The list has been generated by Cinema Femme contributors, and the titles are listed chronologically on our Letterboxd HQ account. Here we highlight some of these films, breaking them down by theme. Today we feature Part Two, highlighting independent films directed by women and non-binary people that emerged and were discovered for the first time during the pandemic on various streaming platforms. This was the result of a need for more content, and we are pleased to shine a light on these types of films (thank you TCM for your Women Make Film series!).
Letterboxd summaries below
Losing Ground – Kathleen Collins (1982)
A comedy-drama about a Black American female philosophy professor and her insensitive, philandering, and flamboyant artist husband who are having a marital crisis. When the wife goes off on an almost unbelievable journey to find “ecstasy”, her husband is forced to see her in a different light.
Watch on Criterion Channel.
Smithereens – Susan Seidelman (1982)
A narcissistic runaway engages in a number of parasitic relationships amongst members of New York’s waning punk scene.
Born in Flames – Lizzie Borden (1983)
In near-future New York, 10 years after the “social-democratic war of liberation,” diverse groups of women organize a feminist uprising as equality remains unfulfilled.
Watch on Prime/Fandor.
Suburbia – Penelope Spheeris (1983)
When household tensions and a sense of worthlessness overcome Evan, he finds escape when he clings with the orphans of a throw-away society. The runaways hold on to each other like a family until a tragedy tears them apart.
Watch on Prime.
Crossing Delancey – Joan Micklin Silver (1988)
Isabelle’s life revolves around the New York bookshop she works in and the intellectual friends of both sexes she meets there. Her grandmother remains less than impressed and decides to hire a good old-fashioned Jewish matchmaker to help Isabelle’s love-life along. Enter pickle-maker Sam who immediately takes to Isabelle. She however is irritated by the whole business, at least to start with.
Rent on most major streaming platforms.
Dogfight – Nancy Savoca (1991)
In the fall of 1963, Eddie Birdlace is an 18-year-old Marine Corps volunteer who is about to ship out with three of his buddies for a tour of duty in Vietnam. Planning a massive blowout for their last night in San Francisco, Eddie, his buddies, and a number of other Marines set up a contest they call a “dogfight.”
Rent on most major streaming platforms.
The Watermelon Woman – Cheryl Dunye (1996)
Cheryl, a young black lesbian, works a day job in a video store while trying to make a film about a black actress from the 1930s known for playing the stereotypical “mammy” roles relegated to black actresses during that period. This was the first feature film directed by an “out” black lesbian.
Watch on Showtime.
Clockwatchers – Jill Sprecher (1997)
The relationship between four female temps all working for the same credit company is threatened with the arrival of a new hire, who lands a permanent position one of the women was vying for.
Watch on Showtime.
But I’m A Cheerleader – Jamie Babbit (1999)
A young Megan is an all-American girl. A cheerleader. She has a boyfriend. But Megan doesn’t like kissing her boyfriend very much. And she’s pretty touchy with her cheerleader friends. Her conservative parents worry that she must be a lesbian and send her off to “sexual redirection” school, where she must, with other lesbians and gays learn how to be straight. who has just become engaged has her life completely shattered when she is raped while on her way home from work.
Watch on Hulu.
Saving Face – Alice Wu (2004)
A Chinese-American lesbian and her traditionalist mother are reluctant to go public with secret loves that clash against A Chinese-American lesbian and her traditionalist mother are reluctant to go public with secret loves that clash against cultural expectations.
Rent on most major streaming platforms.
