The Watermelon Woman
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