Wake Forest film team releases new documentary

Mary Dalton and Cindy Hill have produced an new documentary about a local lesbian couple, High Point residents Pearl Berlin, a retired professor, and Lennie Gerber, a retired attorney, who have been together 46 years.

The documentary includes public and private moments in Lennie and Pearl’s lives using interviews, archival material and sequences shot during their efforts to defeat North Carolina’s antigay marriage amendment.

“Lennie and Pearl have compelling personal stories, which is part of what draws them together, and overlapping interests, which is part of what keeps them together,” writes Dalton in an online director’s statement. “A big part of their relationship is their shared commitment to social justice issues, which stretches back decades and is represented in this film mainly by their LGBT advocacy work.”

In addition to co-directors Dalton and Hill, Wake Forest filmmakers Sandra Dickson, Peter Gilbert and Cara Pilson worked on the documentary.

A sneak preview, “Lenny and Pearl: Living in the Overlap,” is set for June 1, 6:30 p.m., at UNC Greensboro’s Elliott University Center Auditorium. The screening is free and the event is open to the public. 

The film trailer and bonus footage not found in the documentary is available on the film’s website.

The Wake Forest LGBTQ Center and the Film Studies Program will sponsor a sneak preview of “Living in the Overlap” on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 7 p.m., at the Byrum Hall Auditorium.

Read more about “Living in the Overlap:” “Greensboro couple star in documentary” (Greensboro News & Record)