Dreamers of the Day and the Living Archive of 1990s Lesbian Cinema in Canada

Abstract

In this article we reflect on our experiences researching and curating a Canadian lesbian feature film, Dreamers of the Day (1990, dirs. Patricia Rivera Spencer and Philip Wood). We explore how a community-driven approach to archival research is necessary for investigating low-budget lesbian films such as this, and in turn, should inform accompanying curatorial practices. When screening lesser-known queer films, the community networks necessary to their creation and then later for their preservation tend to be overlooked in favor of celebrating the accomplishments of an individual director. If curators of queer film focus exclusively on the finished product and exhibit only remarkable films, they risk missing works that speak to queer filmmaking practices and the importance of these histories to queer community-building. To counteract these investments, we instead consider how strategies of collaboration can inform filmmaking, research methods, and curatorial practices, illuminating the relational networks that make queer art possible.