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The collection's shortest short is Kerry Weldon's Transit, which runs a wee 4 minutes. The dialogue-free film captures the lingering looks exchanged between two strangers on a subway. We're not talking suggestive glances, but bold-eyed cruising more commonly
of the boy-on-boy variety. So it isn't necessarily subtle, but the film will satisfy viewers who like things ambiguous and succinct.

The only documentary in the collection is Tina Paulina: Living on Hope Street
(10 minutes), featuring a homeless lesbian living on the streets of downtown L.A. Shot with a fisheye lens in both color and black-and-white, the film mainly consists of Green interviewing her subject from behind the camera and providing brief voiceover narration. Tina often challenges the roles, asking personal questions of Green, who answers some and dodges others. At one point Tina is so genuinely thrilled to get confirmation that her interviewer is gay that she reaches into the frame to give her a hug. The film works best when Tina succeeds at framing her own life rather than relinquishing that right to the filmmaker, and the brief musical interlude that lets us watch but not hear Tina borders on schmaltz. But Tina herself anchors the movie with her frankness, and she'll break your heart and warm it at once.

The next film stands out for production value alone but also delivers on content, leaving it to the viewer to determine the actual sequence of events. With vibrant cinematography and nearly no dialogue, A Woman Reported depicts the moments that occur just before a woman is about to be attacked by two homophobic thugs. Tension builds and abates as the film gracefully shifts between heart-thumping predation and escapist fantasy sequences—all in just five minutes. The subject matter may be brutality but Director Chris Russo wants to communicate hopefulness rather than doom, to show that “we can gain strength from our relationships and all that we find is beautiful in our lives to overcome really difficult situations.”

She cites the film-school classic An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge as the inspiration for the narrative structure of her film, which was an official selection at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival and won a “Sapphie” for best lesbian short film from Girlfriends magazine last year. With a BFA and an MFA in photography and more than ten years of experience in the cinematography field, this filmmaker takes a self-professed “old school” pride in making the most of the visual aspect of the medium. Russo's previous work includes Size 'Em Up (2001), a short film featuring Leisha Hailey (The L Word), as well as five others shorts, and she has feature film plans in the works.

The attack theme continues with Dani and Alice, this time with violence that's graphic rather than just implied. This gripping, emotionally complex 12-minute film depicts the final hours of a domestically violent relationship between two women. Writer/director Roberta Munroe is adamant that “it's not an abuse film; it's about love and our abilities and inabilities to negotiate love with one another as lesbians and as people.” Because of the film's violence many viewers have expressed surprise that it ever got made. “But it was really important for me to honor women's experiences that are somewhat difficult to deal with,” says Munroe, who wanted other black lesbians to see themselves on screen “in a way that's not token but not fluffy.” The visually smooth but emotionally jarring film showcases talented stars Lisa Branch and Yolanda Ross, with Guin Turner and Honey Labrador in supporting roles.

In Everything Good (17 minutes), by Elizabeth McCarthy, a ring-wearing lesbian is in Amsterdam, away from her partner, when she decides to order a call girl. Apparently Lila and her old lady back home suffer from that infamous affliction supposedly unique to lesbian relationships, “bed death.” But Magda arrives as ordered and delivers more than the usual happy ending for her American client; she also teaches Lila to appreciate her own beauty and to open herself up to “everything good.” The film's wincing humor and palpable self-deprecation give way to healing and hopefulness—a perfect ending note for a collection that offers up unease with a generous side of comfort.

Although some take a lighthearted approach, these films share themes of disaffection, alienation, and emotional (and sometimes physical) pain. Several contain scenes of striking violence. But ultimately the collection offers a variety of affirming takes on the complexity of lesbian identities.

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