Jenni Olson
Director · b. 1962 · Falcon Heights, Minnesota, USA
Jenni Olson (born October 6, 1962) is an American film curator, filmmaker, author, and LGBT film historian. She was born and raised in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. She co-founded the pioneering LGBT website PlanetOut, and campaigned to have a barrier erected on the Golden Gate Bridge to prevent suicides. Olson was educated at the University of Minnesota. In 1986, while still a student, Olson co-founded the Minneapolis/St.Paul Lesbian, Gay, Bi & Transgender Film Festival, initially under the name Lavender Images. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movies10
Movie5.4DocumentaryA chronological look at films by, for, or about gays and lesbians in the United States, from 1947 to 2005, Kenneth Anger's "Fireworks" to "Brokeback Mountain". Talking heads, anchored by critic and scholar B. Ruby Rich, are interspersed with an advancing timeline and with clips from two dozen films. The narrative groups the pictures around various firsts, movements, and triumphs: experimental films, indie films, sex on screen, outlaw culture and bad guys, lesbian lovers, films about AIDS and dying, emergence of romantic comedy, transgender films, films about diversity and various cultures, documentaries and then mainstream Hollywood drama. What might come next?
Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema
2006 · 21 votes
Movie5.3ComedyDocumentaryA documentary following the exploits of a group of filmmakers as they take their independent feature, Ten 'til Noon, along the film festival circuit, and the politics, pitfalls, triumphs and comic tragedies they encounter along the way. Full of interviews with important players in the indie world, this is a must see for young filmmakers on the what happens when the shooting stops.
Official Rejection
2009 · 6 votes
Movie7.0DocumentaryIn the aftermath of Stonewall, a newly politicized Vito Russo found his voice as a gay activist and critic of LGBTQ+ representation in the media. He went on to write "The Celluloid Closet", the first book to critique Hollywood's portrayals of gays on screen. During the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, Vito became a passionate advocate for justice via the newly formed ACT UP, before his death in 1990.
Vito
2011 · 15 votes
Movie0.5DocumentaryThe film examines the ways that women directors have contributed to this genre and emphasizes the role that the media play in representation of sexuality and gender, underscoring the power that film has to shape our perceptions of one another. Visually, this documentary comes to life on screen through compelling and intimate original interviews, intercut with emotionally-charged archival footage, photographs, ephemera, inspired music, and film clips.
Dykes, Camera, Action!
2018 · 1 votes
Movie5.0DocumentaryA fascinating and unlikely reinvention story, The Royal Road simultaneously explores cinematic spiritual channeling, the conquest and colonization of Mexico and the American Southwest, fading historical Californian urban landscapes, and the passions found in butch identity to achieve an achingly beautiful and poetic defense of remembering. Probing roads from El Camino Real, to the Boulevard of Broken Dreams, to the road right outside the front door, Olson crafts a deeply intelligent and transcending observation of the human condition that reaches for redemption in the embrace of history, nostalgia, mindfulness, and sheer beauty. If you give yourself over to it, it will crack you wide open.
The Royal Road
2015 · 9 votes
Movie2.0DocumentaryA brief reflection on faith, self-loathing and Studs Lonigan.
In Nomine Patris
2019 · 3 votes
MovieA concise poetic summary of butch identity.
Sometimes
1994
- MovieComedy
A provocative lesbian spoof of the famous early '90s ad campaign: "What do you do in your 501s?" “Jenni Olson’s Levis 501s Commercial literally captures the essence of the lesbian experience in a one-minute quickie.” — San Francisco Bay Times, 1992
Movie3.7DocumentaryJodie is a fast paced, breezy look at the transatlantic phenomenon that has made Hollywood actress Jodie Foster an icon for lesbians who identify with, adore and celebrate the screen personas of her remarkable career.
Jodie: An Icon
1996 · 3 votes
MovieDutch doors, warehouse windows, and empty streets provide the background for a short tale about past lust and lost love. This glimpse into the drama of a lesbian relationship is revealed through stark visuals and the measured pace of the voice-over, providing a clever contrast between how we see and what we hear.
Meep Meep!
2001