The Watermelon Woman

Through the Lens of Black Women: Beauty and Expectations

An investigation into film history that doubles as a romantic comedy, The Watermelon Woman is a dazzlingly inventive landmark of the New Queer Cinema and the first U.S. feature directed by Cheryl Dunye. A fledgling filmmaker, played by Dunye herself, sets out to make a documentary about Faith Richardson, a lost cinematic ancestor glimpsed in 1930s race films. Playfully switching between 16mm film and a grainy 1990s videotape aesthetic, Dunye intertwines slices of everyday life with black-and-white archival bits about Richardson.

A live Zoom Q&A with filmmaker Cheryl Dunye follows the screening.

Preserved by the UCLA Film & Television Archive with funding provided by 13th Gen, Outfest, the Andrew J. Kuehn Jr. Foundation, TIFF, First Run Features, and Yves Averous. 


The MFAH film department is supported by Tenaris; the Vaughn Foundation; The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea; Nina and Michael Zilkha; Consulate General of Italy in Houston; Italian Cultural Institute in Los Angeles; Consulate General of Brazil in Houston; Franci Neely; Carrin Patman and Jim Derrick; Ms. Laurence Unger; L’Alliance Française de Houston; and ILEX Foundation.

The Watermelon Woman

Directed by Cheryl Dunye
(USA, 1996, 90 minutes, in English)
Lynn Wyatt Theater

Location

Nancy and Rich Kinder Building
5500 Main Street
Houston, TX 77004
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