Movies

2014: The Year in Lesbian/Bi Movies

The movie industry has gone through a lot of growing pains in the last few years. What that has meant for viewers, in a nutshell, is that it’s getting increasingly challenging to get films made: Period. Combine that with the already sparse landscape for LGBTQ films, and it’s no surprise that feature films with lesbian/bi characters are few and far between.

While there were definitely some standouts this year, it really draws attention to how the way we consume, and support films, is changing. Major Players

The Golden Globe-nominated Pride is based on the real life events surrounding the UK’s coal mining strike of the ’80s. A plucky group of gay and lesbian activists turned their attention to the struggling miners and their families, and an unlikely and heart-warming alliance formed between the two groups. One of the major players was a punk lesbian named Stef, the leading female voice in the group. The film also includes a brilliant cast of British actors and actresses, including Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton and Dominic West.

Melissa McCarthy‘s big film of the year, Tammy, received a lot of mixed reviews, but we loved Kathy Bates and Sandra Oh‘s performances as the title character’s lesbian aunt and her much younger partner. The highlight of the film is a big ol’ lesbian party, so you may want to consider putting Tammy on your “must see” list.

Based on the popular novel of the same name, This is Where I Leave You boasts a killer cast including Tina Fey, Jason Bateman, Connie Britton and Jane Fonda. As the children of the Altman family gather to sit shiva for their deceased father, a major secret is revealed about their parents’ relationship. The character played by Debra Monk is a big part of it, so you can take a wild guess.

After spending nearly a year playing the festival circuit, the buddy comedy Life Partners finally opened for wide release and VOD recently. Starring Leighton Meester and Gillian Jacobs as two co-dependent best friends, one straight (Jacobs) and the other a lesbian (Meester), Life Partners was also created by real life best friends Susana Fogel and Joni Lefkowitz. The film is a sweet (and sometimes sour) tale of what happens to any close friendship, when one person finds love and the other has to carry on.

All Cheeleaders Die was a surprising fun little horror flic starring out queer actress Caitlin Stasey. With three queer leading female characters, this zombie-esque film by Lucky McKee is heavy on the camp and lesbian goodness. While other horror films might use lesbianism to titillate, the relationships and same sex encounters in All Cheerleaders die, actually feel well drawn and crucial to the plot.

Indie hits (and misses)

Appropriate Behavior gets the MVP award this year for queer indie films. (I just made this award up, but still.) Written by, directed and starring Desiree Akhavan (an AfterEllen alum), the film focuses on a young bisexual woman named Shirin, who is feeling aimless and heartbroken after breaking up with her girlfriend. Bitingly funny, Appropriate Behavior has picked up numerous awards, and premiered at this year’s Sundance. It hits wide release this January.

Co-Dependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same director Madeline Olnek brings us the hooker buddy film, The Foxy Merkins. When a shy lesbian named Margaret (Lisa Haas) moves to NC to start a career as a hooker, she finds a mentor in veteran sex worker Jo (Jackie Monahan). The film is as quirky and fun as you’d imagine, and even has some serious heart.

If you ever wondered what would happen if your two favorite co-stars were actually in love, then Anatomy of a Love Seen is the film to check out. After a whirlwind love affair that started on set, actresses Zoe and Mal have a painful breakup. When the director (played by the actual film’s director Marina Rice Bader) calls them in to reshoot the love scene, emotions run high. The film has great performances all the way around, plus an interesting (and totally sexy) plot.

What if instead of taking one path, you could explore the different ways your life could pan out? That’s what happens in Heather Tobin‘s film Route of Acceptance, when Ryan (Emily Alatalo) gets to see three different ways her college decisions could greatly affect her future happiness. Different places, different lovers, different mindsets. As our writer Kim Hoffman described it, it’s a lesbian “choose your own adventure” film.

Amreeka director Cherien Dabis stars in her latest film May in the Summer, about a woman who travels to Jordan for her wedding, and the chaos that ensues within her fractured family. Alia Shawkat plays May’s closeted lesbian sister, who eventually comes out to her family in the midst of the trip.

Once Upon a Time in Queens is a mob tale, with a twist. When mafia man Joe Scoleri (played by the great Paul Sorvino) returns home after two decades in prison, he finds the world around him has changed pretty dramatically. His only child, Rita (Babette Renee Props) is an out and proud lesbian with a loving partner, something Joe never knew. The evolving relationship between father and daughter is the real emotional crux of the film.

Serena’s (Magda Aponowicz) family is pretty awful, as we see in the drama A Reason. The young lesbian has been on the receiving end of abuse by her older and controlling brother and father. As the family gathers to read the will of their still-alive aunt (played by the great Marion Ross), Serena’s sibling duke it out over who gets a bigger piece of the pie. Serena, on the other hand, rises above it all.

Adventure awaits Jenni (Alma S. Grey) and Sam (Ashley Morocco) in the film, Broken Gardenias. An unlikely pair united by their mutual need to escape, they embark on a quest to find Jenni’s long lost father. Complications arise (don’t they always?) and the growing bond between the two women is put to the test.

Starring out actresses Guinevere Turner and Cathy DeBuono, Crazy Bitches harkens back to the age of early ’90s horror flicks. A group of former sorority sisters (of course!) and their gay bestie spend a weekend in the woods, and find out a serial killer is on the loose. Secrets, lies, and lots of alcohol fuel the group’s paranoia (and body count) grows.

To say “See You Next Tuesdayis actually a coded way to call someone a not-so-nice name. That theme of acidic, snarkiness carries through this indie film about a dysfunctional family of women. Mona (Eleanor Pienta) is an aimless 20-something who has been doing her darnedest to ignore her very far along pregnancy. When she falls on hard times, she turns to her lesbian sister (who likes to hurl racist insults at her African-American girlfriend) and their royally messed up mother.

 

Foreign Flicks

In the Aussie film Submerge, the pressure to succeed proves too much for college champion swimmer Jordan (Lily Hall). Jordan seeks escape in hard drugs, booze and sex. She falls for the girlfriend of her academic advisor, and when that ends poorly, Jordan enters the world of fetish clubs where she finally finds some release.

For family AND relationship drama all rolled up in one, watch the Chilean film Map for Love (Mara Para Conversar). A single mother and her activist girlfriend try to navigate the choppy waters of love, commitment and family acceptance. A day of sailing turns dangerous for the trio, as the truth comes spilling out, and boundaries are crossed.

Violette tells the real life tale of bisexual writer Violette Leduc, and her complicated feelings for feminist groundbreaker Simone de Beauvoir. While de Beauvoir did not return Leduc’s feelings, the film is a fascinating look into the lives of some of France’s 20th century literary women.

What if Romeo and Juliet was set in the world of roller derby? Starcrossed Jammers answers the question with this sweet and sassy Australian rom-com of players from two opposing teams who fall in love, much to the chagrin of their teammates. Sure, the romance is the center of the story, but the derby scenes are hella fun to watch. (My derby name would be Patti LuPound, what about you?)

The Israeli film Cupcakes is a mostly campy, goofy romp which was inspired by the very popular Eurovision singing competition. A folkie lesbian, a gay man and four other women form a musical group to compete in the singing contest, but only if they can do it their way.

Of Girls and Horses is a German import about a troubled young woman named Alex, who is sent to a work as an intern on a horse farm. There she meets another teenager, and experiences healing and the pangs or first love. The film (from out director Monika Treut) also includes an older lesbian as Alex’s teacher and mentor on the farm.

Documentaries

It was a pretty good year in the world of queer documentaries. Erica Tremblay’s In the Turn used the world of roller derby to feature the story of a young transgender girl from Canada, who finds acceptance and confidence on the track.

She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry, a stirring doc about the women’s liberation movement of the ’60s and ’70s, included stories and interviews from lesbian and queer women who were integral members of the movement.

Out filmmaker Nancy Yates turns her lens onto writer and thought leader Susan Sontag in Regarding Susan Sontag, and delves into the notoriously private writer’s world. A queer woman, Sontag was not open about her sexuality, but interviews with her former lovers and partners gives an inside glimpse into a woman who was much admired, yet who remained quite elusive.

Out in the Night tells the true story of four queer African-American women who were arrested and tried for assaulting a man who had harassed and attacked them. Also known as the NJ4, the women speak out about their experience.

She Said Boom: The Story of Fifth Column documents the story of an influential feminist queer punk band from Toronto. Not a tremendous amount was known about Fifth Column, so filmmaker Kevin Hegge set out to show the world how important the band was to the punk scene as well as the riot grrl movement.

Dancer and choreographer Elizabeth Streb is an innovator in the world of modern dance, and the documentary Born to Fly (from out director Catherine Gund) follows the artist and her dance company through their everyday lives as well as their gravity defying performance pieces.

For lovers of political docs, The Case Against 8 gives an inside look at the people and the process behind the repeal of Proposition 8. The landmark case in California in which gay marriage was legalized, then banned, and then overturned had the attention of the entire nation. Leading Ladies Out women in Hollywood blazed some serious trails in 2014. Actress and all around adorable human, Ellen Page came out to much support and continues to forge a path as a major leading lady.

This year was more like, “Hey Ms. Producer!” as out producers racked up awards and accolades for their films. Megan Ellison rocked many a suit on the red carpet and took home a Golden Globe for her work on American Hustle. Nina Jacobson continues to have the odds in her favor as producer of the Hunger Games franchise. Prolific producer Christine Vachon will be bringing us the lesbian May/December romance Carol (which we talk about in Coming Attractions) later this year. Lena Waithe, who brought us the brilliant webseries Twenties, co-produced the feature Dear White People.

Coming Attractions While 2014 may have been rather light on the lesbian fare, 2015 seems to be shaping up to be an epic year. Here’s what we have to look forward to in the new year. The long awaited Ellen Page and Julianne Moore film Freeheld is expected to be released. Freeheld is based on a true story of a lesbian couple in New Jersey, one of whom was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and who fought to have her police pension go to her domestic partner.

As if the excellent BBC Fingersmith miniseries wasn’t enough, there is a new adaptation of Sarah Waters popular novel in the works. The new adaptation, directed by Chan-Wook Park will take place in Korea while it was under Japanese rule.

Carol, the much anticipated adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel, The Price of Salt wrapped filming this summer and will hopefully be released soon. Set in the early 1950s, Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara play two women who fall for one another, and take steps to be together despite the odds. Sarah Paulson will also star.

Out director Jamie Babbitt will be back next year with a new feature film starring Natasha Lyonne, who also starred in Babbit’s But I’m a Cheerleader. The film Fresno centers on two sisters, one gay (Lyonne) and one straight (Judy Greer) who work together as hotel maids, and accidentally kill a guest.

Filmakers Purple Milk (Natalia Leite and Alexandra Roxo) will bring us the lesbian film, Bare, which stars Dianna Agron and Paz de la Huerta. Start popping that popcorn now.

Also on the horizon:

A wide release of Kristen Stewart-starrer Clouds of Sils Maria.

Paula Pell’s new comedy Sisters (originally called The Nest), which will star Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Kate McKinnon.

Lena Duham will be producing a documentary on The Handsome Butch, Mr. Rachel Tutera.

The long awaited Patricia Rozema film Into the Forest, starring Evan Rachel Wood and Ellen Page as sisters in a dystopian future, set to premiere in 2015.

The crowd-funded Jenny’s Wedding, starring Katherine Heigl and Alexis Bledel as soon to be married ladies, is expected sometime next year as well.

What were your favorite films of 2014? What are you looking forward to in 2015?

 

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