The Watermelon Woman
The wry, incisive debut feature by Cheryl Dunye gave cinema something bracingly new and groundbreaking: a vibrant representation of Black lesbian identity by a Black lesbian filmmaker. Dunye stars as Cheryl, a video-store clerk and aspiring director whose interest in forgotten Black actresses leads her to investigate an obscure 1930s performer known as the Watermelon Woman, whose story proves to have surprising resonances with Cheryl’s own life as she navigates a new relationship with a white girlfriend (Guinevere Turner). Balancing breezy romantic comedy with a serious inquiry into the history of Black and queer women in Hollywood, The Watermelon Woman slyly rewrites long-standing constructions of race and sexuality on-screen, introducing an important voice in American cinema.
DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- 2K digital restoration, supervised by director Cheryl Dunye, cinematographer Michelle Crenshaw, and producer Alexandra Juhasz, in collaboration with the Outfest UCLA Legacy Project, with 3.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- New interview with Dunye
- New conversation between Dunye and artist-filmmaker Martine Syms
- New conversation between Juhasz and filmmaker and film scholar Thomas Allen Harris
- Six early short films by Dunye
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by critic Cassie da Costa
New cover by Eric Skillman
DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- 2K digital restoration, supervised by director Cheryl Dunye, cinematographer Michelle Crenshaw, and producer Alexandra Juhasz, in collaboration with the Outfest UCLA Legacy Project, with 3.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- New interview with Dunye
- New conversation between Dunye and artist-filmmaker Martine Syms
- New conversation between Juhasz and filmmaker and film scholar Thomas Allen Harris
- Six early short films by Dunye
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by critic Cassie da Costa
New cover by Eric Skillman
Cast
- Cheryl Dunye
- Cheryl
- Guinevere Turner
- Diana
- Valarie Walker
- Tamara
- Lisa Marie Bronson
- Fae “The Watermelon Woman” Richards
- Cheryl Clarke
- June Walker
- Irene Dunye
- Herself
- Brian Freeman
- Lee Edwards
- Ira Jeffries
- Shirley Hamilton
- Alexandra Juhasz
- Martha Page
- Camille Paglia
- Herself
- Sarah Schulman
- CLIT archivist
- V. S. Brodie
- Karaoke singer
- Shelley Olivier
- Annie Heath
- David Rakoff
- Librarian
- Toshi Reagon
- Street musician
- Christopher Ridenhour
- Bob
- Kathy Robertson
- Yvette
- Jocelyn Taylor
- Stacey
Credits
- Director
- Cheryl Dunye
- Written by
- Cheryl Dunye
- Produced by
- Barry Swimar
- Produced by
- Alexandra Juhasz
- Executive producer
- Michael Light
- Co-executive producer
- Annie Taylor
- Co-executive producer
- Burke Moody
- Cinematographer
- Michelle Crenshaw
- Editor
- Annie Taylor
- Photos and home movies by
- Zoe Leonard
- Production designer
- Robert “Ratface” Holtzman
- Associate producer
- Joy Malinowski
- Music supervisor
- Bill Coleman
- Original score
- Paul Shapiro
A scene from The Watermelon Woman
