Directed by Cheryl Dunye • 1996 • United States
Starring Cheryl Dunye, Guinevere Turner, Valarie Walker
The wry, incisive debut feature by Cheryl Dunye gave cinema something bracingly new and groundbreaking: a vibrant representation of Black lesbian identity by a Black lesbian filmmaker. Dunye stars as Cheryl, a video-store clerk and aspiring director whose interest in forgotten Black actresses leads her to investigate an obscure 1930s performer known as the Watermelon Woman, whose story proves to have surprising resonances with Cheryl’s own life as she navigates a new relationship with a white girlfriend (Guinevere Turner). Balancing breezy romantic comedy with a serious inquiry into the history of Black and queer women in Hollywood, THE WATERMELON WOMAN slyly rewrites long-standing constructions of race and sexuality on-screen, introducing an important voice in American cinema.
Up Next in LGBTQ+ Favorites
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Trick
Directed by Jim Fall • 1999 • United States
Starring Christian Campbell, John Paul Pitoc, Tori SpellingThe Doris Day–style romantic comedy gets a gay 1990s update in this charming, sweetly sexy tale of two Greenwich Village guys—shy aspiring Broadway composer Gabriel (Christian Campbell) and hu...
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Lan Yu
Directed by Stanley Kwan • 2001 • Hong Kong, China
Starring Liu Ye, Hu Jun, Huatong LiFilmed in secret in Beijing, this tender gay romance by Stanley Kwan combines the timeless conventions of classic melodrama with a radically frank depiction of queer intimacy as it traces, over the course of y...
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Weekend
Directed by Andrew Haigh • 2011 • United Kingdom
Starring Tom Cullen, Chris NewThis sensual, remarkably observed, beautifully acted wonder is the breakout feature from British writer-director-editor Andrew Haigh. Rarely has a film been as honest about sexuality—in both depiction and discussi...
