Donna Deitch

Last updated
Donna Deitch
Born (1945-06-08) June 8, 1945 (age 80)
San Francisco, California, US
Occupation(s)Director, producer, writer
Years active1975-present
Known for Desert Hearts
Website donnadeitch.com

Donna Deitch (born June 8, 1945, San Francisco, California) is an American film and television director, producer, screenwriter, and actor best known for her 1985 film Desert Hearts . The movie was the first feature film to "de-sensationalize lesbianism" by presenting a lesbian romance story with positive and respectful themes. [1] [2]

Contents

Career

Desert Hearts (1985)

Deitch segued from documentary filmmaker to producing and directing Desert Hearts, the landmark hit of the 1985 Telluride and Toronto International film festivals, and the 1986 Sundance Film Festival. The first feature film to be directed by a lesbian, [3] it was picked up for worldwide distribution by The Samuel Goldwyn Company and established Deitch as a prominent lesbian filmmaker. [4] Desert Hearts is an adaptation of Jane Rule's 1964 lesbian novel, Desert of the Heart .

Themes

The most prominent themes in Desert Hearts include gender, sexuality, and family, specifically the ways in which lesbian identity can subvert Western-Colonial standards and ideals. [5] This is witnessed through the setting of Reno, Nevada and the Western structures that the main characters navigate while carrying on a secret relationship. The main character, Vivian Bell (Helen Shaver), is a rigid University professor who travels to Reno following a divorce. Cay Rivvers (Patricia Charbonneau) is younger, free-spirited, and impulsive. "In her wildness, Cay embodies the characteristics associated with the reckless male outlaw figure of a traditional Western, even referring to her cottage as her “hideout'," [5] with Vivian representing rigid social structures and repression of sexuality. [5]

Lesbian eroticism and same-sex gaze are prominent themes in Desert Hearts. Deitch demonstrates Vivian and Cay's attraction to each other through subtle glances and touches, as well as the pivotal sex scene between the two towards the end of the film. Deitch uses the women's mutual, exchanging gazes to subvert the typical male gaze formula (a term coined by film theorist Laura Mulvey) where women in film are sexualized by being looked upon voyeuristically as objects. [3] "Vivian and Cay engage in homoerotic visual interchanges that involve mutuality and reciprocity rather than dominance and submission." [3]

Reception

When Desert Hearts was released, there was little mainstream critical attention towards the film despite its popularity among lesbian and gay audiences. [3] While some praised the film's positive representation of a lesbian relationship, primarily lesbian critics denounced it, many stating that Vivian and Cay are essentially a heterosexual couple "repackaged" into lesbian bodies. For example, Vivian is more passive and "feminine" while Cay is dominant and comfortable with her sexuality, pursuing Vivian and driving their romance forward, [3] imitating the active/passive power dynamic of a heterosexual relationship. Other critics still regard the film to be important within lesbian film history, since it was directed by a lesbian and presents the audience with a "lesbian gaze." [3]

Nevertheless, Desert Hearts was applauded for how it highlighted lesbian struggles in the fifties, since homosexuality was considered a mental disorder until 1973, only eleven years prior to the film's release. [6] Considering Vivian's job as a professor, her career would have been jeopardized if her sexuality were exposed. Real threats of being exposed linger throughout the film, and further reinforce how critics believed Desert Hearts to be pivotal in lesbian cinematic history. [6]

The sex scene at the climax of the film is also highly debated among lesbians [6] due to it being toned down, with some critics stating that it was too tame while others saw it as extremely erotic and intimate. [3] [6] It does not use extreme nudity to attract its viewers, but the connection and chemistry between the two characters, the exchanging looks and soft touches, convey their mutual attraction. [3] Yet, "as the scene progresses, it breaks down this active/passive dichotomy and conveys the mutuality of both women’s attraction to each other." [3]

Other works

Shortly after seeing Desert Hearts, Oprah Winfrey hired Deitch to direct the Emmy-nominated four-hour miniseries The Women of Brewster Place .[ citation needed ] Deitch directed, photographed, and edited Angel On My Shoulder, a feature-length documentary about her best friend, actress Gwen Welles, and her experience with terminal cancer. The film won the Gold Hugo for Best Documentary at the 1998 Chicago International Film Festival. [7]

In a 2008 interview, she said she was working on obtaining financing for Blonde Ghost, a screenplay adapted from Stella, the 1992 non-fiction book by Peter Wyden about Stella Goldschlag, which takes place in Berlin during World War II. [8] [9] That same year, Deitch said that she was writing a sequel to Desert Hearts which would be set "in NYC in the late 60s." [10]

Personal life

Deitch is openly lesbian. [11] Her partner is writer Terri Jentz. [12]

Filmography

Films

YearTitleDirectorProducerScreenwriterCinematographerEditorNotes
1975Woman to WomanYesYesYesYesDocumentary
1977The Great Wall of Los AngelesYesDocumentary short
1985 Desert Hearts YesYesCameo appearance: Hungarian Gambler
Winner: Special Jury Prize – Dramatic, Sundance Film Festival, 1986 [13]
1994 Criminal Passion Yes
1998Angel on My ShoulderYesYesYesYesYesDocumentary

Actor

YearTitleRoleNotes
1969Several FriendsShort film
1985 Desert Hearts Hungarian GamblerCameo appearance

Television

YearTitleDirectorNotes
1989 The Women of Brewster Place Miniseries
1990 WIOU 1 episode
1991 Prison Stories: Women on the Inside TV film. Segment "1"
1991 Veronica Clare 1 episode
1992Sexual AdvancesTV film
1994A Change of Place TV film
1994Robin's Hoods2 episodes
1995 ER 2 episodes
1995-1997 Murder One 5 episodes
1995-2003 NYPD Blue 13 episodes
1996 Second Noah 1 episode
1996 Moloney 1 episode
1997Murder One: Diary of a Serial KillerMiniseries (final 6 episodes of Murder One )
1997 EZ Streets 1 episode
1997Total Security1 episode
1997 The Visitor 1 episode
1997 Dellaventura 1 episode
1998 Nothing Sacred 1 episode
1998C-16: FBI1 episode
1999 The Devil's Arithmetic TV film
2000 Common Ground TV film
2000-2001 The $treet 2 episodes
2001-2007 Crossing Jordan 9 episodes
2002-2011 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit 3 episodes
2003 Judging Amy 1 episode
2003 L.A. Dragnet 1 episode
2004 Wild Card 1 episode
2005 South of Nowhere 2 episodes
2006 Bones 1 episode
2006 Heroes 1 episode
2007 Eureka 1 episode
2009-2010 Private Practice 4 episodes
2010 Grey's Anatomy 1 episode
2010 Army Wives 1 episode
2011 Off the Map 1 episode
2011 A Gifted Man 1 episode
2013 The Glades 1 episode
2016 Greenleaf 1 episode

Accolades

YearWorkAwardResultRef
1986 Desert Hearts Special Jury Prize – Dramatic • Sundance Film Festival Won
1986 Desert Hearts Grand Jury Prize – Dramatic • Sundance Film Festival Nominated
1996 NYPD Blue , episode "These Old Bones" Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series • Directors Guild of America Nominated
1998Angel on My ShoulderGold Hugo – Best Documentary • Chicago International Film Festival Won [7]
2000 The Devil's Arithmetic Emmy Award – Outstanding Directing in a Children's Special • National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Won
2008 Heroes Hugo Award – Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form • World Science Fiction Society Nominated
2008Outfest Achievement Award • Outfest Won

See also

References

  1. ↑ Siskel, Gene (June 6, 1986). "'Desert Hearts': A New Story Told In The Old Fashion". Chicago Tribune . Archived from the original on January 30, 2017. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  2. ↑ Pasulka, Nicole (June 25, 2015). "Better Sex, Better World". Hazlitt Magazine . Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Hollinger, Karen (1998). In the Company of Women: Contemporary Female Friendship Films. Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN   978-0816631773.
  4. ↑ Dymond, Erica Joan; Murguía, Salvador Jiménez, eds. (2022). The Encyclopedia of LGBTQIA+ Portrayals in American Film. Lanhan, Maryland: Rowan & Littlefield. ISBN   978-1538153901.
  5. 1 2 3 Campbell, Neil (2013). Post-Westerns: Cinema, Region, West. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN   978-0803234765.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Sterling, Eric (2012). "Dualistic Hearts: Social Class, Education, Different Cultures, and Lesbian Love in Desert Hearts". Journal of Lesbian Studies . 16 (3): 354–364. doi:10.1080/10894160.2012.673934. ISSN   1089-4160.
  7. 1 2 Nesselson, Lisa (October 20, 1998). "Chicago film fest covers 'The Hole' with top prize". Variety . Retrieved February 14, 2012.
  8. ↑ Corson, Suzanne (July 9, 2008). "Donna Deitch Wins Highest Honor from Outfest". AfterEllen .
  9. ↑ "The Catcher". Donna Deitch. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  10. ↑ Silverstein, Melissa (July 9, 2008). "Interview with Donna Deitch, Director of Desert Hearts". Women & Hollywood. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
  11. ↑ Kukoff, Alexandra (December 1, 2016). "Q&A: Alumna, director Donna Deitch reflects on 1985 film 'Desert Hearts'". Daily Bruin . Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  12. ↑ Pepe, Barbara (August 20, 1996). "Ten Years Gone". The Advocate . pp. 73–76. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  13. 1 2 3 "Sundance Film Festival: Films Honored 1985–2008" (PDF). Sundance Institute. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 15, 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  14. ↑ Winners and Nominees (1996). "49th Annual DGA Awards". Directors Guild of America . Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  15. ↑ Grego, Melissa (May 15, 2000). "Emmy time for 'Rosie' & 'Bill Nye'". Variety . Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  16. ↑ "2008 Hugo Award Nominees". The Hugo Awards . World Science Fiction Society. March 21, 2008. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  17. ↑ Hardy, Ernest (July 2, 2008). "One From the Heart: Outfest Achievement Award Winner Donna Deitch". LA Weekly . Retrieved March 5, 2017.
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