15 Aug

18:45

Eye Filmmuseum

IJpromenade 1, Amsterdam

A shining example of the New Queer Cinema movement, this refreshing ultra-low-budget comedy follows the budding romance between two very different lesbians in Chicago.

Go Fish

More info & tickets

Rose Troche / US, 1994 / 83 min.

Max, a hip, dashing, young lesbian in Chicago, hasn't had a date in a year and can't find "the one." A friend sets her up with Ely. The two don't seem to have much in common, but they decide to take a chance on each other.

Director Rose Troche shot the 16mm film Go Fish on a shoestring budget. Cast and crew were not paid or paid minimally, and shooting took place ('guerrilla style') on weekends and in the evenings, after work.

To Troche's great surprise, the gritty but cheerful underground film with a $15,000-budget was selected for the Sundance Film Festival and turned out to be a hit. Worldwide distribution followed, and Go Fish became a figurehead of both the New Queer Cinema (with contemporaries Gregg Araki and Todd Haynes) and the Indie movement.

Resilience

Go Fish was released shortly after the AIDS epidemic swept through the queer and gay communities in the US. There was a lot of grief for all the deaths, but Troche decided to show the resilience of a community that refused to be stigmatised. The director wanted to celebrate lesbian sex on screen: "We show you what we do, we show you the excitement and joy. Our guiding principle is: more sex, less tragedy."

Pre-film

Before Go Fish, you will see the short film Tempted from 1991 by Anne Marie Borsboom. This satire is about two women on horseback trying to seduce one another. They first see each other at the stables and start to connect on the river ferry.