Donna Deitch

Donna Deitch (born June 8, 1945, San Francisco, California) is an American film and television director, producer, screenwriter, and actor best known for her 1985 film Desert Hearts. The movie was the first feature film to "de-sensationalize lesbianism" by presenting a lesbian romance story with positive and respectful themes.

Career Desert Hearts (1985) Deitch segued from documentary filmmaker to producing and directing Desert Hearts, the landmark hit of the 1985 Telluride and Toronto International film festivals, and the 1986 Sundance Film Festival. It was picked up for worldwide distribution by The Samuel Goldwyn Company and established Deitch as a prominent lesbian filmmaker. Desert Hearts is an adaptation of Jane Rule's 1964 lesbian novel, Desert of the Heart.

Themes The most prominent themes in Desert Hearts include gender, sexuality, and family, specifically the ways in which lesbian identity can subvert Western-Colonial standards and ideals. This is witnessed through the setting of Reno, Nevada and the Western structures that the main characters navigate while carrying on a secret relationship. The main character, Vivian Bell (Helen Shaver), is a rigid University professor who travels to Reno following a divorce. Cay Rivvers (Patricia Charbonneau) is younger, free-spirited, and impulsive. "In her wildness, Cay embodies the characteristics associated with the reckless male outlaw figure of a traditional Western, even referring to her cottage as her “hideout'," "Vivian and Cay engage in homoerotic visual interchanges that involve mutuality and reciprocity rather than dominance and submission." Considering Vivian's job as a professor, her career would have been jeopardized if her sexuality were exposed. Real threats of being exposed linger throughout the film, and further reinforce how critics believed Desert Hearts to be pivotal in lesbian cinematic history.

In a 2008 interview, she said she was working on obtaining financing for Blonde Ghost, a screenplay adapted from Stella, the 1992 non-fiction book by Peter Wyden about Stella Goldschlag, which takes place in Berlin during World War II. That same year, Deitch said that she was writing a sequel to Desert Hearts which would be set "in NYC in the late 60s."

Personal life Deitch is openly lesbian. Her partner is writer Terri Jentz.

Filmography Films Year Title Director Producer Screenwriter Cinematographer Editor Notes 1975 Woman to Woman Documentary 1977 The Great Wall of Los Angeles Documentary short 1985 Desert Hearts Cameo appearance: Hungarian Gambler Winner: Special Jury Prize – Dramatic, Sundance Film Festival, 1986 1994 Criminal Passion 1998 Angel on My Shoulder Documentary

Actor

Television

Accolades Year Work Award Result Ref 1986 Desert Hearts Special Jury Prize – Dramatic • Sundance Film Festival 1998 Angel on My Shoulder Gold Hugo – Best Documentary • Chicago International Film Festival 2008 Heroes Hugo Award – Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form • World Science Fiction Society 2008 Outfest Achievement Award • Outfest