This Valentine’s Day come experience DESERT HEARTS at Austin Cinemaker Space — a hidden gem by & for queer lovers.
Long before San Junipero took the world by storm with a combination of 80’s nostalgia and sapphic star-crossed love, openly lesbian director Donna Deitch made her film debut in 1985 with a tale that’s still radical to see on screen today.
Don’t miss out! Bring your partners, friends, family, situation-ships, or just yourself to this night of tender romance shot on beautiful 35mm in the Nevada desert— ONE NIGHT ONLY at Austin Cinemaker Space.
FREE WITH RSVP // 18+ ONLY
DRINKS & LIGHT BITES PROVIDED
ABOUT THE FILM
A slow burn romance between an older divorced professor and a young, reckless cowgirl who’s paths cross in Reno in 1959— Desert Hearts was based off of Jane Rule’s novel originally published in 1964, and adapted for the screen by Natalie Cooper. This film is not only a rarity as a film about a gay relationship that is actually directed by a gay filmmaker, but also as a film about women that was made 100% by women (from writing to directing + producing), a rare occurrence in Hollywood still in 2023.
The film was made on a budget of only $350,000 (pieced together with limited partnerships by Deitch herself and co-producer Cami Taylor) and despite the production studio arguing for a number of changes to the script, Deitch was able to get the project out intact with a story that came to be revered as one of the few realistic and purely positive depictions of a lesbian relationship on film (eventually earning it an induction to the Criterion Collection).