Kaplan, Mindy

1994

k.d. lang lookalike Jan Derbyshire plays Sheila Caston, an aspiring lesbian stand-up comedian who is about to get her big break in the business. Sheila has been living happily with her lover of four years, Julie, in a beautiful seaside home. Returning from an out-of-town comedy engagement, she is offered the starring role in a new TV sitcom by a husband-and-wife producing team. All is well until Sheila comes face to face with the woman behind the offer. Catching Sheila by surprise, the mysterious producer turns out to be her long-lost first love, Lynn, who reappears after a fifteen-year absence. Through a series of flashbacks, we realize that Lynn, while battling her own internalized homophobia had rejected Sheila's advances, causing her to become suicidal. Unable to put the past behind her, Sheila must decide whether she is still in love with the elusive Lynn. The two do their best to keep their past relationship a secret, but emotions boil to the surface and their prospective mates begin to suspect. Lynn becomes obsessed with Sheila and buys a date with her for $1,200 at a charity benefit. Sheila on the other hand starts to withdraw and become introspective. She spends many an evening vigorously rowing in a tied-up boat that can go nowhere while her career and her committed relationship are put on hold. Eventually her partner gives her an ultimatum and Sheila must choose between her past and present loves.

Dar, Zahid

1994

A bittersweet British short.

Ebersole, P. David

1994

In P. David Ebersole's immensely pleasurable Death in Venice, CA, our modern-day Dirk Bogarde finds himself forced to confront desires Thomas Mann could only dream of. Handsome 40ish introvert Mason Carver, a scholar of romantic love, takes a break in Venice and is suddenly plunged into a passion he has studied but never known—with drop-dead gorgeous 18-year-old Sebastian Dickens.

Acosta, Danny

1994

No further information available.

Julien, Isaac

1994

Julien, Isaac

1994

Director Isaac Julien travels to Jamaica and investigates the world of rap, ragga and homophobia. In 1992 Jet Star Records released a single by Buju Banton called "Boom Boom Bye Bye," in which he demanded that all lesbians and gays should be shot. It wasn't long before this attitude found the support of Shabba Ranks and other musicians. In A Darker Side of Black, Ranks and Banton get to justify their theories, alongside opinions from Michael Manley (former prime minister of Jamaica), Michael Franti (Disposable Heroes of Hiphopcricy), Ice Cube, and cultural commentators Cornell West and Trisha Rose. "Julien captures views from across the black diaspora—moving his camera between London, the Caribbean and America. Like all his work, the investigation is rich and provocative, yet it scorns any tinge of easy judgement." —Cynthia Rose, The Guardian (London)

Sloan, Tamela

1994

In Dare to Be Butch, Tamela Sloan explores the roots of gender identification and reflects on her childhood and how being raised by her lesbian mother and her partner has influenced her.

Kalin, Tom

1994

No further information available.

Kalin, Tom

1994

No further information available.

Hoffman, Deborah

1994

Deborah Hoffman's Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter gives a jarring account of her own struggle with her mother's Alzheimer's. It's a fascinating look at memory, aging, and self. As her mother's condition worsens, she becomes more accepting of her daughter's lesbianism. Through interviews, answering machine messages, home movies, and photographs, Hoffman constructs an emotional and heartening overview of another all too common (and often untalked about) contemporary health issue. Nominated for a 1994 Academy Award for Best Documentary.Winner of the 1994 San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival Audience Award for Best Documentary.