Are you ready to make your watchlist even longer this #LVW25?
BY LORENA CRISTEA, IMAGE BY BIG WORLD CINEMA
Lesbian Visibility Week is just around the corner – and this year’s theme is “Celebrating Rainbow Families”. The global campaign aims to put a strong emphasis on LGBTQIA women and non-binary people’s families by giving them a safe space to lay down their thoughts and feelings.
For this year’s LVW, we gathered some of the most heartbreaking and family-orientated lesbian-centred films that everyone should watch.
Mosquita y Mari (2012) – directed by Aurora Guerrero
Starring Fenessa Pineda and Venecia Troncoso, Mosquita y Mari tells the story of two Latinx teens navigating the friends-to-lovers narrative under the judgemental eyes of strict immigrant families. It premiered at the 2012 Sundance Festival Film.
This coming-of-age drama leaves the average viewer to read between the lines, since the director doesn’t spoon-feed any ideas of what is right and wrong.
A Date For Mad Mary (2016) – directed by Darren Thornton
Darren Thornton displays the tragicomedy story of Mary, who we find out later in the movie has just been released from prison after she committed a violent crime, leaving the victim with a big scar on her face.
Trying to reconnect with her mum and best friend, and with no partner to attend her closest confidant’s wedding, she ends up falling for the wedding photographer, which makes the plot relatable and fun by delivering real-life issues with a pinch of salt.
The Feels (2017) – directed by Jenée LaMarque
The 2017 dramedy starring Constance Wu, Angela Trimbur, and LaMarque follows a group of friends who embark on an adventurous lesbian bachelorette weekend. The fun is derailed in unexpected ways, making everybody reflect over assets such as trust, love, and orgasms.
Rafiki (2018) – directed by Wanuri Kahiu
While The Feels may seem like a breath of fresh air from the emotional toll delivered by the previous films, Wanuri Kahiu’s Rafiki sinks the audience in concepts such as family, faith, and forbidden love as we witness two Kenyan girls falling in love, despite being raised in a conservative environment.
Circumstance (2011) – directed by Maryam Keshavarz
A French-Iranian-American film displaying the chilling story of queerness in Iranian households, Circumstance deals with common and real issues about sexual rebellion.
Starring Sarah Kazemy and Nikohl Boosheri as the secret lesbian lovers, both born and raised in conservative Iranian households, its message shares a stylish, yet devastating truth about best friends whose relationship blossoms into more.
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