Donna Deitch’s swooning and sensual first film, Desert Hearts, was groundbreaking upon its 1986 release: a love story about two women, produced and directed by a woman. Start your free trial to watch Desert Hearts and other popular TV shows and movies including new releases, classics, Hulu Originals, and more. Based on Jane Rule’s novel “Desert of the Heart,” the movie … It’s all on Hulu. Desert Hearts Helen Shaver Patricia Charbonneau Audra Lindley (1985) A New York professor (Helen Shaver) divorces her husband and has an affair with another woman (Patricia Charbonneau) in 1959 … Donna Deitch’s swooning and sensual first narrative feature, Desert Hearts, was groundbreaking upon its release in 1985: a love story about two women, made entirely independently, on a shoestring budget, …