Queering the Canon: STRANGER INSIDE (2001)
Tough young butch Treasure is determined to connect with her incarcerated, long-lost mother she’s barely met in this gripping drama from director Cheryl Dunye
Description
Tough young butch Treasure is determined to connect with her incarcerated, long-lost mother she’s barely met in this gripping drama from director Cheryl Dunye (THE WATERMELON WOMAN). While serving a stint at a youth department of corrections, Treasure (Yolonda Ross) gets herself transferred to a maximum security prison in hopes of forming an overdue bond with lifer Brownie (Davenia McFadden) there. The reunion is anything but smooth as Treasure navigates a series of tests and complex dynamics to prove herself to Brownie – who holds much power within the facility – along with potential lovers and rivals.
Recipient of multiple festival awards and Independent Spirit Award nominations yet rarely screened, the riveting STRANGER INSIDE exudes unapologetic grit, desperation, and vulnerability as it powerfully charts Treasure’s unwavering pursuit of acceptance, survival, and family.
Followed by a Q&A with director Cheryl Dunye
Part of Queering the Canon: So Obsessed
Director
Cheryl Dunye
Writer
Catherine Crouch, Cheryl Dunye
Cast
Yolonda Ross, Davenia McFadden, Rain Phoenix, Ella Joyce, Conchata Ferrell, Medusa