Show older lesbian women on screen, urges film director Rachel Dax

‘Older women in general tend to be treated like they don’t have any sexuality,’ said the filmmaker

Award-winning film director Rachel Dax has called for more older lesbian women to be shown on screen.

Dax directed the acclaimed short film Time & Again, which is about two lesbians in their eighties and stars Bafta-winning actor Dame Sian Phillips. It was partly inspired by elderly gay people concealing their sexuality to avoid prejudice in care homes.

“I think older women in general tend to be treated like they don’t have any sexuality,” Dax told the BBC. “I think it is important for lesbian visibility. Not all, but a lot of LGBT films with older characters are more male-focused.”

Phillips added: “They [older lesbians] are underrepresented but that didn’t occur to me when I read the script.”

Executive producer Leigh-Ann Regan also said: “Romantic stories about elderly people are not something we see a lot of, let alone romance between the ageing LGBT populations.

“And they exist in their thousands, if not millions. This needs to change and I hope this film will play a part in that happening.”

Time & Again, which also stars Brigit Forsyth, won the audience award for best short narrative film at the Outfest film festival in Los Angeles.

The film industry has previously been criticised for its focus on films that often involve the conversion of a younger, straight woman by an older gay woman, for example in 2015's Carol starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara.