ABOUT THE FILM

LONG SYNOPSIS

Set in Philadelphia, THE WATERMELON WOMAN is the story of Cheryl (Cheryl Dunye), a twentysomething black lesbian struggling to make a documentary about Fae Richards, a beautiful and elusive 1930s black film actress popularly known as “The Watermelon Woman.” While uncovering the meaning of Fae Richards’ life, Cheryl experiences a total upheaval in her personal life. Her love affair with Diana (Guinevere Turner, Go Fish), a beautiful white woman, and her interactions with the gay and black communities are subject to the comic yet biting criticism of her best friend Tamara (Valarie Walker). Meanwhile, each answer Cheryl discovers about the Watermelon Woman evokes a flurry of new questions about herself and her future. At the film’s conclusion, the Watermelon Woman is clearly a metaphor for Cheryl’s search for identity, community, and love.

According to director Cheryl Dunye, much about the character she plays in the film is autobiographical, but the historical references to the Watermelon Woman are fictional: “The Watermelon Woman came from the real lack of any information about the lesbian and film history of African-American women. Since it wasn’t happening, I invented it.” Well-known lesbian photographer Zoe Leonard collaborated by creating a fictional photographic “archive” from the “life” of the Watermelon Woman. Leonard’s photographs for the film have shown internationally and at two Whitney Biennials, and are published in the book The Fae Richards Photo Archive (Artspace Books 1997). Leonard is represented by Hauser & Wirth in New York.

THE WATERMELON WOMAN features cameo performances by notable figures, including Camille Paglia (controversial cultural critic}, Toshi Reagon (African American lesbian singer/songwriter), Brian Freeman (actor from the performance troupe Pomo Afro Homos), Cheryl Clark (African American lesbian poet), and Sarah Schulman (lesbian novelist and activist).

Director Cheryl Dunye

Producers Barry Swimar, Alexandra Juhasz

Executive Producer Michael Light

Co-Executive Producer Annie Taylor

Co-Producer Cate Wilson

Editor Annie Taylor

Director of Photography Michelle Crenshaw

Music Supervisor Bill Coleman

Cast Cheryl Dunye, Guinevere Turner, Valerie Walker, Lisa Marie Bronson, Camille Paglia, Toshi Reagon, Cheryl Clarke, Sarah Schulman

FESTIVALS
1996: Berlin (World Premiere)

AWARDS
Teddy Award (Berlinale), Audience Award (Créteil Women’s Film Festival, Paris), Audience Award (Torino Gay & Lesbian)

EXHIBITION FORMATS
MP4