High Art is a 1998 independent romantic drama written and directed by Lisa Cholodenko, and starring Ally Sheedy and Radha Mitchell. It premiered at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, and saw a limited release in the United States on June 12, 1998.
Monika Treut is a German filmmaker. She made her feature film debut with Seduction: The Cruel Woman, a film that explores sadomasochistic sex practices. She has made over 20 films, including the short documentaries Annie and My Father is Coming. Treut’s involvement extends across writing, directing, editing and acting.
Desert Hearts is a 1985 American romantic drama film directed by Donna Deitch. The screenplay, written by Natalie Cooper, is an adaptation of the 1964 lesbian novel Desert of the Heart by Jane Rule. Set in Reno, Nevada in 1959, it tells the story of a university professor awaiting a divorce who finds her true self through a relationship with another, more self-confident woman. The film stars Helen Shaver and Patricia Charbonneau with a supporting performance by Audra Lindley.
Loving Annabelle is a 2006 American romantic drama film written and directed by Katherine Brooks. Inspired by the 1931 German film Mädchen in Uniform, it tells the story of a boarding school student who falls in love with her teacher.
Catherine Crouch is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer, and actor. She has been active in independent film-making for over two decades. Most of her work explores gender, race, and class in lesbian and queer lives. She is known for Stranger Inside (2001), Stray Dogs (2002), and The Gendercator (2007).
Amor de hombre is a 1997 Spanish gay-themed drama film directed by Yolanda García Serrano and Juan Luis Iborra. The close friendship between a gay man and a straight woman is challenged when another man enters the picture, and the friends each fall for him.
Lesbian portrayal in media is generally in relation to feminism, love and sexual relationships, marriage and parenting. Some writers have stated that lesbians have often been depicted as exploitative and unjustified plot devices. Common representations of lesbians in the media include butch or femme lesbians and lesbian parents. "Butch" lesbian comes from the idea of a lesbian expressing themselves as masculine by dressing masculine, behaving masculinely, or liking things that are deemed masculine, while "femme" lesbian comes from the idea of a lesbian expressing themselves as feminine by dressing feminine, behaving femininely, or liking things that are deemed feminine.
Shelter is a 2007 American romantic drama film produced by JD Disalvatore and directed and written by Jonah Markowitz. It stars Trevor Wright, Brad Rowe, and Tina Holmes. It was the winner of "Outstanding Film – Limited Release" at the 2009 GLAAD Media Awards, Best New Director and Favorite Narrative Feature at the Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, and the People's Choice Award for Best Feature at the Vancouver Queer Film Festival. Shelter represents the feature directorial debut of Markowitz.
Allison McAtee is an American actress and producer. She played Catherine Stark in the independent film Bloomington and as Maggie Day in the primetime drama The Haves and the Have Nots.
I Can't Think Straight is a 2008 British romantic drama film directed by Shamim Sarif. Based on Sarif's 2008 novel of the same name, the film tells the story of a London-based Jordanian of Palestinian descent, Tala, who is preparing for an elaborate wedding when a turn of events causes her to have an affair, and subsequently fall in love, with another woman, Leyla, a British Indian. The film stars Lisa Ray and Sheetal Sheth.
Gay Weddings is a 2002 American reality television series that aired on Bravo. The series, created by openly gay producers Kirk Marcolina and Douglas Ross, followed two lesbian and two gay couples as they prepared for their wedding ceremonies. Each episode combined interview footage of the individual couples and their families and friends with footage of the various couples going through their wedding planning activities along with video diaries from the couples themselves.
Historically, the portrayal of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in media has been largely negative if not altogether absent, reflecting a general cultural intolerance of LGBT individuals; however, from the 1990s to present day, there has been an increase in the positive depictions of LGBT people, issues, and concerns within mainstream media in North America. The LGBT communities have taken an increasingly proactive stand in defining their own culture, with a primary goal of achieving an affirmative visibility in mainstream media. The positive portrayal or increased presence of the LGBT communities in media has served to increase acceptance and support for LGBT communities, establish LGBT communities as a norm, and provide information on the topic.
Fawzia Mirza is a Canadian film and TV actress, writer, producer, and director. Her work includes web series Kam Kardashian and Brown Girl Problems, and the 2017 film Signature Move.
Suicide Kale is a 2016 American dark comedy film, directed by Carly Usdin and written by Brittani Nichols. The film centers on Jasmine and Penn, a lesbian couple who unexpectedly find a hidden suicide note in the home of their friends Billie and Jordan. The film premiered at the Queer Hippo International LGBT Film Festival in Houston, Texas on April 3, 2016. Usdin won the Audience Award for Best First U.S. Dramatic Feature at 2016 Outfest.
Uyaiedu Ikpe-Etim is a Nigerian film producer, screenwriter and filmmaker, who creates works which tell the stories of Nigeria's marginalised LGBTQ communities. In 2020 the BBC included her in its list of the 100 Women of the Year.
Under the Christmas Tree is a 2021 romantic comedy Christmas television film directed by Lisa Rose Snow in her feature film directorial debut. The film premiered on Lifetime on December 19, 2021, as part of the network's "It's a Wonderful Lifetime" holiday movie slate. Telling the story of government worker Charlie attempting to secure a Christmas tree from business owner Alma, the film was Lifetime's first lesbian Christmas movie. It received generally positive reviews and was nominated at the 33rd GLAAD Media Awards for Outstanding TV Movie.
Sarah Stouffer is an American actress best known for her lead role in the independent coming-of-age 2010 film Bloomington, in which she played the undergraduate Jackie Kirk who becomes romantically involved with psychology professor Catherine Stark.
