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Finding Aid for the Linda Farin papers, 1986-1989
1942
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Title: Linda Farin papers
Date (inclusive): 1986-1989
Collection number: 1942
Creator:
Farin, Linda.
Extent:
1 document box (.5 linear ft.)
Abstract: Linda Farin was a successful lawyer in Austin, Texas. After seeing Donna Deitch's film "Desert Hearts," she became inspired
to produce a realistic and positive lesbian errotic film and began forming a cohort of lesbian writers in order to develop
a script. This collection contains documentation relating to the production, distribution, and reception of the film "Waking
Up: A Lesson in Love."
Language: Finding aid is written in
English.
Language of the Material:
Materials are in English.
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library Special Collections
for paging information.
Open for research. STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library
Special Collections for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UC Regents. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the
creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright
owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Linda Farin, 1990. This collection is part of an outreach and collection-building partnership between the
June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives,
the
UCLA Center for the Study of Women (CSW)
and the
UCLA Library.
Processed by Stacy Wood, 2011.
The
June L. Mazer Lesbian Archive at UCLA is an outreach and collection-building partnership between the
June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives , the
UCLA Center for the Study of Women (CSW) and the
UCLA Library . These collections expand the pool of primary source materials available to researchers and to the community at large. This
partnership was initiated by CSW and is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to inventory, organize,
preserve, and digitize more than eighty Mazer collections pertaining to lesbian and feminist activism and writings.
[Identification of item], Linda Farin papers (Collection Number 1942). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young
Research Library, UCLA.
Linda Farin was a successful lawyer in Austin, Texas. After seeing Donna Deitch's film Desert Hearts, she became inspired
and challenged to produce a realistic and positive lesbian erotic film and began forming a cohort of lesbian writers in order
to develop a script. Through her participation with Liatris Media, which produced the Third Wave Women's International Film
and Video Festival from 1986-1989, Linda Farin met Greta Schiller and Andrea Weiss. Greta Schiller became involved in the
project in the early stages anonymously and later added her name to the project as Director. Farin formed both Foosh Productions
and Anonymous Was a Woman Ltd. in order to help fund the project. Anonymous Was A Woman Ltd. was later dissolved in 1996.
| June 1985 | Release of Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community, Greta Schiller's first full length documentary. |
| May 1988 | Foosh Productions Incorporated. |
| June 1988 | Taping and production of Waking Up: A Lesson in Love |
| September 1988 | Release of Waking Up: A Lesson in Love |
The Linda Farin Papers document the conception, production, distribution, and reception of the film
Waking Up: A Lesson in Love, produced and co-written by Linda Farin. These papers include script drafts, financial documents, advertising strategies,
copy reviews, correspondence, and a VHS copy of the film as well as a VHS copy of interviews with the producers and auditions
for casting.
Throughout the production of the film, funding issues as well as philosophical challenges arose from both within the circle
of people working on the film as well as from the outside. In her story "The Making of a Lesbian Erotic Video" (contained
within the collection), Lindsey Lane (co-writer and co-producer) outlines some of her frustrations with the effects of both
homophobia and the difficulties of producing independent films. Much of the correspondence between reviewers and distributors
reflects some of this conflict as well. While
Waking Up: A Lesson in Love was produced in the late 1980's, the tensions of the "sex wars" of the late seventies and early eighties are present in the
collection. Many of the reviewers and distributors approached by Linda Farin were generally uncomfortable with the portrayal
of lesbian casual sex in the film in contrast to some of the more sex positive publications which chose to advertise and review
the film such as
On Our Backs magazine or
Forum.
Arranged chronologically.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Farin, Linda --Archives.
Lesbian motion picture producers and directors --Archival resources.
As of 1997, the film
Waking Up: A Lesson in Love, was still available for purchase through Naiad Press, which is no longer in operation. The film is out of print and is held
at the San Francisco Public Library, Cornell University Library, Michigan State University Library, and UCLA.