This groundbreaking film on lesbian mothering portrays the diversity of experience, race and class among eight lesbian mothers and their children.

1977 | 53 minutes | 16mm/DVD | Order No. 99298

SYNOPSIS

IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF CHILDREN offers an intimate and courageous portrait of lesbian mothers and their children during a time of intense legal and social discrimination. It stands as a cinematic milestone in the documentation of LGBTQ+ family life and a record of the history of the broader struggle for civil rights. Originally produced with the aim of educating family court judges, this important documentary transcended its initial purpose, also becoming a critical artifact of feminist and queer filmmaking. Through candid interviews, courtroom narratives, and everyday scenes, the film captures the resilience, love, and dignity of queer families fighting for recognition, justice, and the right to care for one another. Children speak with affecting clarity about their lives, while their mothers recount not only the joys of parenting but also the trauma of state-sanctioned scrutiny. By refusing sensationalism in favor of emotional honesty, the film constructs a layered narrative at the intersection of gender, sexuality, race, and class.

Recently restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive from the original 16mm A/B reversals and magnetic tracks, the film has reentered public consciousness with renewed urgency. The restoration premiered at the Frameline Film Festival in San Francisco, where it was received as a crucial rediscovery. Upon its original release, IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF CHILDREN screened widely at international festivals and women’s film venues across the United States, earning a Blue Ribbon at the American Film Festival in 1978. Today, critics and scholars continue to recognize its lasting impact and its essential place in the canon of queer cinema and feminist documentary.

PRESS

ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)

Frances Reid

Frances Reid has been producing, directing, and shooting documentary films for over 30 years. Her production with Deborah Hoffmann was Long Night's Journey Into Day: South Africa’s search for Truth & Reconciliation. It won the Grand Jury Award for best Documentary at Sundance 2000, was nominated for an Academy Award in 2001 and a DGA award in 2002, and has been exhibited at festivals worldwide, including the Jerusalem Film Festival in 2000 where it won the "In the Spirit of Freedom" award.

In 1995 Frances produced and directed Skin Deep, a film exploring race relations on college campuses. It was broadcast nationally on PBS and is now in use by nearly 2,000 colleges and universities in the U.S. In 1994, she received an Academy Award nomination for her documentary short Straight from the Heart. Additional producing and directing credits include such films as the groundbreaking documentary on Lesbian mothers and child custody, In the Best Interests of the Children (1977), a Blue Ribbon Winner at the American Film Festival. Her film The Faces of AIDS (1992) won a First Place at the Black Filmmakers‚ Hall of Fame. Her cinematography credits include The Times of Harvey Milk, Visions of the Spirit, The Ride to Wounded Knee, Reno’s Kids, and scores of other award-winning documentaries including Deborah Hoffmann’s Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter.

Frances has traveled widely to speak and lecture with her films and on filmmaking and cinematography. Most recently she served on the Grand Jury for the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. She is also the recipient of the James Phelan Art Award in Video. Frances is one of the original members of Iris Films, founded in 1975.

Frances' most recent projects are Happy, a documentary on the science of happiness, and Rainy Season, a short documentary. (8/14)

Elizabeth Stevens

Cathy Zheutlin

Filmmaker, director and cinematographer Cathy Zheutlin has worked in the media industry since the 1970s. She joined the Santa Cruz Womes’s Media Collective in 1973 and immediately began to pursue media production as a means to change society’s image of women. One of the first women camera operators in the industry, Zheutlin served as principal cinematographer on a number of award-winning PBS documentaries including: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ROSIE THE RIVETER (1979), SQUATTERS: THE OTHER PHILADELPHIA STORY (1984), MORE THAN THE MUSIC (1985), and the 1982 Academy Award-nominee SEE WHAT I SAY. Zheutlin also produced a 1986 documentary about the Great Peace March for global nuclear disarmament and co-directed the film VOICE OF THE PLANET. (10/09)

LATEST RELEASES

Shopping Cart