Our Films

The Thistle Hotel
Directed by Martha Wheelock (1997)
Produced & Written by Marita Giovanni Simpson
Starring Blake Lindsley, Chad Morgan & Kara Zediger


PURCHASE  DVD |  DVD  |  26 MINUTES


The Thistle Hotel explores the awakening of a stifled woman who feels “old” and resigned about a missed opportunity to follow her heart. When a younger woman moves into the hotel and the two share the opera and an open communication, the older woman is renewed and discovers that “youth is not dead.”

The Thistle Hotel is based on the short story “Leves Amores” by Katherine Mansfield, the brilliant New Zealand writer, and weaves actual events from the life of Katherine Mansfield with this 1907 story. When Mansfield was 17 years old, she felt strong attractions to women and sorted these feelings out by writing stories. Her family dealt with the matter in other ways.

Picture Gallery

The Thistle Hotel

Reviews

“A lovely short film about two free-spirited women in early 20th century San Francisco.”
Margaret Cruikshank, Women’s Studies, University of Maine
Author, The Gay and Lesbian Liberation Movement