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
Just watched last night, coincidentally, and the UCLA restoration is really nice; even the videotape material is improved. Fans of early Spike Lee will enjoy. Dunye has a similar screen presence and style to young Lee though her gaze is more inwardly focused. The "uncovering a mystery" conceit of the film is a lot of fun; the ubiquity of the internet that comes almost immediately after this picture would make this particular way of telling the story unthinkable even five years later. Dunye's shorts are a real treat as well -- the eight-minute Greetings from Africa, which I presume will be included here, is even better than the feature.
