Given the scarcity of self-representations by women of all ages in film, those that focus on older women seem all the more important and unfortunately, rare.
West Coast Crones: A Glimpse into the Lives of Nine Old Lesbians (Muir, 1990). This short film features clips of older women discussing their lives and activism.
Nitrate Kisses (Hammer, 1992) – Barbara Hammer is widely hailed in the world of experimental film. Nitrate kisses is a pastiche of film footage about four couples. Hammer intentionally sought out two older women to be in featured in the film (Frances Lorraine and friend).
Living with Pride: Ruth Ellis at 100 (Welbon, 1999). A heartwarming documentary about Ruth Ellis, who enjoyed a career as the owner of a print shop, a gay club, and was widely recognized for her work in the community to support youth.
Lesbian Grandmothers from Mars (Wilson, 2004). Not widely available, this tantalizingly-titled 72 minute film includes: “An out-of-this-world story about a lesbian couple, Carrie & Elisia Ross-Stone, who rode their bikes 3,800 miles across America to rally support for same-sex marriage.”
Out Late (Alda & Brooke, 2008).
Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community. (Scagliotti & Schiller, 1984).
Silent Pioneers : Gay and Lesbian Elders. New York, NY: Filmakers Library, 1985. Film.
Barriga C. & Lorenz C., (2006). Downstream (im Fluss). Frameline. – A film which records the thoughts and discussions of two Swiss women, decades long friends, as they contemplate their friendship, and growing older.
Women like us. 1990, England. United Kingdom, Clio Co-Op. Aired on broadcast television on April 10, 1990, the film has “a decidedly anti-ageist stance,” offering “older women as having strong subjectivity… independent, creative, and politically active.” (The Lives of Older Lesbians: Sexuality, Identity & the Life Course, Jane Traies, p. 9).
Forbidden Love, the Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives, 1992, Canada.
Generation Silent – Part of the growing interest in LGBTQ older adults relies on the social services framing: that this is a population in need of allies, and urgent rescue.
