Today on Women’s Magazine magazine we will preview two exciting new lesbian documentaries playing at SF’ Frameline film festival the preeminent LGBTQAI film festival, which is the largest in the world and runs from June 14th to July 2nd. First we talk to Madeleine Lim about her new documentary Jewelle: A Just Vision about the powerful and extraordinarily talented visionary writer, activist, and community-builder Jewelle Gomez who will also be joining us. Not limited to her vanguard work The Gilda Stories, Jewelle’s been at the foreground of myriad culture and movement spaces since the 1960s. Through humorous and thoughtful interviews with Jewelle and a group of friends and collaborators (including Dorothy Allison, Cheryl Clarke, and Ajuan Mance), this doc by Madeleine Lim radiates with the warmth and sharp intelligence of a prolific Black and Native femme lesbian feminist who’s an enduring force across LGBTQ+ organizations and communities, as it explores the lineage that has shaped and been shaped by Jewelle.
And then we talk to Lisa Marie Evans, co-director of the new documentary “In Her Words: 20th Century Lesbian Fiction.” Narrated by LGBTQ+ historian Lillian Faderman and illuminated through interviews with trailblazers like Jewelle Gomez (The Gilda Stories), Dorothy Allison (Bastard Out of Carolina), and Sarah Waters (Fingersmith), In Her Words: 20th Century Lesbian Fiction charts a literary journey from post-war lesbian pulp to modern bestsellers. Charting the changing socio-political landscapes that encouraged an evolution of the genre In Her Words: 20th Century Lesbian Fiction pays loving tribute to this evolution of lesbian and queer fiction, told through a lens of broader American history. And lastly we will talk to Allegra Madsen the director of programming at Frameline about the history of the film festival and other lesbian highlights at the film festival.