🎬 Go Fish

🎬 Go Fish is the warmth and vibrant complexity of community. It follows Max (Guinevere Turner), a young lesbian in Chicago who is "looking for love" but mostly finding herself caught in the hilarious, supportive, and occasionally judgmental web of her group of friends. When her roommate Kia tries to set her up with the "hippie-ish" Ely, Max is initially dismissive, but the film slowly tracks their organic, stuttering journey toward each other.

The atmosphere is raw, intimate, and joyfully DIY. Because it was filmed on 16mm equipment (some of it borrowed from WWII news archives), it has an unfiltered, documentary-like quality that makes the viewer feel like a fly on the wall in 1990s queer Chicago. Emotionally, it feels like an "antidote to despair"—it doesn't ask for permission to exist; it simply presents lesbian life as mundane, romantic, and funny. It captures the specific anxiety of "lesbian status," the importance of nail clippers, and the deep, familial bonds between women who have chosen each other. It’s a movie that smells like coffee shops, cheap cigarettes, and the electric possibility of a first kiss.

Did you know? (Czy wiesz, że...)
Sundance Legend: Go Fish made history as the first film ever to be sold at the Sundance Film Festival on its opening weekend. It sparked the tradition of late-night bidding wars that the festival is now famous for.

Broken Hearts on Set: Director Rose Troche and lead actress/writer Guinevere Turner were a couple when they started the film, but broke up mid-shooting. They had to continue living together because their apartment was the main set!

The "Lesbian Trial": One of the most famous (and controversial) scenes involves a character being put on trial by a "jury of her peers" for sleeping with a man. This surreal sequence was inspired by a Goofy cartoon where he is judged by cats.

Nail Clipper Promo: To promote the film, the creators wanted to hand out custom nail clippers at Sundance (a nod to a joke in the film about lesbian grooming), but the shipment didn't arrive in time for the opening.

Micro-Budget Magic: The film was shot mostly on weekends over several years while the cast and crew worked full-time jobs. They often used 16mm film stock scraps to save money.