Educational Media Reviews Online

The Lodge depicts the lives of seniors living in Fountaingrove Lodge, a retirement community located in Santa Rosa, California. Fountaingrove, or “the Lodge” is the first retirement community in the United States to explicitly welcome LGBTQ seniors and straight allies. The film interviews residents about the discrimination they have faced in their lives, concerns they have about aging and their experiences living in this unique community.

The film opens with the statement that 1/3 of LGBTQ seniors feel they must “re-closet” themselves in order find safe senior housing. This rings true as some of the film’s strongest moments are interviews with residents that speak of never being able to fully be themselves or just never coming out at all until they move into the Fountaingrove Lodge. The interviews also cover many of the universal concerns about aging as community members discuss dementia, losing partners, concerns about long term care, and mental toll of constantly losing friends.

As poignant as some of the interviews are, what stood out were the things that seemed to be missing. With a community make-up of roughly 50% straight and 50% LGBTQ, there is mention of tensions between the LGBTQ and straight residents, but this thread feels unresolved. Especially when considering what it means to be a “friend” or “ally” within this community and if this requires higher standards than basic acceptance from the straight residents. While some residents expressed concerns about costs, the majority of the residents appear to be almost exclusively white and affluent, which limits the available perspectives. Overall, the film seemed somewhat unfocused. The segment showing the residents learning how to protect themselves after the 2017 wildfires was interesting but didn’t seem to fit in the same time frame or narrative as the rest of the film.

For classroom use the 40-minute runtime makes it an appealing choice but at best it should be used as an introductory tool used with other materials to build out a fuller picture of the concerns of LGBTQ seniors. For collections with a focus on aging or LGBTQ communities this might be a good addition, but the film’s lack of depth would limit its usefulness. This film is Recommended with Reservations.

Awards:
2021 Semi-Finalist Venice Shorts, Venice, California; 2021 Global Shorts Winner (Special Mention); 2021 Festival Favorite Cinema Diverse Palm Springs LGBTQ+ Film Festival; Official Selection NETA (National Educational Telecommunications Association)

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