UK filmmaker Rachel Dax is drawing attention to the plights of queer women in old age, something she's explored in her award-winning short film Time & Again.
The film, which won the audience award at LA's Outfest film festival this year, tells the story of Eleanor and Isabelle, two former lovers who reunite 60 years after they parted when they move into the same residential care home.
Speaking to iNews, Dax said she was motivated to write the film because “there are very few films or television dramas that portray the lives of older lesbians in particular.”
She added: “I wanted to create something that would look at the two main scenarios faced by women of the older generation (70+) now and when they were younger.
“Either marry a man they didn’t love to avoid being disowned and shunned by family and friends or move to a big city such as London and try to live an authentic life as a lesbian, which of course would still subject the woman to prejudicial reactions.”
Dax said that she'd heard stories of elderly LGBTIQ+ people going back 'into the closet' once they reach old age, for fear of facing prejudice in old-age homes and care facilities.
Dax said that she'd heard stories of elderly LGBTIQ+ people going back 'into the closet' once they reach old age, for fear of facing prejudice in old-age homes and care facilities. A spokeswoman for LGBTIQ+ organisation Stonewall tole iNews: “It’s definitely true for some people. It’s a concern we have heard and it does happen.”
It's happening closer to home, too.
Back in 2017, a study by Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne found that in addition to general anxieties about growing old and losing their independence, LGBTIQ+ people were worried about having to hide their sexuality.
“You’ve got to get back into the closet – I am not going back into the closet for anybody,” one 75-year-old from Auckland told researchers, admitting that he feared being "treated differently if people know I’m gay."
You can watch the trailer for Time & Again below:
