Celebrate Lesbian Visibility Week with our curated list of must-watch films showcasing lesbian and queer women’s lives, relationships, and self-discovery.
Lesbian Visibility Week is a week for coming together in sisterhood and letting those not fortunate enough to live as their authentic selves know, “You’re not alone. You have a community, and we are waiting to embrace you with open arms.”
It’s for allowing each lesbian and queer woman’s journey to be heard and accepted and that’s why It’s essential that those people around the globe see themselves represented on screen and within the media.
With that in mind, I curated this list of films that authentically portray lesbian and queer women, our relationships, dynamics and lives. I chose these films because they show various stages of lesbian life and dynamics: self-discovery, forbidden love, navigating a political landscape, and simply enjoying ourselves.
In a time when it’s proving more difficult to get independent films made, what I also love about this list is that most of the films are independently produced. Here are some gems in the lesbian film medium.
With that in mind, I curated this list of films that authentically portray lesbian and queer women:
But I’m a Cheerleader (1999)
In But I’m a Cheerleader, ‘Megan’ (Natasha Lyonne) is a stereotypical teenage American cheerleader with a handsome football-playing boyfriend. However, something isn’t right. She isn’t crazy about this all-round, superstar boyfriend and others around her can see that she’s different.
When her parents send her to a conversion camp, she realises it’s because they think she’s a lesbian. Wait, what? But she’s a cheerleader – she can’t be gay! So starts her journey of self-discovery when she meets ‘out’ teenage lesbian Graham (played by queer icon Clea DuVall).
This satirical comedy has to be one of the top lesbian films and is a must for Lesbian Visibility Week as it’s filled with queer delight and sapphic royalty, directed and created by lesbian legend, Jamie Babbit.
Aimée & Jaguar (1999)
Set in Berlin during World War II, the story follows ‘Felice’ (Maria Schrader), a Jewish woman using a false name and working as an undercover journalist, and ‘Lilly’ (Juliane Koehler), who’s married to a Nazi officer and a mother of four. When Lilly’s husband is away, the two begin an intense affair with beautiful love scenes that are almost poetic between the two.
Aimée & Jaguar is one of my favourite sapphic dramas and I can’t create a lesbian film watchlist without it. It’s one of the most beautiful lesbian love stories on film. It’s a must-watch, but make sure you have tissues at the ready.
My Summer of Love (2004)
From the UK, we have the 2004 film My Summer of Love, set in the Yorkshire countryside. It’s a tale of sexual exploration between two young women from opposite backgrounds. Working-class ‘Mona’ (Natalie Press) meets pampered and entitled ‘Tamsin’ (Emily Blunt), and over one summer, they learn and grow from each other.
My Summer of Love is a great watch that shines a light on navigating teenage lesbian love from different class backgrounds. It’s Romeo & Juliet meets Sugar Rush, with Mona taking us on a journey of a glorious yet painful first love.
Bottoms (2023)
This fun, high school comedy from the US is super-cute and very queer. Bottoms is a silly farce about two unpopular queer students fighting to have their first sexual experience before graduation.
‘PJ’ (Rachel Sennott) and ‘Josie’ (Ayo Edebiri) start a women’s self-defence club and become high school celebrities, but what the school doesn’t know is that they set the club up to seduce their cheerleader crushes ‘Brittany’ (Kaia Gerber) and ‘Isabel’ (Havana Rose Liu).
It’s a silly romcom that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and who doesn’t need a bit of that sometimes?
Blue Jean (2022)
Set in Newcastle in 1988, Blue Jean stars Rosy McEwen as ‘Jean’, a closeted PE teacher during the proposal of the Section 28 legislation, and Lucy Halliday as the student threatening to expose her sexuality.
Exposure would lose Jean the job she loves so she decides to lead a double life, keeping her partner ‘Vivian’ (Kerrie Hayes) and her queer life separate from her working life and causing tension in her relationship and friendship groups.
Blue Jean is one of my favourite recent lesbian dramas. It’s a fictionalised story based on the experiences of a real lesbian teacher during that time and a reminder of the fight that we have had to continue against governments and people. 1988 was not that long ago – this is a reminder.
Written by Georgia Oakley and local queer hires in the smaller supporting roles give this film excellent authenticity.
D.E.B.S. (2004)
This film packs a serious lesbian icon (Holland Taylor) into an action comedy about spies-in-training where a relationship forms between supervillain ‘Lucy Diamond’ (Jordana Brewster) and top spy ‘Amy’ (Sara Foster). D.E.B.S. follows the underground crime-fighting academy whose only mission is to save the world with each character bringing their own unique, sometimes silly, skill to the secret agent foursome.
D.E.B.S. is a favourite fun and fabulous queer film – think of a queer Charlie’s Angels and you’re on the right track. With a clever script written by lesbian writer and director Angela Robinson and the addition of sapphic legend Holland Taylor, this is a must-see.
Carol (2015)
Set in 1950s New York, we follow the story of ‘Therese’ (Rooney Mara), a young photographer falling in love with ‘Carol Aird’ (Cate Blanchett), and how they navigate their relationship in a time when LGBTQI relations were illegal.
Based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith, Carol is a beautiful and sometimes heart-breaking love story between two women whose connection was at first sight.
Both characters are living in unhappy heterosexual relationships until they find each other and their love blossoms. Lesbian sweetheart Sarah Paulson also stars in the film, playing Carol’s friend ‘Abby’.
Lesbian Short Films
The great thing about sapphic short films is that it’s usually queer writers, directors and producers who produce authentic queer female shorts, providing them with authenticity. When visiting LGBTQI festivals, lesbian stories tend to be forgotten and are very few or so hidden in the programme that you struggle to find them, but here are some of my favourites from the last few years:
Twofold
Written by Toto Bruin and directed by Ella Greenwood.
Twofold is shot in one take and uncovers and explores an old encounter between ‘Allie’ (Phoebe Campbell) and ‘Erin’ (Rebecca Calder). You watch their dynamic unravel in real time, which is gloriously uncomfortable to see. It’s a tense yet beautiful watch.
This is one of those rare films that stays with you for a long while after you watch it. It’s utterly brilliant and deserving of all the praise it received on the festival circuit.
From A to Q
Written and directed by Emmalie El Fadil.
From A to Q is a cute coming out and coming of age short about two high school friends who discover their true feelings for each other after ‘Alex’ has a dream where she confesses her love. ‘Alex’ (Sophie Rivers) and ‘Kayla’ (Holly Ashman) star and their chemistry is great to watch as they try to navigate their mutual feelings without ruining their long-term friendship.
The short film is shot and edited really well and looks great.
F**KED
Written by Meg Salter and directed by Sara Harrak.
Set in a supermarket, this short film starring Rosalind Eleazar as ‘Dani’ and Meg Salter as ‘Jess’ is about open relationships in a queer female couple and explores what the ‘rule book’ is for such things.
F**KED is a funny film that did well on the festival circuit with two great actors attached. Meg’s writing really shines in this quirky short.
I’ve worked as an actor in the industry for over 20 years. Around 15 years ago, I started going to LGBTQI film festivals and was shocked at the lack of lesbian and queer female content. So much so that I wrote and produced my own short film called Life in Colors, a decade-spanning story of lesbian love during the 1940s, when women and queer people had to conform to society and to a certain way of life. It went on to win awards at various lesbian and queer film festivals.
Since its release in 2015, the landscape of lesbian films, television and short films has changed. Back then I rarely saw myself represented on screen but in recent years it’s wonderful to start seeing lesbian/queer female characters turning up in all forms of media. Lesbian and queer females’ stories were being heard and seen in film festivals, more lesbian and queer female writers and directors were telling their stories.
However, this year, I’m again seeing a lack of lesbian stories being told across film festivals. Is that because shorts and independent films are struggling to get funding? Perhaps. But what I do know is lesbian and queer female stories need to continue to be told.
Our stories are important and we need to keep telling them.
If you have a story, create it, make it, show it.
Happy Lesbian Visibility Week!
