Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives (1993)

Synopsis of Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives

This Canadian documentary chronicles the heyday of Lesbian-oriented pulp romantic fiction in the 1950s, an era when titles such as "Odd Girl Out" spoke volumes to the isolated and confused young lesbians of the era. The scriptwriter for this documentary, Ann Brannan was one of the authors of these novels. Nine women from the period describe their lives at that time, and the comfort they gained from these minor works of fiction. Among other things, they were forced to resort to "safe" dates with homosexual men in order to hide their orientations. If they chose to hang out at bars, they ran the constant risk of police raids, the result of which was having their identities revealed publicly. Being shunned by their families for their orientations was in some ways the least of the dangers they faced. The desperate measures resorted to by the protagonists in the novels are shown to have been tame compared to the experiences of these real women. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Producer(s):

Margaret Pettigrew

• 1993 - Genie Awards - Best Documentary

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