1/7/2024 0 Comments 90s backdropEach one paved the way for something a bit more ambitious, and the decade in queer comedy went out with a bang with Jamie Babbit’s “But I’m a Cheerleader.” Set in the present day with a bold retro aesthetic, the film stars a young Natasha Lyonne as a cheerleader sent to a rehab for gay and lesbian teens. Though filled with big ideas, these comedies made the most of a minimalist approach, relying on few characters and smart writing to tell engaging stories. With Turner’s involvement as well as the photographer Zoe Leonard, “The Watermelon Woman” embodies the collaborative spirit of indie filmmaking at that time, especially amongst the smaller world of queer film. When the director’s archival search for Black women onscreen turned up nothing, Dunye invented her own. Struck by her beauty and yearning for a film history that reflects someone who looks like her, Cheryl embarks on a journey that - while fictional - tellingly yields more fruit than the real Dunye’s ever had. Set in Philadelphia, the film follows Dunye’s attempt to make a documentary about Fae Richards, a fictional Black actress from the 1930s. If “Go Fish” made white lesbians cool, Dunye was here to remind everyone that Black lesbians had been around for just as long. Seemingly of a pair, Cheryl Dunye’s “The Watermelon Woman” came along two years later in 1996, starring Turner as the love interest. “I don’t think ‘Go Fish’ launched a thousand queer filmmakers so much as it launched a thousand indie filmmakers,” she said in 2016. “Go Fish” has been celebrated for proving the marketability of lesbian films, but Troche has another view. It was like the world suddenly discovered lesbians existed in 1994. “Go Fish” cost $15,000 to make, sold to Samuel Goldwyn for $450,000, and went on to gross nearly $2.5 million. The Scrappy Lesbian Comedies, from “Go Fish” to “But I’m a Cheerleader”Īs the first film to be sold to a distributor at Sundance in 1994, one could argue the indie film market was launched by a little lesbian rom-com called “Go Fish.” Directed by Rose Troche and written by Troche and Guinevere Turner, this scrappy black-and-white comedy sets its modern romance amongst a smart group of lesbian friends in Chicago. While Riggs’ early work came out in the late ‘80s, both “Color Adjustment” (1992) and “Black Is… Black Ain’t” (1995) left an indelible mark on queer film and the portrayal of marginalized communities onscreen. For her understanding of these issues, Livingston was undoubtedly influenced by the films of Marlon Riggs, whose evocative portraits of Black gay men living through the AIDS crisis are unparalleled in scope and artistry. Without being too didactic, “Paris Is Burning” laid bare the nascent concept of “intersectionality,” the overlapping effects of oppression based on race, class, and gender. In turning the camera on the fabulous people society tried so hard to hide, the film also celebrated the beauty and bravery it takes to protect and uplift each other through music, dance, and self-expression. Though the flashiness got people in seats, Livingston foregrounds her subjects’ humanity, sharing the discrimination, stigmatization, and alienation that created a need for a ballroom community. ![]() The bold characters, fabulous fashion, and gravity-defying dances were unlike anything most moviegoers had ever seen. Premiering in 1990 and hitting theaters in 1991, Jennie Livingston’s seminal documentary started the decade in queer film off with an explosive bang. ![]() Shot in the mid-to-late ‘80s, “Paris Is Burning” is one of the biggest titles that came to define the genre. Throughout the decade, Sundance gradually established itself as the epicenter of the American film market, and suddenly indie movies had a real shot at playing in theaters worldwide.Ĭhloë Sevigny on 'Kids,' 'The Last Days of Disco,' and Nuking the '90s Status Quoĭogme 95 Was the Last Great Filmmaking MovementĮmmy Predictions: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie - Paulson Locks Inģ5 Disturbing Foreign Films to Watch, from Gaspar Noé to Takashi Miike ![]() ![]() Sundance was still a new little gathering in Park City, where someone fresh out of film school could show a film and meet likeminded artists. As Hollywood churned out blockbusters like “Terminator 2” and “Jurassic Park,” anyone paying attention could see that the real fun was being had way below budget.
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