Her Cinema Club Presents: The Watermelon Woman (1996)

Her Cinema Club is a space to celebrate women filmmakers. Presented by The Emotional Club, an organisation founded by women, for women in the film industry, our online community exchanges film recommendations and meets to watch one of those movies in-person. In line with The Emotional Club's goals, special focus is placed on creating personal connections through cinema.

This month, our Club explores feminist film. The Watermelon Woman (1996) was selected as the inaugural film at our Club for its intersectional analysis of race, sexuality, and gender. Still praised for its contribution to groundbreaking queer storytelling, experimentation with film media, and Dunye's ability to balance complex identity issues with romantic comedy, we found this film a great case study for intersectional feminist film.

Directed by Cheryl Dunye. Comedy Drama Romance. Dur 1hr 30mins.

Cheryl is young, Black, and lesbian, working in Philadelphia with her best friend Tamara and consumed by a film project: to make a video about her search for a Black actress from Philly who appeared in films in the 30s and was known as the Watermelon Woman.