Vancouver, along with Montreal, and a number of other Canadian cities, celebrates Pride in August, in commemoration of the 1971 “We Demand” protests, which contended that merely decriminalizing same-sex sexual acts was not enough to eliminate violence against and guarantee equality to LGBT2S+ persons, and that the fight for equality in Canada must continue.
In honour of the Commercial Drive’s area’s long history as the Lesbian Village counterpart to the Davie Street Gay Village, we’re pleased to present a little sampling of one of our favourite old-school lesbian film directors, Dorothy Arzner.
- Local artist! The Meaning of Pride 2025 Directed by Kat Tourond. A colourful and heartfelt examination of what pride means in the latter half of the 2020s.
- Christopher Strong 1933 Directed by Dorothy Arzner. Catherine Hepburn defines gender roles on her own terms.
- Dance, Girl, Dance 1940 Directed by Dorothy Arzner. The Wild Party 1929 Directed by Dorothy Arzner. Arzner was the original inventor of the boom microphone, which she created for this scene by attaching a microphone to a fishing pole, allowing the dynamic Clara Bow, (who was transitioning from talkies to sound, and unused to standing still for the microphone) to move about the set freely.
- Christopher Strong 1933 Directed by Dorothy Arzner. And then there’s the female gaze.
- First Comes Courage 1943 Directed by Dorothy Arzner. Arzner’s final film before retiring from a Hays-code Hollywood that was becoming increasingly hostile to women and LGBT directors.
- Dance, Girl, Dance 1940 Directed by Dorothy Arzner. Arzer shines the stage lights right back into the male gaze.
- Local artist! Crop Top ‘n Roll 2024 Directed by Trixie Berkel, created by Field and Glass, and featuring the music of Kacy Lee Anderson and the Waverly Pickers