About.com Rating

• Peccadillo Pictures Ltd
• 2010
• 121 Minutes

Lesbian Shorts

Several of these short films, by now-well-known directors, are not short enough.

I saw about half of the shorts at one festival for another over the past decade and the other half were new to me. "D.E.B.S," one I had somehow missed, was hilarious and sexy. I am not sure what to make of the mysterious "Henna Nights." "Memoirs of an Evil Stepmother," was just one of three flicks starring Jane Lynch, and though very funny, could have been chopped in half.


Esteemed Directors

With Jamie, Babbit, Colette Burson, Christine Chew, Leanna Creel, Cherien Dabis, Erin Greenwell. Sally El Hosaini, Pratibha Parmar and Angela Robinson, you’d think not much could go wrong. And, in fact, since most of these shorts are a decade or more old, there really is not a lot of criticism to lob at any particular film. All directors have grown up, moved on and produced more and different fare.

A Few Better Eggs

“Stuck” stuck with me the most. This stark, startling film by Babbit, is a quiet commentary on the many faces and seasons of lesbian relationships and women's lives. Parmar's “Wavelengths” is very techno-90s, but still totally relevant, sexy and fun. “Little Black Boot” by Burson is a nice ode to young lesbian love –and angst. Greenwell's “Overnight Book” would be a masterpiece if it didn’t run a marathon 20 minutes while Chew’s “Falling for Caroline” was actually painful. Creel’s “PROM-troversy was another cute and angsty teenage lesbian prom flick that worked well as a mockumentary.

Worth the Price

My Rating: 4 stars. This mix of short lesbian films, classics all, is worth having on your shelf, and not only for herstory’s sake.