, and a rendering of “Green Acres” San Francisco–style.

Constantinou, Sophie

1994

Interviews female-to-male transsexual, Henry.

Seawright, Hilton

1994

A short, short from Brazil's dynamic MIXBrasil program.

Summers, A.K.

1994

Logsdon, Dawn

1994

Offers childhood nostalgia with a gender twist.