4 Bisexual Women in Film to Seek Inspiration From

In honour of this year's Bisexual Awareness Week, we want to turn our focus on the importance of bisexual visibility in film, and highlight a few of our personal favourite creatives within the film industry, who self-identify as bisexual. Bi-erasure, is an issue that is frequently talked about within the LGBTQIA+ community, with many self-identifying bisexuals feeling that their experiences are often misrepresented or not included. We've selected a handful of openly bi creatives working within film for you to have on your radar, who have worked hard to create accurate representation of bi-visibility and explorations of sexuality and gender in film.

Desiree Akhavan

Desiree Akhavan is the directorial creative mind behind the widely popular LGBT coming-of-age drama The Miseducation of Cameron Post, alongside her original feature film debut Appropriate Behaviour in 2014. She is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actress who has been actively working within the film industry since 2010. Born in New York City in 1984, Akhavan's family resettled in the US after the Iranian Revolution in 1979. She is known for her activism within the LGBTQIA+ community, advocating for new awareness, change and representation in film, and has spoken openly of her difficult experiences she has faced working as a bisexual female in the industry. In 2018, she wrote and directed a sitcom for Channel 4 which starred herself, Maxine Peake and Brian Gleeson, aptly called The Bisexual. The series focused specifically on the lack of understanding, misrepresentation and classic tropes related to bisexuality. 

Maryam Keshavarz

The Iranian-American filmmaker rose to fame following the release of her critically acclaimed drama Circumstance, a profoundly powerful portrayal of youth culture in Iran and the exploration of sexuality. The film received particular notoriety at the Sundance Film Festival on its debut, and despite some controversy due to the film being deemed very much a taboo subject historically in Iran, she received a great deal of praise from others in the LGBTQIA+ community for being brave enough to voice the experiences many others felt they had faced previously. Keshavarz has, throughout her work, thoughtfully dramatised the difficulties and painful realities of both bisexual and lesbian relationships on screen. In an interview with The Guardian, she stated that "as a young girl growing up, I had not seen much on film I could identify with – not just sexual orientation but sexuality.” She has since gone on to have an active role in several filmmaking panels, speaking on her own experiences and the importance of creating such awareness. 

Sapphire (Ramona Lofton)

Although not a Director herself, Sapphire (a.k.a Ramona Lofton) is a renowned Black author, whose written works were the inspiration for the American drama Precious. Based on her novel Push, Precious is a harrowing story that depicts the abuse and trauma of protagonist Claireece "Precious" Jones, played on screen by the fantastic Gabourey Sidibe. Sapphire is also a celebrated performance artist who gained particular recognition and had a defining role in New York's poetry slam movement in the late 70s. Sapphire is openly bisexual, and has regularly spoken of her commitment in highlighting issues in relation to poverty, abuse and the importance of showing Black experiences in written work and on screen. She has been widely praised for her deeply honest portrayals of African American life and her thought-provoking journeys which unearth raw and meaningful experiences of bisexuality. 

Sook-Yin Lee

Sook-Yin Lee is an actress and filmmaker who made her directorial debut in the early 90s. Her work is well known to focus on issues depicting and exploring both race and feminism, and she has discussed her fluidity in sexuality and gender in many interviews, and as a self-identifying bisexual. Her first release as a Director was a segment in Five Feminist Minutes, a Canadian short film collection showcased during 1990. She also had a role as guitarist Kwahng-Yi in John Cameron Mitchell's Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Her most recent role as Director has been the supernatural drama film Octavio Is Dead! which received cult status for its poignant and daring storyline exploring identity, desire and gender fluidity. Many from the new Queer cinema scene have praised Sook-Yin Lee for delving into areas of cinema often left overlooked, such as genuine and reflective representations of bisexuality in film, and her continuity throughout her career to vocalise such needed awareness.

Written by Am Jones.