a collection of films by women about women having their formative experiences of non-hetero feelings
basically, girls filming girls being gay
we love to see it
all the films we put on these lists can be found easily online to watch at home – hey look at that! we’ve done the hard work for you bebeeee
there is a longer list that you can find on our letterboxd account with more films, but some of those we couldn’t find online ): once again i wonder, if 
blockbusters still existed……rip
we decided on this theme because of many reasons.
firstly, pride! month zoomed by without us having much chance to celebrate because of covid restrictions;
secondly because celebrating queerness shouldn’t just be for pride month and we wanted to highlight some fantastic lesbian and bi films, especially the coming-of-age moments within that;
thirdly, because the powerhouse energy that was PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE has not stopped bubbling away in our minds, bellies and souls (truthfully, our experience of watching this masterpiece from celine sciamma together is the open house film club origin story) and we absolutely want to continue fuelling that drawing-you-from-a-mirror-that-is-only-just-covering-your-bush feeling by devouring more lady-lady moments;
fourthly we selected BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER as our premier Odyssey screening early on and wanted to continue the feelings evoked from this film into a whole programme. the love, the wit and tenderness that comes out of films about women by women – there really is just a different feeling, a softness, that you don’t find as easily in male-directed films.
so, here we are, and here is the programme!
dir. jamie babbit 1999natasha lyonne (orange is the new black)
odyssey cinema 25 august 2021
BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER
but i'm a cheerleader follows megan as she is shipped off to gay conversion camp and learns firstly that she is a homosexual, and secondly, how the binary is vital to becoming straight - duh, didn't you know that when you don't clean properly your rainbow falls out???? this eccentric satire really commits to it's tone and the film works well because of that - the topic is dark and sad and a really difficult thing to make fun of, but babbit does it wonderfully with it's sickly sweet colour palette and stupid catchy lines that live in your head rent free. we love it and think it's so funny and silly and sweet - let us know what you think on the 25th! ~ ohfc team
dir. desiree akhavan 2014
APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR
you may know akhavan's more recent film, THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST starring chloe grace moretz, but take the time to go back and watch her debut feature. APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR has been called the bisexual persian ANNIE HALL but screw that guy; this is better. akhavan stars as shirin, a closeted bisexual who has just broken up with maxine, an out and proud lesbian (henderson) who is frustrated with shirin's confusion of identity and place in the world. shirin embarks on a, what we call in the singles industry, 'hoe phase', to uncover her sense of self and figure out where things went wrong with maxine. ~ amy
dir. wanuri kahiu 2018
RAFIKI
banned by the kenya film classification board for violating anti-lgbt+ laws RAFIKI (friend in swahili) has become a huge film in the lgbt+ film community. following the blossoming relationship of kena and ziki, this film follows a familiar story of rival families, children going against the grain and hiding their relationship, but is boosted by the extraordinary kenyan talent, both on screen and behind the scenes. this film is rooted in afro-pop, featuring cinematic dance sequences and a score composed soley of music by african musicians and djs. idk what more to say - watch this film! ~ amy
dir. alice wu 2004
SAVING FACE
written and directed by wu with inspiration from her own life, SAVING FACE is the girl meets girl tale of two chinese american new yorkers wil (krusiec) and vivian (chen). this debut film seems to be one of the more unsung heroes of progressive queer cinema, defiant under real pressure from studio executives to ‘make the lead characters white, or straight, and less mandarin’. the classic, on-screen lesbian, dynamic we’ve seen before of the meeker and more closeted one being drawn to and enlightened by the appealingly liberated other, is captured wonderfully here. there is almost an encouraging irony here in that one eras against-the-grain, progressive queer feature is now today’s comfort watch, with enough charmingly executed rom-com motifs and quintessentially naughties humour to contentedly hit you in yah feels. ~ max
dir. naoko yamada 2018
LIZ AND THE
BLUE BIRD
a delicate anime about two school girls and their relationship to each other as friends, musicians and characters within the music. yamada beautifully articulates the female gaze in this film, focusing on the softness of femininity and adolescence. i enjoyed this film because of the focus on feet and hands - it made me feel like i was in the space with them, and navigating their emotions by their side. a lovely little film that gained a lot of traction when released. ~ amy
dir. olivia wilde 2019
BOOKSMART
on the eve of their high school graduation, two academic overachievers discover that their peers who spent the last four years working hard but playing harder have gotten into the same ivy league colleges as them. this is a crushing revelation for two girls who haven’t gone to a single party and makes them question if they missed out on the fun and rebellion of being a teenager. determined to make up for lost time and to change their classmates opinion of them, the pair embark on an attempt to cram four years of fun into one night. as an aside, i have thought about lisa kudrow describing the girls as ‘brave’ before they head out almost everyday since i first watched this film in 2019. ~ ro
dir. miranda July 2020
KAJILLIONAIRE
from acclaimed writer, director and artist miranda july, KAJILLIONAIRE is a profoundly moving and wildly unpredictable comedy drama. two ramshackle con artists (winger and richard jenkins) have spent 26 years training their only daughter to be the perfect third party to their decidedly small-scale scams, hustles and heists. this unconventional petty crime family have always split everything three ways and treated old dolio (wood) as an adult even as a child, considering affection to be infantilising. but when old dolio’s parents charm a stranger (rodriguez) to join their schemes, everything is turned upside down. ~ ro
dir. isabel coixet 2019
ELISA & MARCELA
based on the true story of two school friends around 1900 who fell in love and tricked a priest into marrying them (whoops) by elisa pretending to be a man. this film drips with the truth and beauty of a strong love - can't relate - and the potential for their relationship to face the metaphorical guillotine will have you holding your breath. it's sensual and joyful *cries in black & white*. thanks to isabel coixet's direction, ELISA Y MARCELA is unhurried and feels like old art-house cinema crossed with a perfume ad (in all the right ways). netflix will default to the english dub, but deffo watch with the original spanish w/ english subs. ~ dunc
dir. catherine hardwicke 2003
THIRTEEN
the second film in our list featuring evan rachel wood, THIRTEEN is a delightfully disturbing coming-of-age drama following tracy (wood) as she explores a new world of sex, drugs and rock’n’roll crime after making friends with cool kid evie (reed). unlike other films in this list, THIRTEEN has no bright colours and gloss, it is gritty and dark. we can all relate to those dark days as a teen. maybe not to the rampant substance abuse. a 14-year-old nikki reed co-wrote the script with director catherine hardwicke. early 2000s fashion lives on in this! ~ dunc
dir. shonali bose 2014
MARGARITA
WITH A STRAW
premiering in the uk at london film festival, MARGARITA WITH A STRAW focuses on margarita, an indian creative writing student relocating to new york for college, discovering her bisexuality and falling in love. this is a beautiful film that doesn't become 'pity porn' because she has cerebral palsy, it's just a story about a young woman navigating the difficulties of moving country and learning about herself without being defined by her disability. bose wrote it after talking to her disability rights activist cousin who also has cp about wanting a 'normal' sex life and the film portrays this story in an incredibly fun and frank and real way. a netflix treasure. ~ amy