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Poster for The Watermelon Woman

The Watermelon Woman (1997)

★ 6.8/10 85 min Drama, Comedy, Romance United States English
Director: Cheryl Dunye
Writer: Cheryl Dunye
Co-Writer: Douglas McKeown
Streaming on:
Sometimes you have to create your own history.

Description

A young black lesbian filmmaker probes into the life of The Watermelon Woman, a 1930s black actress who played 'mammy' archetypes.

Trailer

Top Cast

Cheryl Dunye
Cheryl Dunye Cheryl
Guinevere Turner
Guinevere Turner Diana
Valarie Walker Tamara
Lisa Marie Bronson Fae "The Watermelon Woman" Richards
Cheryl Clarke
Cheryl Clarke June Walker
Irene Dunye Self
Brian Freeman Lee Edwards
Ira Jeffries Shirley Hamilton

The Watermelon Woman Appears on 14 Curated Movie Lists

Canon Institutions

Academy Museum Of Motion Pictures
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures #491
Criterion Collection
Criterion Collection #1178
Essential Criterion Collection
Criterion Collection #97
National Film Registry
National Film Registry #783
Sight And Sounds 100 Overlooked Films Directed by Women
Sight & Sound #21
Sight and Sound’s Greatest Films of All Time 2022
Sight & Sound #147

Critic Curated

Esquire’s 50 Best LGBT Movies of All Time
Esquire #09
Indiewire's 100 Best Movies Of The 1990s
IndieWire #79
Slashfilms Top 100 Movies Of All Time
SlashFilm #95
Slates The New Black Film Canon The 75 Greatest
Slate Magazine #39

Identity Theme

100 Best Movies Directed By Women Indiewire
IndieWire #43
115 Films By And About Women Of Color Indiewire
Letterboxd #95
Black Directors The Official Top 100 Narrative
Letterboxd #14
Your Queer Film Watchlist
British Film Institute #186

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