Seven Ways to Fall
A Documentary Film Produced & Directed by Karen Everett

Project Description

Filmed over a two-year period, Seven Ways to Fall is a portrait of a San Francisco filmmaker and her circle of lesbian and bisexual friends as they enter their middle years, showing how the characters grow as they explore what it means to fall in love, survive heartache, and commit to relationships. Seven Ways to Fall is a unique film, using expressionist narrative and documentary techniques to expose the emotional journeys its characters take. It increases the visibility of a marginalized and fascinating lesbian and bisexual culture, puts the lives of older women in the spotlight, and also fills a dire need for a compelling exploration of the role that romance and friendship play in all our lives.

For many people living in Western cultures, falling in love is a transcendent experience. Finding and committing to "the one " is how many of us experience rapture, dedication, and grace. While many contemporary artists take love and romantic relationships as their subject, few films present content about love and romance in a serious, thought-provoking way. Our culture sees its views on love reflected and distorted in best-selling self-help books, Reality TV relationship dramas, and narrative romantic comedies and melodramas. My signature storytelling style creates a more complex and complete picture of contemporary relationships than could be presented in a traditional narrative or documentary film.

The seven women in the film met ten years ago, and together they have helped shape the sex-positive lesbian culture that blossomed in the 1980s and 90s. Now entering midlife, these seven artists are using their hard-won freedom to make some of the most exciting discoveries of their lives. Documented in her video diary, Karen, the filmmaker, and Erin, the director of an AIDS support organization, explore what it means to be committed in the context of a polyamorous (open) relationship. Phyllis, one of North America's leading photographers of lesbian erotica, questions her lonely life behind the lens, and then meets a woman who touches her heart. Married partners Jackie and Shar, community icons of a widely popular butch/femme sensibility, set out to have a baby while running a porn business. Alison and Karina overcome the cynicism that often comes with maturity to forge a relationship that is stronger than the obstacles they face. Christina, a performer, breaks up after six years with Sally, finds new passion dating men, and makes a life-long commitment —to herself.

The narrative segments of the film weave together erotic photographs, dramatizations of Radclyffe Hall's flowery love letters, and Audre Lorde's "lovers-as-comrades" missives, written during the 1970s feminist movement. These will be complemented by both contemporary and historical audio/visual elements: excerpts from personal emails, journal entries, and literary musings from lesbians through the ages. These narrative elements provide a cultural backdrop to the character's lives. In the end we see how cultural and political expectations force us to struggle with relationships that may not fit our lives, unless we take a hand in shaping the love we choose.

Distribution

Several distribution outlets are planned for this film. To reach the widest number of viewers, Seven Ways to Fall will be submitted to cable television networks, including HBO, the Sundance Documentary Channel, and England's Channel Four Television. In the first year of its release, Seven Ways to Fall will premiere at film festivals worldwide. Locally, it will be submitted to the San Francisco International Film Festival and the San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. Seven Ways to Fall will reach the educational market through a distributor such as Women Make Movies, which has expressed interest in the film, and Wolfe Video will distribute the film to home video audiences. In addition to traditional exhibition outlets, I am planning several free public screening of Seven Ways to Fall, to be presented in San Francisco public libraries and lesbian and gay community centers. Guests will include local lesbian and gay youth groups, elder groups, educators, and therapists, as well as filmmakers and other artists.

Public Benefit

Unlike many lesbian and gay films, Seven Ways to Fall is meant to appeal to viewers of all sexual orientations, regardless of whether their relationships mirror traditional ones. Other films that portray lesbian relationships, such as Swimming Upstream: A Year in the Life of Karen & Jenny (J. Freedman, 2002); Chicks In White Satin (E. Holliman, 1993); and If These Walls Could Talk 2 (A. Heche, M. Coolidge, 2000) focus on lesbian relationships that follow the traditional patterns of heterosexual relationships: monogamy, marriage, and parenthood. Seven Ways to Fall shows the diversity of contemporary lesbian relationships and presents alternatives to traditional roles and social structures.