Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives
This feature documentary delves into the rich history of Canadian queer women’s experiences in the mid-20th century. Compelling, often hilarious and always rebellious, the women interviewed in this film recount stories about their search for the places where openly gay women gathered in urban centres. Contemporary interviews, archival footage, and a stylized fictional narrative based on the pulp novels of the 1950s are woven throughout this simultaneously funny, heartbreaking, and empowering film. Forbidden Love brings an important and empowering history of lesbian sexuality in Canada out of the closet.
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This feature documentary delves into the rich history of Canadian queer women’s experiences in the mid-20th century. Compelling, often hilarious and always rebellious, the women interviewed in this film recount stories about their search for the places where openly gay women gathered in urban centres. Contemporary interviews, archival footage, and a stylized fictional narrative based on the pulp novels of the 1950s are woven throughout this simultaneously funny, heartbreaking, and empowering film. Forbidden Love brings an important and empowering history of lesbian sexuality in Canada out of the closet.
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directorAerlyn WeissmanLynne Fernie
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scriptAerlyn WeissmanLynne Fernie
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producerMargaret PettigrewGinny Stikeman
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executive producerGinny StikemanRina Fraticelli
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photographyZoe Dirse
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animation cameraLynda PelleyPierre Landry
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soundJustine Pimlott
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editingCathy GulkinDenise Beaudoin
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sound editingJackie NewellChris Crilly
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re-recordingJean-Pierre Joutel
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musicKathryn Moses
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castStephanie MorgensternLynne AdamsMarie-Jo ThérioGeorge ThomasLory WainbergAnn-Marie MacDonaldMichael CopelandKeely MollAnn BannonStephanie OzardReva HutkinLois M. StuartNairobiJeanne HealyCarol Ritchie-MacKintoshAmanda WhiteRuth Christine
How have laws against LGBTQ people changed over the decades in Canada? How did urban centres provide a place to go for many LGBTQ women who came from small rural areas of the country? Interspersed between stories in the film are pulp novels about lesbians: How does pop culture play a role in identity for people who feel marginalized today?
