An auspicious debut for writer-director Cheryl Dunye, The Watermelon Woman tells a fresh story in wittily irreverent style. Read critic reviews
The Watermelon Woman
1996, Comedy/Lgbtq+, 1h 21m
62 Reviews 500+ RatingsWhat to know
You might also like
See More
The Education of Shelby Knox
The Game of Their Lives
In the Pit
The Haunted World of Edward D. Wood Jr.
The Loretta Claiborne Story
Where to watch
Rate And Review
-
What did you think of the movie? (optional)
You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.
You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.
What did you think of the movie? (optional)
How did you buy your ticket?
-
Fandango
-
AMCTheatres.com or AMC AppNew
-
Cinemark Coming Soon
We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.
-
Regal Coming Soon
We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.
-
Theater box office or somewhere else
The Watermelon Woman Photos
Movie Info
An aspiring black lesbian filmmaker researches an obscure 1940s black actress billed as the Watermelon Woman.
-
Genre: Comedy, Lgbtq+
-
Original Language: English
-
Director: Cheryl Dunye
-
Producer: Barry Swimar
-
Writer: Cheryl Dunye
-
Release Date (Theaters): original
-
Release Date (Streaming):
-
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.5K
-
Runtime:
-
Distributor: First Run
Cast & Crew
News & Interviews for The Watermelon Woman
Critic Reviews for The Watermelon Woman
Audience Reviews for The Watermelon Woman
-
Even though "The Watermelon Woman" is quite unpolished, writer-director Cheryl Dunye still manages to create a realistic fictional history in it to explore themes of race and sexuality while paralleling that with a fictional present where she plays Cheryl who works at a video store with her pal Tamara(Valarie Walker) and as videographers. Tamara tries to set her up on a blind date at a karaoke bar but it goes disastrously wrong.(Surprisingly, even worse than the usual karaoke nightmare.) Unexpectedly, Cheryl finds herself attracted to Diana(Guinevere Turner) who is new to Philadelphia. Cheryl also has dreams of becoming a filmmaker and has decided to focus on The Watermelon Woman(Lisa Marie Bronson), nee Fae Richards, who was featured in Hollywood films as a stereotypical black maid and more three dimensional roles in race films. What Dunye does well is give a tantalizing glimpse at a lost world while debating whether or not actors like Fae were positive or negative role models. Adding versimilitude to the proceedings are interviews with Dunye's mother and Camille Paglia, about whom the reality of is debatable. For example, what does a watermelon having the same colors as the Italian flag have to do with anything?
Verified