Equality

Lillian Faderman Talks ‘Gay Revolution’ at Mazer; Wolfe Donates Collection

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LGBT History Month is a great opportunity to visit the June L. Mazer Lesbian Archive in West Hollywood, which is hosting author Lillian Faderman at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 18, at the West Hollywood Library, and welcomes the public to explore its newly acquired movie collection, donated by Wolfe Video.

Lillian Faderman, winner of six Lambda Literary Awards, will discuss her latest book, “The Gay Revolution,” which chronicles LGBT history from the 1920s through the present. She also authored “Surpassing the Love of Men” and “Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers.”

The well-researched “Gay Revolution” begins with the creation of the Society for Human Rights in Chicago in 1924, which inspired Harry Hay to start the Mattachine Society for gay men in 1950, and soon after the lesbian Daughters of Bilitis, started by Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon.

Visitor to the archive can examine the Wolfe Video collection, donated to the Mazer by founder Kathy Wolfe in honor of the company’s 30th anniversary this year.

It was 1985 when Wolfe started her distribution company out of the back of her car. Today, Wolfe Video is the largest exclusive distributor of LGBT movies. The complete DVD library of every lesbian film Wolfe has released since 1985 now lives at the June Mazer Archive.

“We’re thrilled to have this incredible trove of lesbian films available to our researchers,” said Angela Brinskele, June Mazer Archives Communications Director. “We’re extremely grateful to Wolfe Video and founder Kathy Wolfe for this incredibly generous donation to our collection.”

The 100 or so lesbian movies range from classics such as “Desert Hearts,” to more recent acclaimed hits such as “Mosquita & Mari,” “Reaching for the Moon,” “Kiss Me,” and the company’s newest release, “Of Girls and Horses,” from veteran director Monika Treut.

All of the DVDs are available at the archives to researchers.

“Supporting our community organizations has always been an important part of our work,” said founder and CEO Kathy Wolfe. “Making all of our films available for researchers and historians is very exciting for us and we are truly grateful to the Mazer Archives for all the important work that they do.”

Wolfe also distributed such classic DVDs as “Undertow,” “I Am Divine,” and “Big Eden,” recently re-released on Blu-ray to in honor of the film’s 15th anniversary.

Wolfe’s acclaimed motion picture library can be found at WolfeVideo.com as well as at national retailers such as Netflix, Barnes & Noble, Amazon and VOD destinations such as Comcast, Time Warner, YouTube Movies, Hulu, iTunes and, of course, WolfeOnDemand.com. Find more info online at http://www.wolfevideo.com.

For more on the June L. Mazer Archive, the largest major archive on the West Coast dedicated to preserving and promoting lesbian and feminist history and culture, see: http://www.mazerlesbianarchives.org.

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Journalist Laurie Schenden covers the entertainment industry, with many of her notable celebrity interviews appearing in the Los Angeles Times and other national and international publications. As a longtime columnist and feature writer for the LA Times, she also covered events and California destinations for the lifestyle, Outdoors and Travel sections. Laurie Schenden's international pieces include the long-running Where Are They Now celebrity feature for Spotlight Magazine, published in five languages. Laurie has also contributed to numerous documentary films, and produces content via Saving Grace Films.

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