FORBIDDEN LOVE: THE UNASHAMED STORIES OF LESBIAN LIVES

FORBIDDEN LOVE: THE UNASHAMED STORIES OF LESBIAN LIVES

AERLYN WEISSMAN + LYNNE FERNIE | CANADA | 1992 | 85 MIN | ENGLISH FST

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AERLYN WEISSMAN + LYNNE FERNIE | CANADA | 1992 | 85 MIN | ENGLISH FST

DocumentaryMADE AU CANADA

Presented by

Synopsis

Mixing lively testimonials from unforgettable women at the forefront of mid-century lesbian bar culture with scripted segments taking the Hollywood melodrama in provocative new directions, Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives is an eye-opening cultural history—and one of the most memorable Canadian films of the ’90s. This documentary chronicles the era of lesbian-themed pulp romance paperbacks of the 1950s, a time when titles such as “Odd Girl Out” spoke to the isolated and confused young lesbians of the era. Ten women (including one of the authors of these novels), talk about being queer in the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s, discovering these books, and going through their own first love affairs and painful breakups. The hardships they faced (from being shunned by their families to enduring police raids) are interspersed with archival footage and four dramatized chapters from a pulp novel, Forbidden Love. The desperate measures resorted to by the protagonists in these works of pulp fiction are shown to have been quite tame compared to the real-life experiences of these women. “It is testimony to how clever the film and filmmakers are that a documentary about history continues to seem so utterly timeless.” – Matthew Hays, POV Magazine

Trailer

Producer

Margaret Pettigrew, Ginny Stikeman, Rina Fraticelli

Writer

Aerlyn Weissman, Lynne Fernie

Cinematographer

Zoe Dirse

Cast

Stephanie Morgenstern
Lynne Adams
Marie-Jo Thério
George Thomas
Lory Wainberg
Ann-Marie MacDonald
Michael Copeland
Keely Moll
Ann Bannon
Stephanie Ozard
Reva Hutkin
Lois M. Stuart
Nairobi
Jeanne Healy
Carol Ritchie-MacKintosh
Amanda White
Ruth Christine

PARTNERS

NFB

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