Here at Autostraddle we want every lesbian, every queer woman, and every nonbinary person to know that movies should include us and do include us. We want you all to see our lives on screen, through the best lesbian movies, with the variety and quality we deserve. We believe that the best lesbian movies rank among the very best movies, period.
Our stories matter and have too long been ignored. This list, created based on ballots submitted by over 75 current and former Autostraddle writers, other critics and programmers, other queer writers, queer filmmakers, and queer performers, aims to create a canon of the very best lesbian movies of all time.
From serious art films to gross-out comedies, this list has it all. There is a world of cinema and a world of queer cinema. There are films from the last hundred years waiting to be discovered and new films yet to be made. So grab some popcorn and join us. Combining a queer coming-of-age movie with a tribute to Bollywood and mothers, this is a film as fun as it is poignant.
There is certainly not a lack of queer cinema about mommy issues, but few films have approached this key relationship with such a complicated tenderness. A decade post-New Queer Cinema, but before the influx of recent film and television, Dunye and her team were rightly questioning where queer cinema β and specifically lesbian cinema β should go next.
For fans of lesbian cinema, this documentary is essential. With sharp direction, a perfect cast, and a script from phenomenal playwright Sarah DeLappe, this turned out to be a whodunnit as smart as it is funny. This film is a masterclass in prioritizing character and entertainment and ending up with a clear political message as a result.
