Cheryl Dunye x 2
March 4, 6–7
Since her breakthrough as a young emerging filmmaker of the 1990s Queer New Wave, world-renowned African American director, writer, and actress Cheryl Dunye (Queen Sugar) has been ahead of her time. Her fluid approach creatively blurs realities and much of her early work foreshadowed today’s first-person, boundary-breaking storytelling styles popular in both film and episodic series.
Stranger Inside
Wednesday, March 4, 7 pm Free
Stranger Inside follows a young African American woman who gets herself transferred from juvenile detention to adult prison in search of the mother she never knew. Often cited as an influence on Orange is the New Black, the film was informed by Dunye’s Walker-supported artist residency at the Shakopee Correctional Facility. 2000, DCP, 90 min.
The Watermelon Woman
Friday–Saturday, March 6–7, 7 pm
$10 ($8 Walker members, students, and seniors)
Recently restored and re-released, The Watermelon Woman tells the story of Cheryl (played by Dunye), a black lesbian in her twenties, as she searches for love, identity, and community and invents her own Hollywood history. The self-reflexive format blazed a trail for artists like Mindy Kaling and Issa Rae, who also write, direct and perform as central characters. 1996, DCP, 83 min.
