The Archivettes

Directed By Megan Rossman

This inspiring film profiles the Lesbian Herstory Archives, a non-hierarchical, collectively-run archive that preserves the various expressions of lesbian identity, love, and solidarity.

  • ABOUT
  • BIO
"Our history was disappearing as quickly as we were making it." With that realization, Deborah Edel and Joan Nestle co-founded the Lesbian Herstory Archives, the world’s largest collection of materials by and about lesbians. For more than 40 years, through many of the major milestones in LGBTQ+ history, the all-volunteer organization has literally rescued history from the trash. Now the co-founders are in their mid-70s, and the group faces a number of challenges: A transfer of leadership. The rise of digital technology. A renewed call to activism in a politically charged moment. THE ARCHIVETTES is a documentary film that explores how this group came together to combat lesbian invisibility and create “a place that says yes.”

Megan Rossman is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and Associate Professor and Chair of Communication at Purchase College. Her work explores the LGBTQIA+ experience and has aired on PBS and screened internationally at over 125 festivals including Outfest, DOC NYC, BFI Flare, Iris Prize and Cannes Film Festival American Pavilion.