---
product_id: 106364979
title: "The Watermelon Woman Restored"
brand: "saffron hill"
price: "5964 som"
currency: KGS
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 10
url: https://www.desertcart.kg/products/106364979-the-watermelon-woman-restored
store_origin: KG
region: Kyrgyzstan
---

# The Watermelon Woman Restored

**Brand:** saffron hill
**Price:** 5964 som
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** The Watermelon Woman Restored by saffron hill
- **How much does it cost?** 5964 som with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.kg](https://www.desertcart.kg/products/106364979-the-watermelon-woman-restored)

## Best For

- saffron hill enthusiasts

## Why This Product

- Trusted saffron hill brand quality
- Free international shipping included
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## Description

"The Watermelon Woman" was the name given to the mythical Fae Richards, a beautiful yet elusive black Actress from the 1930 s. In all her films it was her only billing. Why should that be? It is a mystery that perplexes Cheryl (Cheryl Dunye), a young black film maker. She sets out to solve the mystery by making a documentary about this forgotten star. The Watermelon Woman garnered great critical and audience acclaim, and contains the most notorious lesbian sex scene of its time, (which even saw the film being discussed in Congress). The film is a fiction, using spoof archive footage, but Cheryl Dunye says, "Sometimes you have to create your own history."

## Images

![The Watermelon Woman Restored - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81wtZczhnYL.jpg)
![The Watermelon Woman Restored - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81Eq8TMt5yL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Thought-provoking...Excellent Historical Accuracy
  

*by G***7 on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 19, 2018*

This is an excellent film written, directed, and starring Cheryl Dunye. Part autobiography, part pseudo-documentary, the film follows the journey of a young filmmaker (Dunye), who is an ardent fan of movies from the 1930s and 40s that featured talented black actresses who were relegated to playing domestics in these films. She discovers most of them were uncredited, or in the case of Fae Richards, given credit only as "The Watermelon Woman." Such was the second-class treatment of black actors in those days.Intrigued by Fae Richards' performances and onscreen persona, Cheryl decides to make a documentary on the actress, and goes on a journey to interview people who knew Fae personally or professionally.  Along the way, Cheryl discovers parallels between her life and Fae's. Both dated white women, which caused consternation in their community. Cheryl's girlfriend Diana only dated her because she was black; the two women had little in common, and best friend Tamara could spot this a mile away, voicing her disapproval. Martha Page was a prominent female director who directed Fae in some of her films. It is implied Martha dated Fae for the same reason Diana dated Cheryl. Fae's last partner, June Walker, has nothing but disdain for Martha and pleads for Cheryl to set things right and tell the truth about Fae's life. The film moves along at an easy pace, consisting of vignettes that combined together comprises a complete film that  is funny, touching, sad and thought-provoking, even celebratory. I liked the ending because it's not your typical Hollywood happy ending. Not everything ends on a positive note for the young filmmaker, yet it's a very satisfying ending, and more realistic.An outstanding feature are the archival photos, clips and newsreels of Fae Richards. Cheryl Dunye and Zoe Leonard did a superb job creating the archival footage; it was so eerily accurate that I thought Fae Richards was an actual person. But she is a fictional creation of Dunye's imagination, an amalgamation of all black actresses of her era. The hairstyles, makeup and costumes are historically accurate in those clips and photographs. Fae's newsreels were shot in the same style and camera angles as actual newsreels of the 30s. The still photos emulated the style of George Hurrell, a master of Hollywood glamour photography in the 1930s and 40s. I can appreciate such painstaking detail for historical accuracy, and it's amazing that a limited-budget independent film did this so well. I've seen big-budget Hollywood period films where hair, makeup and costuming looked way too contemporary for the era--for example a film made in the 1960s that supposedly took place in the 1920s featured actresses with teased, oversized bouffant hair instead of marcel waves or short shingled bobs.I can see why this film won several awards, and why the Museum of Modern Art added "The Watermelon Woman" to its film collection. It has great historical significance, and stands out as being the first feature film directed by an African-American lesbian. This DVD features the newly restored and remastered version, with a crisp, clear picture. Included is a short film by Cheryl Dunye titled "Black Is Blue."  "The Watermelon Woman" is a film you have to watch over and over again to catch all the subtleties. Every time I've watched it, I've discovered something new, and it's bound to generate dialogue after viewing. Highly recommended.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    I want more movies like this
  

*by S***E on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 4, 2020*

I truly enjoyed this movie. The characters were interesting and I wanted to know more about them. The mysterious search for the true identity and history of the "Watermelon Woman" kept the story going. I enjoyed the way this film is not completely categoriz-able, it feels part romance movie, part art film, part documentary, and part autobiographical. This multimodal approach was exciting. It is fabulous to see a film that is centered on Black lesbians and is not drowning in depressing stereotypes. It would be nice to see more queer and lesbian films as expertly and insightfully made, as well as funded.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    An absolute gem of an indie film!
  

*by I***F on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 5, 2020*

I love everything about this. A crazy irony is that I worked at an independent LGBTQ video rental store in Dallas, TX when this movie was released in the late '90s, just as this movie's main character does.  The extra short film about trans folk is great too.

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*Product available on Desertcart Kyrgyzstan*
*Store origin: KG*
*Last updated: 2026-02-11*