Presented in partnership with Iowa City Pride and the University of Iowa

Our health and safety policies may have recently changed. Click HERE to learn more.

Presented as part of the Out of the Archive: Black Women Behind the Lens series.

"An enduring classic whose mere existence — even today — still feels like a miracle."—Michael Cuby, Them

"A rich, complex film about the processes of filmmaking and the interstices of identity."—Alyx Vesey, Bitch Media

"As the first feature film to be directed by an out, black, lesbian filmmaker, it is significant not just for existing, but for its gaze."—Cate Young, Thirty, Flirty + Film

Cheryl (Cheryl Dunye) is a twenty-something black lesbian struggling to make a documentary about Fae Richards, a beautiful and elusive 1930s black film actress popularly known as "The Watermelon Woman." While uncovering the meaning of Fae Richards' life, Cheryl experiences a total upheaval in her personal life. Her love affair with Diana (Guinevere Turner, Go Fish), a beautiful white woman, and her interactions with the gay and Black communities, are subject to the comic yet biting criticism of her best friend Tamara (Valerie Walker). Meanwhile, each answer Cheryl discovers about the Watermelon Woman evokes a flurry of new questions about herself and her future.