Fiction
Blu-ray
Availability
Details
PUBLISHED
EDITION
DESCRIPTION
1 videodisc (84 min.) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 in
ISBN/ISSN
LANGUAGE
SERIES
Criterion collection #1184
NOTES
Originally released as a motion picture in 1996
The wry, incisive debut feature by Cheryl Dunye gave cinema something bracingly new and groundbreaking: a vibrant representation of Black lesbian identity by a Black lesbian filmmaker. Dunye stars as Cheryl, a video-store clerk and aspiring director whose interest in forgotten Black actresses leads her to investigate an obscure 1930s performer known as the Watermelon Woman, whose story proves to have surprising resonances with Cheryl's own life as she navigates a new relationship with a white girlfriend. Balancing a breezy romantic comedy with a serious inquiry into the history of Black and queer women in Hollywood, The Watermelon Woman slyly rewrites long-standing constructions of race and sexuality on-screen, introducing an important voice in American cinema
Wide screen
Cheryl Dunye, Guinevere Turner, Valarie Walker
Blu-ray; widescreen; DTS HD 3.0 master audio; requires Blu-ray player
Subtitled for the deaf and hard of hearing (SDH)