Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
Since creating the Old Lesbian Oral Herstory Project in 1998, Arden Eversmeyer has travelled across the US to collect more than 800 stories of lesbian women over the age of 70, as told in their own words. She considers the project an endeavour to gather these stories before they’re lost to time, as well as to help destigmatise and reclaim the words ‘old’ and ‘lesbian’. This short documentary from the US filmmaker Meghan McDonough explores Eversmeyer’s decades-spanning work chronicling the experiences of these women, and pairs intertwining fragments of their stories with lively animations.
From women who hid their true selves during unhappy marriages to men, to women who quietly carried on long-term, same-sex partnerships to avoid the consequences of being open, to one woman whose first crush was on the Statue of Liberty, each story contains its own distinct contours. However, they often overlap in some notable ways, including the interviewees’ understanding that there was something different about them early in life; the difficult experience of coming of age before being gay was widely accepted in the US; and the joy of finally becoming comfortable with their identity.
video
Anthropology
Does Mogi’s future lie with her horses on the Mongolian steppe, or in the city?
16 minutes
video
Art
The sprawling mural that depicts an unflinching people’s history of Los Angeles
7 minutes
video
Personality
A ‘dumpster archeologist’ reconstructs strangers’ stories via what they’ve discarded
14 minutes
video
Art
In his poem ‘London’, William Blake crafted a bleak vision of the city he loved
9 minutes
video
Ageing and death
We’re not the only animals that appear to grieve. What are the implications?
6 minutes
video
Love and friendship
For two brothers who rely on one another, love is a daily act of devotion
11 minutes
video
Art
A prisoner in Guantánamo finds some escape in building intricate model ships
6 minutes
video
Meaning and the good life
A Japanese religious community makes an unlikely home in the mountains of Colorado
9 minutes
video
Making
Forging a cello from pieces of wood demands its own form of virtuosity
27 minutes