In not only one of the great lesbian films in cinema herstory but also one of the essential screen adaptations of popular literature, Desert Hearts is a smoldering love story set against the stunning backdrop of the American desert. Winning a Special Jury Prize at Sundance in 1986, Donna Deitch evocatively brings Jane Rule’s novel Desert of the Heart to the screen through a brilliant lead performance by Helen Shaver and a jukebox soundtrack featuring classics by Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, and Ella Fitzgerald. For other Lesbian Lit titles at Frameline47, see In Her Words: 20th Century Lesbian Fiction.