Forbidden Love
Aerlyn Weissman & Lynne Fernie, directors.
Canada, 1992, 16mm, 85 min.

The title echoes the brash, titilating covers of the "lesbian" dimestore novels interspersed throughout the film. Moving, hilarious and rebellious, nine Canadian women speak about their lives during an era when same-sex love was still "the love that dared not speak its name". The women, ranging in age from 40 to 70, tell us about their experiences in both small towns and urban Canada, and the importance of the lesbian bar scene.

The film includes interviews with Ann Bannon, who published six lesbian paperback novels between 1957 and 1962, as well as four dramatic scenes based on the "typical" adventures of lesbian heroines in such novels.

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