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Women's Leadership in LGBT Partnership and Marriage Struggles

May 9, 2015 - 7:30 pm
Billy Wilder Theater
In-person: 
Ruthie Berman, Deborah Dickson, Connie Kurtz, Lucy Mukerjee-Brown, Susan Muska, Gréta Ólafsdottir.

Outfest members and Women In Film members receive 2 for 1 admission at the Billy Wilder Theater box office!

This evening's program pairs two moving documentaries about extraordinary women who have fought passionately for their rights and dignity as same-sex couples.  This evening provides an opportunity to consider such struggles in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's imminent decisions regarding LGBT marriage rights.

Ruthie & Connie: Every Room in the House  (2002)


"[T]heir willingness to bare past personal pain often moving; their commitment to social justice inspiring.  Vet docmeister Deborah Dickson deftly weaves archival and verite elements." – Variety

This moving documentary profiles Ruthie Berman and Connie Kurtz, Jewish housewives and mothers who met in 1959 and ultimately fell in love.  Their subsequent political activism for LGBT partner benefits, and in support of parents and families of lesbians and gays, paints an inspiring portrait of resourcefulness and courage, and of creativity in creating new lives against incredible odds.

Producer: Deborah Dickson.  Director: Deborah Dickson.  Cinematography: Ferne Pearlstein, Monica Rogazinski, Justin Schein, Deborah Dickson.  Editor: Rachel Kittner.  Digital video, color, 56 min.

Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement  (2009)


Edie Windsor and Thea Spyer met and fell in love in the 1960s, living thereafter as a couple and as stalwart community activists, finally realizing the opportunity to marry some 42 years later.  Battling stigma, social pressure and numerous personal and political battles, the two present an inspiring vision of queer love and leadership, presaging the later Supreme Court decision United States v. Windsor, in which their personal story fueled one of the most important legal victories in the ongoing battle for marriage equality.

Producer: Susan Muska, Gréta Ólafsdottir.  Director: Susan Muska, Gréta Ólafsdottir.  Cinematography: Susan Muska, Gréta Ólafsdottir.  Editor: Susan Muska, Gréta Ólafsdottir.  Digital video, color, 61 min.

Part of: 
Legacy Project Screening Series