The Watermelon Woman

Infobox Film
name = The Watermelon Woman


caption = Original movie poster
director = Cheryl Dunye
producer = Alexandra Juhasz
Barry Swimar
writer = Cheryl Dunye
narrator =
starring = Cheryl Dunye
Guinevere Turner
music = Paul Shapiro
cinematography = Michelle Crenshaw
editing = Cheryl Dunye
distributor = First Run Features
released = February 1996
(Berlin International Film Festival)
March 5 1997
United States
runtime = 90 mins
country = United States
language = English
budget =$300,000cite web
last = Haslett
first = T.
coauthors = N. Abiaka
title = Cheryl Dunye - Interview
publisher = Black Cultural Studies Web Site Collective
date = 1997-04-12
url = http://www.cheryldunye.com/pages/interview.html
accessdate =2008-04-27 ]
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =http://www.cheryldunye.com/pages/watermelon.html
amg_id = 1:136227
imdb_id = 0118125

"The Watermelon Woman" is a 1996 feature film by filmmaker Cheryl Dunye about Cheryl, a young black lesbian working a day job in a video store while trying to make a film about a Black actress from the 1930s known for playing the stereotypical "mammy" roles relegated to Black actresses during the time period. It was the first feature film directed by a black lesbian.Sullivan, p. 211.] Citation
last = Keough
first = Peter
title = Slice of life - The Watermelon Woman refreshes
newspaper = The Phoenix
date = 1997-05-08
url = http://www.bostonphoenix.com/alt1/archive/movies/reviews/05-08-97/THE_WATERMELON_WOMAN.html
accessdate=2008-04-29]

Plot

Cheryl is a young, African American lesbian who works in a video rental store in Philadelphia with her friend Tamara. They earn extra money by making professional home videos for people. Cheryl becomes interested in films from the 1930s and 40s which feature black actresses. She notices that these actresses are often not credited. She watches a film called "Plantation Memories" with a black actress who is credited simply as "The Watermelon Woman". Cheryl decides to make a documentary about the Watermelon Woman and find out more about her life.

Tamara tries to set Cheryl up with her friend Yvette, but Cheryl is not interested. Cheryl meets a white woman in the store called Diana who, to Tamara's annoyance, flirts with Cheryl.

Cheryl starts interviewing members of the public, asking them if they have heard of the Watermelon Woman. She interviews her mother who does not remember the name, but recognises a photograph of her. She tells Cheryl that she used to hear the Watermelon Woman singing in clubs in Philadelphia. Tamara's mother tells Cheryl to get in contact with Lee Edwards — a man who has done a lot of research into black films. Cheryl and Tamara go to see Lee, and he tells them about 1920s and 30s black culture in Philadelphia. He explains to them that in those days, black women usually played domestic servants.

Cheryl meets her mother's friend Shirley, who turns out to be a lesbian. Shirley tells her that the Watermelon Woman's name was Fae Richards, that she was a lesbian too, and that she used to sing in clubs "for all us stone butches." She says that Fae was always with Martha Page, the white director of "Plantation Memories", and that Martha was a mean and ugly woman.

When Cheryl and Tamara get caught ordering video tapes under Diana's name, Diana takes the tapes and tells Cheryl that she will have to come to her home to collect them. Cheryl goes to Diana's house, stays for dinner, and watches some of the tapes with her, telling her about her project. They have sex, and Cheryl decides that although Diana is not her usual type of woman, she likes being with her.

Cheryl meets cultural critic Camille Paglia who tells her about the Mammy archetype, saying that it represented a goddess figure. Cheryl goes to the CLIT archive of lesbian material, and finds photographs of Fae Richards, including one given by Fae to a June Walker. With Diana's help, Cheryl manages to contact Martha Page's sister who denies that Martha was a lesbian.

As Cheryl and Diana grow closer, Tamara makes it clear that she dislikes Diana and disapproves of their relationship. She accuses Cheryl of wanting to be white, and Diana of having a fetish for black people.

Cheryl telephones June Walker, learning that she was Fae's partner for 20 years. They arrange to meet, but June is taken to hospital and leaves a letter for Cheryl instead. In the letter she says that she is angry with Martha Page, that Martha is nothing to do with what Fae's life was. She urges Cheryl to tell their history.

Having separated from Diana, and fallen out with Tamara, Cheryl finishes her project, never managing to make further contact with June.

Cast

* Cheryl Dunye as Cheryl
* Guinevere Turner as Diana
* Valarie Walker as Tamara
* Lisa Marie Bronson as Fae 'The Watermelon Woman' Richards
* Cheryl Clarke as June Walker
* Irene Dunye as Herself
* Brian Freeman as Lee Edwards
* Camille Paglia as Herself
* Sarah Schulman as CLIT Archivist
* V.S. Brodie as Karaoke Singer
* Robert Reid-Pharr [cite web
title = The Watermelon Woman — Cast
work = The New York Times
publisher =
date =
url = http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/136227/The-Watermelon-Woman/cast
accessdate =2008-06-06 ]

Background

"The Watermelon Woman" was Dunye's first feature film and the first by a black lesbian. [Citation
last = Baumgarten
first = Marjorie
author-link = Marjorie Baumgarten
title = Film Listings: The Watermelon Woman
newspaper = The Austin Chronicle
date = 1997-07-18
url =http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Calendar/Film?Film=oid%3A142174
accessdate=2008-04-29 ] It was made on a budget of $300,000, financed by a $31,500 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), a fundraiser, and donations from friends of Dunye. [McHugh, p.275.] Citation
last = Warner
first = David
title = Dunye, Denzel and more
newspaper = City Paper
date = 1996-10-17
url =http://www.citypaper.net/articles/101796/article023.shtml
accessdate = 2008-04-28]

Distribution

"The Watermelon Woman" premiered at the 1996 Berlin International Film Festival and went on to play at several other international film festivals during 1996 and 1997, including the New York Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, L.A. Outfest, the San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, the Tokyo International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, the Créteil International Women's Film Festival, the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, and the Toronto International Film Festival.Citation
last =
first =
author-link =
title = The Watermelon Woman
newspaper = Variety
date =
url = http://www.variety.com/profiles/Film/main/134826/The%20Watermelon%20Woman.html?dataSet=1
accessdate=2008-04-27] cite web
title = Official Site
date = 2005
url = http://www.cheryldunye.com/pages/watermelon.html
accessdate =2008-04-27 ]

The film was released in the United States on March 5 1997, distributed by First Run Features. It was released onto Region 1 DVD on September 5 2000.cite web
title = The Watermelon Woman Movie Reviews
publisher = Rotten Tomatoes
url = http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/watermelon_woman/
accessdate =2008-04-28 ]

Reception

Awards

In 1996, "The Watermelon Woman" won the Teddy Award for Best feature film at the Berlin International Film Festival and the Audience Award for Outstanding Narrative Feature at L.A. Outfest.cite web
last = Swartz
first = Shauna
title = Review of The Watermelon Woman
publisher = AfterEllen.com
date = 2006-03-15
url = http://www.afterellen.com/archive/ellen/Movies/2006/3/watermelon.html
accessdate =2008-04-27 ]

Criticism of NEA funding

On March 3 1996, Jeannine DeLombard reviewed "The Watermelon Woman" for "City Paper", describing the sex scene between Cheryl and Diana as " the hottest dyke sex scene ever recorded on celluloid". [Citation
last = DeLombard
first = Jeannine
title = The Watermelon Woman Review
newspaper = City Paper
date = 1996-03-03
url = http://www.citypaper.net/articles/042497/article043.shtml
accessdate = 2008-04-28] On June 14, Julia Duin wrote an article for "The Washington Times", quoting DeLombard's review and questioning the $31,500 grant given to Dunye by the NEA. [Wallace, p.457.]

Representative Peter Hoekstra, the chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, also read DeLombard's review. It prompted him to criticize the NEA's funding of projects (including "The Watermelon Woman") that "a majority of Americans would find offensive".Citation
last = Miller
first = Judith
author-link =
title = Lobbyists Fight Cuts On Arts Day In Capital
newspaper = The New York Times
date = 1997-03-13
url =http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E05E2DD1039F930A25750C0A961958260&sec=&spon=
accessdate=2008-04-29 ] Citing Duin's article, he tried unsuccessfully to get Congress to deduct the sum of $31,500 from the NEA's budget. On January 16 1997, Hoekstra wrote a letter to Jane Alexander, director of the NEA, expressing his shock that taxpayer's money had been used to help fund the film.Citation
last = Moss
first = J. Jennings
author-link =
title = The NEA gets gay-bashed - National Endowment for the Arts
newspaper = The Advocate
date = 1997-04-01
url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1589/is_n730/ai_20139157/pg_1
accessdate = 2008-04-29] In his criticisms of the works funded by the NEA, Hoekstra focused on a small percentage of projects, mainly gay, minority or female recipients.Citation
last = Rich
first = Frank
author-link =
title = Lesbian Lookout
newspaper = The New York Times
date = 1997-03-13
url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE2DB1039F930A25750C0A961958260&sec=&spon=
accessdate=2008-04-29] A spokesperson for Hoekstra said that he had no problem with gay content, just those that contained explicit sex.

References

Notes

Bibliography

*Citation
last =McHugh
first =Kathleen
author-link =
date =
publication-date =
contribution =Autobiography
contribution-url =http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=tRoF5inVS3AC&pg=PA271&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=0_0&sig=lT5X0CUAuLmJeNc8ER9nI1OSgK4#PPA267,M1
editor-last =Lewis
editor-first =Jon
title =The End of Cinema as We Know It
publisher =Pluto Press
isbn =0745318797
url =http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=tRoF5inVS3AC
*Citation
last =Sullivan
first =Laura L.
author-link =
date =2004
publication-date =
contribution =Chasing Fae: The Watermelon Woman and Black Lesbian Possibility
contribution-url =http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=dGbKz7-z6YcC&pg=RA1-PA211&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=0_0&sig=TsiP3HrCPXgm6pDqFf1_TxFyboM
editor-last =Bobo
editor-first =Jacqueline
editor-link =
editor2-last =Hudley
editor2-first =Cynthia
editor2-link =
editor3-last =Michel
editor3-first =Claudine
editor3-link =
title =The Black Studies Reader
publisher =Routledge
isbn =0415945534
url =http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=dGbKz7-z6YcC
*cite book
last = Wallace
first = Michele
authorlink = Michele Wallace
title = Dark Designs and Visual Culture
publisher = Duke University Press
date = 2004
pages = 457–459
url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=q7aqehufGNQC
isbn =0822334135

External links

* [http://www.cheryldunye.com/pages/watermelon.html Director's official site]
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