Filed under: Cinema, Feminism, Sexuality | Tags: Girlhood, Lesbian cinema, Queer theory
By way of what is essentially a ‘list’ post I hope to segue into a new frontier of more regular posting. Following this introductory blog post I plan to write a short summary and critique of each of the films previewed below at a rate of roughly one per week.
These films all have in common a focus on queer girlhood and are frequently grouped into the category of New Queer Cinema, roughly spanning the duration of the 1990’s. New Queer Cinema facilitated the delightfully abbreviated ‘Homo Pomo’ reading of texts thus challenging essentialist understandings of queer and female identity as well as the ever-pernicious culture of the binary, through a postmodern cultural gaze. Whether seen in the framework of a ‘coming of age’ / ‘coming out’ narrative or simply as texts concerned with the experience of young women in the late 20th century, these films are an important part of a small and selective cinematic catalogue that deals directly with the lesbian experience sans vampires, bikinis and drooling, voyeuristic boys.
It is interesting in the initial instance that all but one of these films are American, perhaps this has a lot to do with the limitations of my exposure to Lesbian cinema (often brought to my attention by its links to the Riot Grrrl and feminist music scenes and, embarrassingly, looking into the filmographies of various actresses in ‘The L word) and I am thus actively hunting down more British queer filmmakers in the hope that an undiscovered world of lesbian cinematic talent swims around us, and that New Queer Cinema did not in fact die out in the millennium. Entirely another post for another time is the wealth of such films not in English, and in order to not create a year-long project for myself I am tactically omitting them from this selection. As well, all but one of these films are written and directed by women. This lone text created by a male intruder is also incidentally the only British one and will therefore inevitably be read in a slightly different manner to the rest, however it is my intention to develop an economy of comparison here, and so should probably suggest some key areas of focus for each reading.
From New Queer Cinema and its contemporary successors we must demand threats a plenty to heteronormativia, arguments to counter those of conservative assimilationist politics and positive, optimistic, real representations of queer girls on film. I will likely add to this list of films as time goes on in order to get a greater sense of what is out there. ‘Girlhood’ as a key theme may eventually disappear (likely to allow me to write about that scene from Bound), but for this first set of films what it means to be a queer girl is of central importance. Please let me know of any other relevant films that I may not have encountered, if it doesn’t have Ani DiFranco on the soundtrack I probably haven’t seen it.
The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love (Maria Maggenti)
All Over Me (Alex Sichel)
Lost and Delirious (Léa Pool)
Itty Bitty Titty Committee (Jamie Babbit)
If These Walls Could Talk 2 (Jane Anderson, Martha Coolidge and Anne Heche)
My Summer of Love (Paweł Pawlikowski)
