Timeline is a regular feature in each issue looking back to events and milestones that have helped us evolve into the community we are today.

June 7, 1995

In the spotlight was lesbian filmmaker Maria Maggenti. With the release of her second narrative film, The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love, the film world’s attention was on her. Although her film was not in competition, The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love was a tremendous success at the Sundance Film Festival, so much so that audience demand resulted in several additional midnight screenings. The film went on to win the Audience Award at the mainstream Washington, D.C. Film Festival and receive a favorable write-up in Newsweek.

“It’s about what it feels like to be in love for the first time,” said Maggenti. “People relate to it. The film’s done extraordinarily well—people call it ‘the little film that could...’ It’s pretty to look at, it has comic moments. The audience is seduced past any prejudices they may have.” Maggenti admitted that the character Evie, the African-American homecoming queen, was very much based on her own experiences. Maggenti was faced with the question of her choice of casting an African-American in an autobiographical role.

“I didn’t want to do a film with all white people. I am more interested in class than race, though...Evie has a sense of entitlement about herself that gives her the strength and moxie to love this other girl,” explained Maggenti. The other character in the film was Randy, played by Laurel Holloman. Maggenti was fast to point out that her characters had a much easier time of it that do most gay and lesbian kids. In her portrayal, Randy is an out highschool girl who feels secure and good about herself. Yet by comparison, the majority of gay and lesbian kids in today’s society have a much more difficult time believing in themselves enough to be comfortably and securely out.

Maggenti made a special appearance in Hartford during the Connecticut Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. She appeared at a party which followed a screening of her film at Mather Hall on the Trinity College Campus.