Old Lesbians is a documentary short about queer elders preserving their own herstory. More specifically, it’s about the Old Lesbian Oral Herstory Project (OLOHP), an archive of 800+ life stories recorded across the U.S. (plus a handful abroad).

Arden Eversmeyer, a retired public school teacher in Houston, Texas, founded OLOHP more than 25 years ago. After her partner of more than three decades passed away from cancer, she traveled to the west coast and researched lesbian communities before returning to start her own. After realizing that many of her peers would die before telling their truth, she set off to record the first 500 or so interviews herself with self-identified lesbians over age 70, crisscrossing the country with two small audio recorders in her camper van. Many of her interviewees initially believed they didn’t have a story to tell. Arden thought otherwise; she often said that you don’t have to climb Mount Everest or sail the Seven Seas to be worthy.

OLOHP’s interviewees include musician Gaye Adegbalola (whose music is featured in the film), novelist Jewelle Gomez, pulp fiction author Ann Bannon, and historian Lillian Faderman. Only about half of all OLOHP interviewees are still alive today.

Arden passed away in 2022 at the age of 91. Old Lesbians honors her legacy by animating the resilient, joyful voices she preserved, from first crush to first love, from the closet to coming out, and finally from loss to connection.

This film was made possible by Aesthetica and Audible’s 2023 Listening Pitch.

Coming out on Guardian Documentaries in 2024.