Director
Donna Deitch
Starring
Helen Shaver, Patricia Charbonneau, Audra Lindley, Andra Akers, Gwen Welles
Certificate
18
Run Time
96 mins
Release Year
1985
Country of Origin
USA
Language
English
Director of Photography: Robert Elswit
Editor: Robert Estrin
Produced by: Donna Deitch
Screenplay by: Natalie Cooper
Production Designer: Jeannine Oppewall
Director Bio
Donna Deitch
P&I - Director Bio
Donna Deitch is a filmmaker who has worked in television, narrative cinema and documentary. Her film Desert Hearts (1986) was a landmark lesbian love story and hit of the 1986 Sundance, Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals. Deitch has directed a number of films and episodic series, including Emmy-nominated The Women of Brewster Place (1989) and the award-winning documentary Angel on My Shoulder (1998).
Desert Hearts
Based on the ’60s novel Desert of the Heart by Jane Rule, Donna Deitch’s memorable debut feature is widely regarded as the first major American film to focus on a lesbian relationship. With fantastic performances from Helen Shaver and Patricia Charbonneau and a soundtrack full of artists such as Patsy Cline and Ella Fitzgerald, Deitch’s groundbreaking love story is an important landmark in American filmmaking. The film screened in competition at Sundance in 1986, where Deitch won the Special Jury Prize.