When I first took on the task of revamping Autostraddle’s best lesbian films list in 2019, I thought I could see every lesbian movie ever made. How many could really exist in the world? 200? 300? But as I continued my research I discovered more and more, each year more and more being made. (I’ve now seen over 600.) The question of what constitutes a lesbian film also came into question. What was subtext and what was text? What if subtext sometimes is text?

The 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 editions of the list were voted on by our team of writers with my voice being the most prominent since I had seen the most films. But this year that felt insufficient. Canon-making cannot be the work of one individual, nor even a handful of individuals. Even with its recent number one pick, the famed Sight & Sound list is never as cool to me as the individual ballots that determine its ranking. There is value in the aggregate — there’s even more value in the specificity of each individual’s knowledge and taste.

That’s why this year’s update was decided beyond our team. At first, I wanted to just expand to anyone with an Autostraddle byline. Then, to anyone Autostraddle has ever interviewed. But as I chatted with queer artist and critic friends about this project, the enthusiasm from people to share their own picks of the best lesbian movies was impossible to resist.

Every list has its limits. There are so many more queer critics and queer artists who I’m sure we’ll add in future versions. But what a gift to get the input from these 75+ queer people each with their own perspectives. I decided early on not to provide any guidelines and you’ll see that reflected in the ballots below. There are shorts and features, documentary and narrative, lesbian classics and movies that will have you asking, “Wait how is that a lesbian film??” It’s all part of the fun!

If you want to see how these ballots came together for the top 100, check out Autostraddle’s The 100 Best Lesbian Movies of All Time. And if you want even more lesbian films check out our ever-evolving lesbian film encyclopedia.

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Anna Margarita Albelo

Director, writer, actor [Hooters: The Making of Older, Wiser Lesbian Cinema, Who’s Afraid of Vagina Woolfe?]

Fiction:
Born In Flames
Go Fish
Je Tu Il Elle
Mosquita y Mari
Wild Nights with Emily (and also Madeleine Olnek’s other films)
Yentl

Docs:
Dykes, Camera, Action!
Hooters! The Making of Older, Wiser, Lesbian Cinema
Last Call at Maude’s
Lavender Limelight: Spotlight on Lesbian Filmmakers
Paris Was a Woman

More Documentary Shout Outs (All on Kanopy):
The Aggressives
Female Misbehavior
Framing Lesbian Fashion
Krudas
The Same Difference: Gender Roles in the Black Lesbian Community
Shinjuku Boys
Venus Boyz

Personal Bonus:
A Lez in Wonderland: Dinah Shore

---

Valerie Anne

Autostraddle team writer
Autostraddle byline

All Cheerleaders Die
Bit
Booksmart
Crush
D.E.B.S.
The Fear Street Trilogy
The Half of It
I Can’t Think Straight
Imagine Me & You
Jennifer’s Body

---

Kristen Arnett

Author [Mostly Dead Things, With Teeth], Autostraddle writer
Autostraddle byline
Autostraddle interview 

1. Bound
2. But I’m a Cheerleader
3. The Handmaiden
4. Bring It On
5. Charlie’s Angels (2000)
6. Drop Dead Gorgeous
7. D.E.B.S.
8. Foxfire
9. Friday the 13th
10. The Virgin Suicides

---

Jamie Babbit

Director, producer [But I’m a Cheerleader, A League of Their Own (2022)]
Autostraddle interview 

Born in Flames
Bottoms
Bound
But I’m a Cheerleader (to keep the streak going)
Carol
Fucking Åmål
Go Fish
Heavenly Creatures
High Art
Portrait of a Lady on Fire

---

Michelle Badillo

Writer, actor [One Day at a Time, A League of Their Own (2022)]

1. But I’m a Cheerleader
2. Heavenly Creatures
3. Jennifer’s Body
4. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
5. Black Swan
6. Gia
7. Bound
8. The Runaways
9. The Watermelon Woman
10. Mosquita y Mari

---

Juan Barquin

Critic, Autostraddle writer
Autostraddle byline

The Adolescence of Utena
The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant
Blue is the Warmest Color
Bound
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Carol
The Duke of Burgundy
The Handmaiden
The Miseducation of Cameron Post
Nitrate Kisses

---

Elise Bauman

Actor [Under the Christmas Tree, One More Time]

Aftersun
Alice Júnior
Appropriate Behavior
Cruel Intentions
Dirty Computer
Foxfire
House of Hummingbird
I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing
The Novice
The Queen of My Dreams
Tomboy

---

Riese Bernard

Autostraddle co-founder, senior editor
Autostraddle byline

All Over Me
Blockers
Bottoms
But I’m a Cheerleader
Everything Everywhere All at Once
The Handmaiden
Happiest Season
Love Lies Bleeding
Professor Marston & the Wonder Women
Saving Face

---

Drew Burnett Gregory

Filmmaker, Autostraddle senior editor
Autostraddle byline
Autostraddle interview

1. Dyketactics/The Watermelon Woman
2. Desert Hearts/Saving Face
3. Persona/Mulholland Drive
4. Multiple Maniacs/Bound
5. House of Hummingbird/Aftersun
6. Carol/Portrait of a Lady on Fire
7. Glen or Glenda/MURDER and murder
8. Born in Flames/In Between
9. Princess Cyd/Alice Júnior
10. Je Tu Il Elle/The Joy of Life
11. All About My Mother/Mars One
12. Mädchen in Uniform/Olivia

I get to cheat as my reward for putting this project together. :)

---

Ruth Caudeli

Director, writer [Second Star on the Right, Petit Mal]

1. Appropriate Behavior
2. Carmen y Lola
3. Carol
4. Imagine Me & You
5. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
6. The Kids Are All Right
7. The Miseducation of Cameron Post
8. D.E.B.S.
9. But I’m a Cheerleader
10. Certain Women

---

K-Ming Chang

Author [Bestiary, Organ Meats]
Autostraddle interview

Aquamarine (dir. Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum)
Bottoms (dir. Emma Seligman)
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (dir. Francis Ford Coppola)
Bride Wars (dir. Gary Winick)
But I’m a Cheerleader (dir. Jamie Babbit)
Carol (dir. Todd Haynes)
The Handmaiden (dir. Park Chan-Wook)
The Other Woman (dir. Nick Cassavetes)
Spider Lilies (dir. Zero Chou)
Who’ll Stop the Rain (dir. Su I-Hsuan)

---

Nea Ching

Filmmaker, Autostraddle writer
Autostraddle byline

But I’m a Cheerleader
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
The Favourite
The Forest of Love: Deep Cut
Knife + Heart
The Lure
Mulholland Drive
Showgirls
Tár
The Watermelon Woman

---

Margaret Cho

Comedian, actor [All-American Girl, Fire Island]
Autostraddle interview

All About Eve
Basic Instinct
Bound
Carol
The Hunger
The Killing of Sister George
The Matrix
Monster
Personal Best
Showgirls

---

Peaches Christ

Drag performer, filmmaker [All About Evil]
Autostraddle interview

1. Bound
2. But I’m a Cheerleader
3. Heavenly Creatures
4. Mulholland Drive
5. The Color Purple (1985)
6. Desperate Living
7. Love Lies Bleeding
8. The Watermelon Woman
9. Bottoms
10. Monster

---

Daemonum X

BDSM educator, Autostraddle writer
Autostraddle byline

Benedetta
Bound
But I’m a Cheerleader
Daughters of Darkness
Desert Hearts
The Duke of Burgundy
The Favourite
The Handmaiden
School of the Holy Beast
The Watermelon Woman

---

Davey Davis

Author [the earthquake room, X]
Autostraddle interview

1. Kamikaze Hearts
2. Desperate Living
3. Set It Off
4. But I’m a Cheerleader
5. Mulholland Drive
6. BloodSisters
7. Showgirls
8. The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant
9. The Watermelon Woman
10. The Bride Wore Red

---

Lea DeLaria

Comedian, actor [Edge of Seventeen (1998), Orange is the New Black]
Autostraddle interview

But I’m a Cheerleader
Carol
Desert Hearts
Gia
Go Fish
The Hunger
I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing
Lianna
Rebecca
The Watermelon Woman

---

Zackary Drucker

Filmmaker, multimedia artist [The Lady and the Dale, Queenmaker: The Making of an It Girl]
Autostraddle interview

All Over Me
Born in Flames
Bound
D.E.B.S.
Desert Hearts
The Girl (2000)
Fucking Åmål
High Art
The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love
Saving Face

---

Natalie Duggins

Autostraddle team writer
Autostraddle byline

1. Pariah
2. Saving Face
3. Rafiki
4. The Watermelon Woman
5. The Handmaiden
6. The Half of It
7. Mosquita y Mari
8. Imagine Me & You
9. Blockers
10. Set It Off

---

Gabe Dunn

Filmmaker, author, podcaster, Autostraddle writer
Autostraddle byline

1. Set It Off
2. Desert Hearts
3. The Handmaiden
4. Disobedience
5. The Watermelon Woman
6. Appropriate Behavior
7. Good Manners
8. Bound
9. But I’m a Cheerleader
10. Being John Malkovich

---

Ayo Edebiri

Actor, writer, director [Bottoms, The Bear]

Desert Hearts
Orlando
Pariah
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Rafiki
Saving Face
Saint Maud
Tár
The Watermelon Woman
Working Girls

Honorary Picks: White Chicks, ep. 3 of Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy

---

Rhys Ernst

Director, writer [She Gone Rogue, Adam]

1. Mulholland Drive
2. Kamikaze Hearts
3. Fucking Åmål
4. But I’m a Cheerleader
5. The Watermelon Woman
6. Bound
7. Born in Flames
8. The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant
9. Pariah
10. Go Fish

Honorable Mentions:
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Carol
Dyketactics (and many other Barbara Hammer films)
Liquid Sky
Young & Wild

---

Gretchen Felker-Martin

Author [Manhunt, Cuckoo]
Autostraddle interview

1. Showgirls
2. The Handmaiden
3. Knife + Heart
4. Heavenly Creatures
5. Rebecca
6. Ammonite
7. Shiva Baby
8. The Neon Demon
9. Carmilla (2019)
10. The Hunger

---

Sarah Fonseca

Researcher, Autostraddle writer
Autostraddle byline

Anaïs in Love (dir. Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet, 2021, France)
Circumstance (dir. Miriam Keshavarz, 2011, France/Iran/USA)
Clouds of Sils Maria (dir. Olivier Assayas, 2014, France/Germany/Switzerland)
Duet for Cannibals* (dir. Susan Sontag, 1969, Sweden)
Greta (dir. Neil Jordan, 2018, USA/Ireland)
The Heiresses (dir. Marcelo Martinessi, 2018, Paraguay)
The Ladies Almanack (dir. Daviel Shy, 2017, USA)
Love Lies Bleeding (dir. Rose Glass, 2022, UK/USA)
Prodigal Sons (dir. Kimberly Reed, 2008, USA)
Shakedown (dir. Leilah Weinraub, 2018, USA)

*An anecdote about this broad selection: Sontag regularly told friends in passing that Adriana Asti, who plays Francesca in Duet, was the great (unrequited?) love of her life. Sontag later directed her in a play some decades later… all fun to consider when viewing this one.

---

Marya E. Gates

Critic, Autostraddle writer
Autostraddle byline

Antonia’s Line
Appropriate Behavior
Blue Jean
Desert Hearts
Je Tu Il Elle
Mädchen in Uniform
Pariah
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
The Summer of Sangaile
The Watermelon Woman

---

Nico Hall

Autostraddle team writer
Autostraddle byline

All About Eve
Arsenic and Old Lace
The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant
Bound
But I’m a Cheerleader
The Handmaiden
Heavenly Creatures
Mulholland Drive
Multiple Maniacs
The Watermelon Woman

Bonus: Twilight

---

Natalie Jasmine Harris

Writer, director [Pure, Grace]

1. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
2. Pariah
3. Saving Face
4. But I’m a Cheerleader
5. The Miseducation of Cameron Post
6. Carol
7. Hearts Beat Loud
8. Shakedown
9. The Color Purple (1985)
10. Desert Hearts

---

Annette Haywood-Carter

Writer, director [Foxfire]
Autostraddle interview

Aimee & Jaguar
Ammonite
Boy Meets Girl
Breakfast on Pluto
Carol
The Danish Girl
Elisa and Marcela
The Favourite
Girl (2018)
Orlando

---

Gabrielle Grace Hogan

Autostraddle team writer
Autostraddle byline

Bloodsisters
Bottoms
But I’m a Cheerleader
Carol
Cloudburst
D.E.B.S.
The Handmaiden
The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love
Pumping Iron II: The Women
The Watermelon Woman

---

Heather Hogan

Former Autostraddle editor
Autostraddle byline

1. The Half of It
2. Nimona
3. D.E.B.S.
4. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
5. Pariah
6. Carol
7. Wild Nights With Emily
8. Saving Face
9. Rafiki
10. Desert Hearts

---

Devery Jacobs

Actor, writer, director [Reservation Dogs, Backspot]

1. The Watermelon Woman
2. Saving Face
3. But I’m a Cheerleader
4. Thelma and Louise
5. Shiva Baby
6. Thelma
7. Bottoms
8. Kajillionaire
9. Blue is the Warmest Color
10. Jennifer’s Body

---

Chase Joynt

Director, writer [No Ordinary Man, Framing Agnes]
Autostraddle interview

Born in Flames
Bound
But I’m a Cheerleader
Carol
A League of Their Own (1992)
Lost and Delirious
The Queen of My Dreams
Rafiki
Regarding Susan Sontag
Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit
The Watermelon Woman

---

Ingrid Jungermann

Director, writer, actor [The Slope, Women Who Kill]

1. Mulholland Drive
2. The Favourite
3. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
4. Desert Hearts
5. High Art
6. Benedetta
7. The Kids Are All Right
8. Disobedience
9. Thelma
10. Bound

---

Aamina Inayat Khan

Autostraddle team writer
Autostraddle byline

Bend It Like Beckham
Black Swan
Bottoms
But I’m a Cheerleader
Jennifer’s Body
Juno
The Kids Are Alright
Little Women (2019)
Mean Girls (2004)
Portrait of a Lady on Fire

---

Kirsten King

Writer [Crush (2022), The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy]
Autostraddle interview

Aftersun
Bottoms
Bound
But I’m a Cheerleader
Desperate Living
The Favourite
Jennifer’s Body
Mulholland Drive
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Princess Cyd

---

Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

Author [Helen House], Autostraddle managing editor
Autostraddle byline

1. The Watermelon Woman
2. Bound
3. Multiple Maniacs
4. Good Manners
5. Appropriate Behavior
6. Can You Ever Forgive Me?
7. The Handmaiden
8. Olivia
9. Mommy Is Coming
10. The Hours
11. Love Lies Bleeding

---

Grace Lavery

Author [Please Miss: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Penis]
Autostraddle interview

The Aggressives, dir. Daniel Peddle (2005)
Baise-moi, dir. Virginie Despentes (2000)
The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1972)
A Bit of Scarlet, dir. Andrea Weiss (1997)
Carol, dir. Todd Haynes (2015)
아가씨 [The Handmaiden], dir. Park Chan-Wook (2016)
Raw, dir. Julia Ducournau (2016)
The Skin I Live In, dir. Pedro Almodóvar (2011)
The Favourite, dir. Yorgos Lanthimos (2018)
Portrait de la jeune fille en feu, dir. Céline Sciamma (2019)

---

Andrea Lawlor

Author [Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl]

All Over Me
Born in Flames
Bound
Heavenly Creatures
High Art
Saving Face
Set It Off
She Must Be Seeing Things
Show Me Love
Stranger Inside

---

Analyssa Lopez

Autostraddle writer
Autostraddle byline

1. Saving Face
2. Bound
3. Pariah
4. Desert Hearts
5. The Handmaiden
6. Imagine Me & You
7. The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love
8. Jennifer’s Body
9. Foxfire
10. Black Swan

---

T Kira Madden

Author [Long Live the Tribe of the Fatherless Girls]

Appropriate Behavior
Bottoms
Bound
But I’m a Cheerleader
Fried Green Tomatoes
Kajiliionaire
Now and Then
Water Lilies
The Watermelon Woman
Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken

---

Carmen Maria Machado

Author [Her Body and Other Parties, In the Dream House]
Autostraddle interview

1. Desert Hearts
2. Fried Green Tomatoes
3. Heavenly Creatures
4. Bound
5. But I’m a Cheerleader
6. Mulholland Drive
7. Carol
8. The Handmaiden
9. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
10. Love Lies Bleeding

---

Shayna Maci

Filmmaker, programmer, Autostraddle writer
Autostraddle byline

1. Desert Hearts (1985)
2. Bloodsisters: Leather, Dykes, and Sadomasochism (1995)
3. Born in Flames (1983)
4. The Watermelon Woman (1996)
5. The Joy of Life (2005)
6. Bound (1996)
7. Simone Barbes or Virtue (1980)
8. D.E.B.S. (2004)
9. Welcome to the U.S.A. (2019)
10. A Comedy in Six Unnatural Acts (1975)
Shorts: Janine (1990)/If Every Girl Had a Diary (1990)/Dyketactics (1974)

---

Annie Rose Malamet

Writer, lesbian vampire expert

1. Je Tu Il Elle
2. Working Girls
3. The Watermelon Woman
4. The Handmaiden
5. Bound
6. Water Lilies
7. Mädchen in Uniform
8. Daughters of Darkness
9. Kamikaze Hearts
10. Gia

---

Miss Malice

Drag performer

The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant
Born in Flames
Bound
Bloodsisters
Cat People (1942)
Daughters of Darkness
Flaming Ears
Mulholland Drive
Multiple Maniacs
Olivia

HM: If These Walls Could Talk 2 (second vignette only)

---

April Maxey

Director, writer [Work]

1. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
2. Pariah
3. Mosquita y Mari
4. Desert Hearts
5. Bound
6. Set It Off
7. Saving Face
8. The Watermelon Woman
9. Water Lilies
10. Circumstance

---

Ashni Mehta

Autostraddle team writer
Autostraddle byline

Bend It Like Beckham
Bottoms
But I’m a Cheerleader
Crush
D.E.B.S.
The Favourite
I Can’t Think Straight
Jennifer’s Body
Love Lies Bleeding
Portrait of a Lady on Fire

---

Fawzia Mirza

Director, writer, actor [Signature Move, The Queen of My Dreams]

Appropriate Behavior
But I’m a Cheerleader
Carol
Chutney Popcorn
Circumstance
Love Lies Bleeding
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Saving Face
Set it Off
Shiva Baby

---

Motti

Comedian, For Them community manager, Autostraddle writer
Autostraddle byline

Bound
Below Her Mouth
Best in Show
Booksmart
But I’m a Cheerleader
D.E.B.S.
The Favourite
Love Lies Bleeding
This is Where I Leave You
The Watermelon Woman

---

Sari Navarro

Film programmer
Autostraddle interview

1. Love Lies Bleeding
2. But I’m a Cheerleader
3. Mosquita y Mari
4. The Watermelon Woman
5. Desert Hearts
6. Bound
7. Bottoms
8. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
9. Mulholland Drive
10. Certain Women

---

Jenni Olson

Filmmaker [The Joy of Life, The Royal Road], film historian
Autostraddle interview

Bottoms
Bound
By Hook or By Crook
Carol
Circumstance
D.E.B.S.
Desert Hearts
The Half of It
Fucking Åmål
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
She Don’t Fade

---

Olivia Peace

Artist, filmmaker [Tahara]

1. The Watermelon Woman
2. Dirty Computer
3. D.E.B.S.
4. Nope
5. Rafiki
6. Jewel’s Catch One
7. Set It Off
8. The Color Purple (1985)
9. Saving Face
10. The Handmaiden

---

Carmen Phillips

Former Autostraddle editor-in-chief, Autostraddle writer
Autostraddle byline

1. Pariah
2. How to Blow Up a Pipeline
3. The Watermelon Woman
4. Set It Off
5. Mars One
6. Bessie
7. Saving Face
8. But I’m a Cheerleader
9. Passing
10. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Honorable Mentions: A Simple Favor, Bodies Bodies Bodies

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Jennifer Reeder

Artist, director, writer [Knives and Skin, Perpetrator]

Daughters of Darkness
Fire
Heavenly Creatures
High Art
The Hunger
Morvern Callar
Pariah
Personal Best
Rebecca
Silkwood

---

Eva Reign

Actor [Anything’s Possible], Autostraddle team writer
Autostraddle byline

Appropriate Behavior (dir. Desiree Akhavan, 2014)
Bessie (dir. Dee Rees, 2015)
Bodies, Bodies, Bodies (dir. Halina Reijn, 2022)
High Art (dir. Lisa Cholodenko, 1998)
The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love (dir. Maria Maggenti, 1995)
Love Lies Bleeding (dir. Rose Glass, 2024)
Pariah (dir. Dee Rees, 2011)
Set It Off (dir. F. Gary Grey, 1996)
Thelma and Louise (dir. Ridley Scott, 1991)
The Watermelon Woman (dir. Cheryl Dunye, 1996)

---

Jen Richards

Writer, actor, producer [Her Story, The Acolyte]
Autostraddle interview

Better Than Chocolate
Bound
But I’m a Cheerleader
Carol
The Handmaiden
Imagine Me & You
Love Lies Bleeding
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Saving Face
Signature Move

---

Stef Rubino

Autostraddle team writer

All About My Mother
Born In Flames
Bound
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Desert Hearts
High Art
Kajillionaire
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Princess Cyd
The Watermelon Woman

---

Mey Rude

Journalist, critic, Autostraddle writer
Autostraddle byline

1. Love Lies Bleeding
2. Pariah
3. But I’m a Cheerleader
4. Saving Face
5. The Watermelon Woman
6. Bound
7. Bottoms
8. Black Swan
9. The Handmaiden
10. Professor Marston and the Wonder Women

---

Dua Saleh

Musician, actor [Sex Education]
Autostraddle interview

Bound
But I’m a Cheerleader
Carol
Chutney Popcorn
Fingersmith
Love Lies Bleeding
The Miseducation of Cameron Post
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Rafiki
The Watermelon Woman

---

Nic Sam

Autostraddle team writer
Autostraddle byline

Blockers
But I’m a Cheerleader
Carol
Crush
Dirty Computer
The Half Of It
Imagine Me & You
The Miseducation of Cameron Post
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Professor Marston & the Wonder Women

---

Tanya Saracho

Playwright, screenwriter, producer [Looking, Vida]

Ammonite
Blue is the Warmest Color
Bottoms
Bound
But I’m a Cheerleader
Gia
Go Fish
The Incredible True Adventure of Two Girls in Love
Love Lies Bleeding
Mosquita y Mari
Portrait of a Lady on Fire

---

Daniel Sea

Artist, musician, actor [The L Word]
Autostraddle interview

Born in Flames
Circumstance
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Heavenly Creatures
A Litany for Survival
Mädchen in Uniform
Persona
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Times Square
The Watermelon Woman

---

Jourdain Searles

Critic, programmer, comedian, Autostraddle writer
Autostraddle byline

Bound
But I’m a Cheerleader
Desert Hearts
Go Fish
The Handmaiden
Loving Highsmith
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Shirley (2020)
The Watermelon Woman
When Night is Falling

---

Sa’iyda Shabazz

Autostraddle team writer
Autostraddle byline

1. Imagine Me & You
2. Fucking Åmål
3. Ellie and Abbie (And Abbie’s Dead Aunt)
4. D.E.B.S.
5. Gia
6. Kissing Jessica Stein
7. Under the Christmas Tree
8. Crush
9. The Half of It
10. But I’m a Cheerleader

---

Sarah Schulman

Author, screenwriter [Mommy Is Coming, Let the Record Show]
Autostraddle interview

Blue Jean (Georgia Oakley)
Bound (Lily and Lana Wachowski)
Gently Down the Stream (Su Friedrich)
Je Tu Il Elle, Les Rendez-vous d’Anna, and Sloth (Chantal Akerman)
Nellie and Nadine (Magnus Gertten)
Persona (Ingmar Bergman)

Lesbian films I worked on: The Watermelon Woman, Mommy Is Coming, The Owls (Cheryl Dunye)

Special award for my personal sentimental favorites: Hooters: The Making of the Owls, Who’s Afraid of Vagina Woolfe? (Anna Margarita Albelo)

Special Big European Budget Award: Joan of Arc in Mongolia (Ulrike Ottinger)

---

Vivek Shraya

Artist, author [The Subtweet], screenwriter, actor [How to Fail as a Popstar]
Autostraddle interview

Bound
Carol
Disobedience
Fire
Love Lies Bleeding
Passing
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Tár
V for Vendetta
“Telephone” music video

---

Lauren Ashley Smith

Writer, comedian [A Black Lady Sketch Show]

Carol
The Color Purple (1985)
The Favourite
Happiest Season
The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love
The Kids Are Alright
Pariah
She Hate Me
Suicide Kale
The Watermelon Woman

---

Quiniva Smith

Attorney, Autostraddle writer
Autostraddle byline

1. Desert Hearts
2. The Favourite
3. Pariah
4. The Handmaiden
5. Mulholland Drive
6. Notes on a Scandal
7. The Watermelon Woman
8. Doubt
9. All About Eve
10. Portrait of a Lady on Fire

---

Erin Sullivan

Screenwriter, Autostraddle writer
Autostraddle byline

Bottoms
But I’m a Cheerleader
Carol
D.E.B.S.
The Handmaiden
I Can’t Think Straight
Jennifer’s Body
A League of Their Own (1992)
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Water Lilies

---

Stewart Thorndike

Director, writer [Lyle, Bad Things]
Autostraddle interview

Bound
Desert Hearts
The Favourite
High Art
The Kids Are All Right
Mulholland Drive
Shiva Baby
Thelma
The Watermelon Woman
Working Girls

---

Jes Tom

Comedian, writer, actor [Crush, Our Flag Means Death]
Autostraddle interview

1. Bound
Black Swan
The Children’s Hour
Disobedience
The Favourite
Fingersmith
Imagine Me & You
Pariah
Saving Face
V for Vendetta

---

Andrea Torres

Film programmer

At Land
Blue is the Warmest Color
Fucking Åmål
Je Tu Il Elle
Mädchen in Uniform
MURDER and murder
Nathalie Granger
Simone Barbès, ou la Vertu
Spacked Out
With Beauty and Sorrow

---

Christina Tucker

Autostraddle team writer
Autostraddle byline

1. Desert Hearts
2. High Art
3. The Watermelon Woman
4. Bound
5. The Handmaiden
6. Can You Ever Forgive Me?
7. Imagine Me & You
8. But I’m a Cheerleader
9. Saving Face
10. Set It Off

---

Carly Usdin

Director, writer, author [Suicide Kale, Monét’s Slumber Party]
Autostraddle interview

All Over Me
Bottoms
Bound
But I’m a Cheerleader
D.E.B.S.
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Love Lies Bleeding
Pariah
Set It Off
Suicide Kale

---

Lena Waithe

Writer, actor, producer [Twenties, The Chi]
Autostraddle interview

1. The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love
2. The Color Purple (1985)
3. Set It Off
4. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
5. The Watermelon Woman
6. Blue is the Warmest Color
7. Saving Face
8. The Women of Brewster Place
9. Imagine Me & You
10. Heavenly Creatures

---

D.W. Waterson

Director [Backspot]

1. Saving Face
2. Bend It Like Beckham
3. Blue is the Warmest Color
4. Bottoms
5. The Runaways
6. The Watermelon Woman
7. Coyote Ugly
8. Circumstance
9. Kiss Me
10. Imagine Me & You

---

Em Win

Autostraddle team writer
Autostraddle byline

1. Raya and the Last Dragon
2. Everything Everywhere All at Once
3. Carol
4. The Half of It
5. Mean Girls (2024) (not because it’s a good movie but because it made me more gay for more people)
6. Dumplin’
7. Little Women (2019)
8. Black Widow
9. Desert Hearts
10. Frozen 2

---

Alice Wu

Director, writer [Saving Face, The Half of It]
Autostraddle interview

Top Ten Lesbian Films formative to my becoming a lesbian (and a filmmaker):

All Over Me
Bound
But I’m a Cheerleader
D.E.B.S.
Fucking Åmål
Go Fish
The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love
The Joy of Life
Tank Girl
The Watermelon Woman

---

Laura Zak

Writer, actor, producer [Her Story, Twelve Forever]
Autostraddle interview

Bound
But I’m a Cheerleader
Carol
Desert Hearts
Disobedience
The Handmaiden
High Art
Imagine Me & You
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Signature Move

---

Jess Zeidman

Writer, producer [Tahara, Summer Solstice]

1. But I’m a Cheerleader
2. The Watermelon Woman
3. Bound
4. Water Lilies
5. Carol
6. Desert Hearts
7. Fucking Åmål
8. Jennifer’s Body
9. Princess Cyd
10. She’s the Man