There’s something deliciously rebellious about High Art, the 1998 lesbian indie film that dared to blend heroin chic with tender queer romance — and now it’s getting the glow-up it deserves. Lisa Cholodenko’s directorial debut is back in stunning 4K restoration, screening at the iconic Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles. For every queer woman who spent the late ’90s starved for representation, High Art was a dangerous, sexy revelation — and its return feels like a homecoming.
A Queer Story Ahead of Its Time
High Art follows Lucy Berliner (Ally Sheedy), a reclusive photographer with a messy past, and Syd (Radha Mitchell), a bright-eyed magazine editor who stumbles into Lucy’s world of passion, art, and addiction. What starts as professional admiration turns into a seductive, emotionally charged love affair that still resonates in a world hungry for authentic queer stories.
“Lisa Cholodenko created a world where women looked at each other — really looked — with desire and complexity,” said a fan at a recent screening. And that’s exactly why this film matters today. For a generation of queer women, High Art offered something Hollywood still struggles to provide: raw, unfiltered intimacy between women without the male gaze flattening it.
Queer Cinema Gets Its Flowers
The 4K restoration isn’t just about nostalgia — it’s about honoring queer cinema’s gritty, glorious past. The film was meticulously restored by the Academy Film Archive and UCLA Film & Television Archive, proving that stories from the LGBTQ community deserve the same preservation as any Hollywood blockbuster.
With its themes of first love, creative obsession, and self-destruction, High Art laid the groundwork for later queer masterpieces like Portrait of a Lady on Fire. But unlike the polished aesthetics of today’s sapphic films, High Art is unafraid to be messy, complicated, and painfully real.
The restoration is part of the Egyptian’s “A Century of Romance” series, which spotlights queer love alongside classics from every era — because, surprise surprise, LGBTQ people have always been here, loving loudly and messily.
The Impact on the LGBTQ Community
In a cultural landscape still fighting for lesbian visibility, the return of High Art feels revolutionary. Representation isn’t just about glossy Netflix dramas — it’s about preserving the raw, radical films that first told our stories.
For queer women especially, High Art is a reminder of their place in cinematic history. It’s proof that their love stories aren’t just valid — they’re art. And restoring this film is an act of resistance against erasure.
As Lisa Cholodenko herself once said, High Art was about capturing “the private world of artists and lovers.” In 2025, with this gorgeous restoration, that private world finally gets its rightful place on the big screen again — and the LGBTQ community is here for every messy, beautiful frame.