Cinematic representations of lesbianism is a recurrent issue that has left much to be desired.
I am often asked by film students and readers of my website to single out the date of the first openly lesbian film. My answer has always been vague and tentative.
There are some silent and early sound films made in Europe, such as Pandora’s Box or Madchen in Uniform
In early Hollywood films, lesbians were usually portrayed as victims, killers, neurotics, or prostitutes.
There’s of course lesbian subtext in some Hollywood movies of the past, as evident in Nicholas Ray’s Johnny Guitar (1954), the bond between Vienna (Joan Crawford) and Emma (Mercedes McCambridge), or in George Stevens Giant (1955) in the character of Rock Hudson’s butch sister (also played by McCambridge).
In the UK, 1967 was a milestone year because homosexuality was finally and officially decriminalized, even if there was no mention of lesbianism in the new legislation.
In the USA, the 1969 Stonewall riots were a turning point that led to the beginning of the modern gay and lesbian liberation movement.
From those moments on, lesbians have been slowly coming out on celluloid, albeit mostly seen from the gaze of male directors (straight and gay).
In tracking the key films of gay and lesbian cinema, we have not restricted our list to films available on DVD or for streaming.
Sooner or later, Mädchen in Uniform (1931), Club de femmes (1936), Personal Best (1982), Virgin Machine (1988), and great films by Ulrike Ottinger and Chantal Akerman, will become available.
Walter Benjamin had said that the lesbian is the heroine of modernism…
Gay Cinema: Lesbian-themed features (in alphabetical order)
Gay Cinema: Lesbian Films, A to Z
Cinematic representations of lesbianism is a recurrent issue that has left much to be desired.
I am often asked by film students and readers of my website to single out the date of the first openly lesbian film. My answer has always been vague and tentative.
There are some silent and early sound films made in Europe, such as Pandora’s Box or Madchen in Uniform
In early Hollywood films, lesbians were usually portrayed as victims, killers, neurotics, or prostitutes.
There’s of course lesbian subtext in some Hollywood movies of the past, as evident in Nicholas Ray’s Johnny Guitar (1954), the bond between Vienna (Joan Crawford) and Emma (Mercedes McCambridge), or in George Stevens Giant (1955) in the character of Rock Hudson’s butch sister (also played by McCambridge).
In the UK, 1967 was a milestone year because homosexuality was finally and officially decriminalized, even if there was no mention of lesbianism in the new legislation.
In the USA, the 1969 Stonewall riots were a turning point that led to the beginning of the modern gay and lesbian liberation movement.
From those moments on, lesbians have been slowly coming out on celluloid, albeit mostly seen from the gaze of male directors (straight and gay).
In tracking the key films of gay and lesbian cinema, we have not restricted our list to films available on DVD or for streaming.
Sooner or later, Mädchen in Uniform (1931), Club de femmes (1936), Personal Best (1982), Virgin Machine (1988), and great films by Ulrike Ottinger and Chantal Akerman, will become available.
Walter Benjamin had said that the lesbian is the heroine of modernism…
Gay Cinema: Lesbian-themed features (in alphabetical order)
10:30pm Summer, 1966
Aimee and Jaguar, 2000
All About Eve, 1950
Another Way, 1982
Bar Girls, 1995
Blue Is the Warmest Color, 2013
Bound, 1996
Break My Fall, 2012
By Design, 1980
Caged, 1950
Carol, 2013
Chasing Amy, 1997
Children’s Hour, 1961
Club de femmes, 1936
Desert Hearts, 1986
Diabolique, 1955
Diabolique, 1995
Disobedience, 2018
Do I Love You? 2002
Entre Nous, 1983
Farewell My Love, 1975
Favourite, The, 2018
Five Easy Pieces, 1970
Fox, The, 1968
Fried Green Tomatoes, 1991
From Russia With Love, 1963
Gay Sisters, 1942
Giant, 1955
Go Fish, 1994
Grandma
Group, The, 1966
Handmaiden, The, 2016
Heavenly Creatures, 1994
Henry and June, 1990
High Art, 1998
Hours, The, 2002
I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing, 1987
Jaqueline Suzanne Once Is Not Enough, 1975
Johnny Guitar, 1954
Julia, 1977
Kansas City Bomber, 1972
Kids Are All Right, The, 2010
Killing of Sister George, The, 1968
Kissing Jessica Stein, 2001
L Word, The (TV series)
Laurel Canyon, 2003
Lianna, 1983
Lonely Lady, The, 1983
Madchen in Uniform, 1931
Madchen in Uniform,
Manhattan, 1979
Monster, 2003
Mulholland Drive, 2001
Murder on the Orient Express, 1974
Murder on the Orient Express, 2017
My Brilliant Career, 1979
My Summer of Love, 2004
Night of the Iguana, The, 1964
No Exit, 1962
Olive, 1933
Orlando, 1992
Paris Was a Woman,
Personal best, 1982
Pit of Loneliness, 1954
Private Benjamin, 1980
Puzzle of Downfall Child, 1970
Rachel Rachel 1968
Rebecca, 1940
Rich and Famous, 1981
Richard’s Things, 1980
Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, The, 1961
Secret Ceremony, 1968
Show Me Love, 1999
Sister My Sister 1995
Stranger Inside, 2001
Summertime, 2011
Sylvia, 1965
These Three, 1936
Thirteen, 2003
Tomboy,
Uninvited, The, 1944
Unmarried Woman, An, 1978
Virgin Machine (1988)
Waiting for the Moon, 1987
Walk on the Wild Side, 1961
Watermelon Woman, 1997
Windows, 1980
Young Man with Horn, 1950
X Y Z, 1972
Lesbian-themed films by Year
1930s
Madchen in Uniform
1940s
Rebecca
Uninvited, The
1950s
All About Eve
Diabolique
Giant
Johnny Guitar
Young Man with a Horn
1960s
Walk on the Wild Side
10:30 PM Summer
The Group
The Fox
The Killing of Sister George
1970s
1980s
Personal Best
1990s
Go Fish
Bound
Watermelon Woman