Barbara Jean Hammer (May 15, 1939 – March 16, 2019) was an American

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

film director, producer, writer, and cinematographer. She is known for being one of the pioneers of the

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

film genre A film genre is a stylistic or thematic category for motion pictures based on similarities either in the narrative elements, aesthetic approach, or the emotional response to the film. Drawing heavily from the theories of literary-genre cri ...

, and her career spanned over 50 years. Hammer is known for having created experimental films dealing with women's issues such as

gender roles A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex. Gender roles are usually cen ...

, lesbian relationships, coping with aging, and family life. She resided in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and Kerhonkson, New York, and taught each summer at the

European Graduate School The European Graduate School (EGS) is a private graduate school that operates in two locations: Saas-Fee, Switzerland, and Valletta, Malta. History It was founded in 1994 in Saas-Fee, Switzerland by the Swiss scientist, artist, and therapist, P ...

Life

Hammer was born on May 15, 1939, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, to Marian (Kusz) and John Wilber Hammer, and grew up in

Inglewood Inglewood may refer to: Places Australia *Inglewood, Queensland * Shire of Inglewood, Queensland, a former local government area *Inglewood, South Australia *Inglewood, Victoria *Inglewood, Western Australia Canada * Inglewood, Ontario *Inglewoo ...

. She became familiar with the film industry from a young age, as her mother hoped she would become a child star like

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple;While Temple occasionally used "Jane" as a middle name, her birth certificate reads "Shirley Temple". Her birth certificate was altered to prolong her babyhood shortly after she signed with Fox in ...

, and her grandmother worked as a live-in cook for American film director D.W. Griffith. Her maternal grandparents were

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

; her grandfather was from Zbarazh. Hammer was raised without religion, but her grandmother was

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

. In 1961, Hammer graduated with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to si ...

psychology Psychology is the science, scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immens ...

at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the Californ ...

and married Clayton Henry Ward, on the condition that he take her traveling around the world. She received a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

in 1963. In the early 1970s, she studied film at

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different ...

, where she first encountered Maya Deren's experimental short film '' Meshes of the Afternoon'' (1943), which inspired her to make her own experimental films about her personal life. In 1974, Hammer was married and teaching at a community college in

Santa Rosa Santa Rosa is the Italian, Portuguese and Spanish name for Saint Rose. Santa Rosa may also refer to: Places Argentina * Santa Rosa, Mendoza, a city * Santa Rosa, Tinogasta, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, Valle Viejo, Catamarca *Santa Rosa, La Pampa * S ...

. Around this time, she came out as a lesbian, after talking with another student in a feminist group. After leaving her marriage, she "took off on a motorcycle with a

Super-8 Super 8 mm film is a motion-picture film format released in 1965 by Eastman Kodak as an improvement over the older "Double" or "Regular" 8 mm home movie format. The film is nominally 8 mm wide, the same as older formatted 8& ...

camera." That year she filmed ''Dyketactics'', widely considered one of the first lesbian films. She graduated with a master's degree in film from San Francisco State University. In 1992, she released her first feature film, ''

Nitrate Kisses ''Nitrate Kisses'' is a 1992 experimental documentary film directed by Barbara Hammer. According to Hammer, it is an exploration of the repression and marginalization of LGBT people since the First World War. To celebrate the 30th anniversary ...

'', an experimental documentary about the marginalization of

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

people in the 20th century. It was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 1993

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

. It won the Polar Bear Award at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...

and the Best Documentary Award at the Internacional de Cine Realizado por Mujeres in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. Conversely, right-wing organizations labeled the film a "

homoerotic Homoeroticism is sexual attraction between members of the same sex, either male–male or female–female. The concept differs from the concept of homosexuality: it refers specifically to the desire itself, which can be temporary, whereas "homo ...

film abomination." She earned a post-master's in

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradit ...

digital studies at the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Lead ...

in 1997. In 2000, she received the Moving Image award from

Creative Capital Creative Capital is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in New York City that supports artists across the United States through funding, counsel, gatherings, and career development services. Since its founding in 1999, Creative Capital has commi ...

, and in 2013, she was a

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

. She received the first

Shirley Clarke Shirley Clarke (née Brimberg; October 2, 1919 – September 23, 1997) was an American filmmaker. Life Born Shirley Brimberg in New York City, she was the daughter of a Polish-immigrant father who made his fortune in manufacturing. Her mother w ...

Avant-Garde Filmmaker Award in October 2006, the Women In Film Award from the

St. Louis International Film Festival The St. Louis International Film Festival (also known as SLIFF or Cinema St. Louis) is an annual film festival in St. Louis, Missouri, which has been running since 1992. The coordinating organization changed its name to "Cinema St. Louis" in 200 ...

in 2006, and in 2009, she received the

Teddy Award The Teddy Award is an international film award for films with LGBT topics, presented by an independent jury as an official award of the Berlin International Film Festival (the Berlinale). In the most part, the jury consists of organisers of gay ...

for best short film for her film ''A Horse Is Not a Metaphor'' at the

. In 2010, Hammer published her autobiography, ''HAMMER! Making Movies Out of Sex and Life'', which addresses her personal history and her philosophies on art. She taught film at The

Saas-Fee Saas-Fee () is the main village in the Saastal, or the Saas Valley, and is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. The village is situated on a high mountain plateau at 1,800 meters (5,900 feet), surrounded ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. In 2017, the

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library () is the rare book library and literary archive of the Yale University Library in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the largest buildings in the world dedicated to rare books and manuscripts. Es ...

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

acquired her archives. Hammer's film collection, comprising her originals, prints, outtakes, and other material resides at the

Academy Film Archive The Academy Film Archive is part of the Academy Foundation, established in 1944 with the purpose of organizing and overseeing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ educational and cultural activities, including the preservation of m ...

in Los Angeles, where a project is in progress to restore her complete film output. As of 2020, the archive has preserved nearly twenty of her films, including ''Multiple Orgasm'', ''Sanctus'', ''Menses'', and ''No No Nooky T.V.'' After years of short-term relationships, she married human rights advocate Florrie Burke; in 1995, she made ''Tender Fictions'', a film featuring images of Burke. They were partners for thirty-one years, until Hammer's death in 2019.

Career

Hammer's career worked within experimental

16 mm film 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, educ ...

and

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) sy ...

, spanning five decades. Hammer was both innovative and productive. Her topics of work were wide-ranging, from the beauty of the body and love to the discussion of politics and society, and her body of work includes almost 100 films. Throughout her career, Hammer kept challenging herself and exploring new and unfamiliar topics. Her career could be divided into three stages according to her developing focus of work: early career stage (1960s–1970s), mid-career stage (1980s–mid-1990s), and late-career stage (mid-1990s–2018).

1960s–1970s: Early career and cultural feminism

Her early films, made during her time at San Francisco State University, focused on female and homosexual topics and embodied the 1970s notion of

cultural feminism Cultural feminism, the view that there is a "female nature" or "female essence", attempts to revalue and redefine attributes ascribed to femaleness. It is also used to describe theories that commend innate differences between women and men. Cultu ...

. During this early stage of Hammer's career, especially in the mid-1970s, her role as the only women filmmaker who openly claimed as a lesbian was widely indicated in her works. Her works during this period were later critiqued as

romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

and

essentialism Essentialism is the view that objects have a set of attributes that are necessary to their identity. In early Western thought, Plato's idealism held that all things have such an "essence"—an "idea" or "form". In ''Categories'', Aristotle sim ...

. There are many physical and sexual representations of the female body, emphasizing the idea of expressing love, desire, and erotic pleasure between lesbians openly. Those films aim to illustrate personal and private ideas and beliefs and hope the audience can get physically involved. Hammer was actively involved in media making industry during this period, including learning new skills and techniques, organizing premieres of her own works, opening film workshops and lessons that are related to women filmmaking, etc. Notable works from this period: ''Dyketactics'' (1974): ''Dyketactics'' is one of the most prominent works in the history of lesbian cinema. It was made during Hammer's time at San Francisco State University. As Hammer talked about in her later interview, one of the reasons for making this film was that there were no lesbian films existed during that time. There are many intimate shots in ''Dyketactics'': women take off their clothes and dance with each other, embrace with the nature and touch each other, and a love-making sequence, which Hammer is personally involved in that scene. The slow and gentle actions of the women onscreen and the use of superimpositions and careful framing make those erotic scenes romantic and sensual, differentiating this film from pornography in both narrative and visual forms. Through ''Dyketactics'', Hammer presented lesbian love-making which had not been shown in earlier films, and set a milestone in lesbian cinema. ''Superdyke'' (1975): ''Superdyke'' is made in the early stage of homosexual liberation. The film includes many illustrations of the female body, including nudity, self-touching, and masturbating. Hammer's choice of cinematography in ''Superdyke'' was noticeable; for example, she used close-up to capture female bodies on the beach in order to emphasize the tactile sensation of the bodies and the surrounding; she panned the camera together with female characters' movements in a dancing scene to create the motive sensation. By doing so, Hammer explores the sensual potential of filmmaking. ''Double Strength'' (1978): ''Double Strength'' focuses on Hammer's relationship with trapeze artist Terry Sendgraff. Though this is a film about this couple's relationship, Hammer does not appear much in the camera. Most of the shots record the body of Sendgraff while she is on the trapezes. There are many superimpositions of Sendgraff's body and shadow and interactions between Sendgraff's body and daily items. The visual style and technics of ''Double Strength'' are consistent with Hammer's other works during this period.

1980s–mid-1990s: Mid-career and deepened focus

Hammer's mid-career films danced between short film and feature-length. This part of her career was staged by her decision to move from California to New York, provoked in part by her desire to remove herself from the social and political environment that had directed her towards the cultural feminism of her early films, which were later so harshly critiqued. Moving from simple representations of bodies which was not recognized as fine art, Hammer's focus shifted to more formal works. She started to explore the relationship between the self and the outside world, including light, life, nature, society, government, etc. With the deepened theme and more elaborate production of her works due to her early efforts, many of her works during this period gained attention from the public. Notable works from this period: ''Bent Time'' (1984): ''Bent Time'' is a travel film recording places from California to Mexico. The abundant uses of wide-angle lenses and stop-motions bend light within the frame to simulate the theoretical bending of time. This film is also Hammer's way of exploring her decision to relocate to New York City, where she remained until her death. ''

'' (1992): ''Nitrate Kisses'' is produced under the shadow of the AIDS crisis and unveils the marginalization that queer Americans have been subjected to since

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. This film reflects on the neglected or even forgotten past of the lesbian community and other minority groups. Hammer's voice-over commentary and various older lesbians' testimonies are accompanied by shots of desolate scenery and depressed city views, creating a strong sense of incompleteness and precariousness.

mid-1990s–2018: Late career and self reflection

Hammer's late career coincides with her rise to public prominence with museum retrospectives and her acquisition of a Guggenheim Fellowship. She focused more on identity politics during this period. The theme of wars, health issues, and liberties came to Hammer's attention. She explored the relationship between art and social issues in her works. Her interest in the body was still an essential part of her works. However, instead of the beauty of bodies, her camera shot more about the body when it is aged, hurt, and moved. This was directly connected to her arduous cancer battle, which began with her diagnosis in 2006. Notable works from this period: '' Tender Fictions'' (1995): ''Tender Fictions'' is an autobiographical film that reflects Hammer's early life experiences and is also a sequel to her well-known documentary film ''Nitrate Kisses''. ''History Lessons'' (2000): ''History Lessons'' focuses on the erased lesbian past. With the suppressing history, the historical materials of the lesbian community were hard to find. To solve this problem, Hammer uses many commercial materials, including pornography, pulp fiction, etc. Those footages are juxtaposed with comic intent, making the style of the film relatively light and comedic. ''My Babushka: Searching Ukrainian Identities'' (2001): ''In My Babushka: Searching Ukrainian Identities'', Hammer explores her Ukrainian Identity and focuses on the geography, culture, and history of Ukraine. ''A Horse is Not a Metaphor'' (2009): ''A Horse is Not a Metaphor'' is an autobiographical depiction of Hammer's fight with and the remission of her third-stage ovarian cancer. ''Evidentiary Bodies'' (2018): ''Evidentiary Bodies'' is Hammer's final piece. It includes a melding of performance, artistic installation, and film, acting as a culmination of her involvement with the right-to-die movement.

Awards

Hammer created more than 80 moving image works throughout her life, and also received a great number of honors. In 2007, Hammer was honored with an exhibition and tribute at the

Chinese Cultural University The Chinese Culture University (CCU; ) is a private Taiwanese university located in Yangmingshan National Park, Yangmingshan in Shilin District, Taipei, Taiwan. CCU was established in 1962 and is one of the largest universities in Taiwan with an ...

Digital Imaging Center in

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

. In 2010, Hammer had a one-month exhibition at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of t ...

in New York City. Additionally, in 2013, she was granted a Guggenheim Fellowship for her film ''Waking Up Together''. She also had exhibitions at the

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and at the Jeu de Paume in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

in 2012; for the 2013

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

; and at the Koch Oberhuber Woolfe in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

in both 2011 and 2014. Hammer received numerous awards during the span of her career. She was chosen by the

Whitney Biennial The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of contemporary American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, United States. The event began as an annual exhibition ...

in 1985, 1989, and 1993, for her films ''Optic Nerve'', ''Endangered'', and ''Nitrate Kisses'', respectively. In 2006, she won both the first ever Shirley Clarke Avant-Garde Filmmaker Award from

New York Women in Film and Television New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) is a non-profit membership organization for professional women in film, television and digital media. The organization is an educational forum for media professionals, and a network for the exchange of ...

and the Women in Film Award from the St. Louis International Film Festival. In 2008, Hammer received The Leo Award from the Flaherty Film Seminar. Her films ''Generations'' and ''Maya Deren's Sink'' both won the Teddy Award in 2011 for Best Short Film. Her film ''A Horse Is Not a Metaphor'' won the Teddy Award for Best Short Film in 2009; it also won Second Prize at the Black Maria Film Festival. It was also selected for several film festivals: the Torino Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Punta de Vista Film Festival, the Festival de Films des Femmes Creteil, and the International Women's Film Festival Dortmund/Koln. A cumulative list of her acquired awards is available below: *

Stan Brakhage James Stanley Brakhage ( ; January 14, 1933 – March 9, 2003) was an American filmmaker. He is considered to be one of the most important figures in 20th-century experimental film. Over the course of five decades, Brakhage created a larg ...

Vision Award,

Denver Film Society The Denver Film Festival is held in November, primarily at the Denver Film Center/Colfax, in Denver, Colorado, now the Anna and John J. Sie FilmCenter (Sie FilmCenter). Premiere events are held in the Buell Theatre and Ellie Caulkins Opera House ...

(2018) *

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...

Films and Media Arts Tribute Award, Philadelphia, PA (2018) * Selected Master Filmmaker, Robert Flaherty Film Seminar, Claremont, CA (2018) * ''Resisting Paradise'', Best Documentary, Memphis Film and Video Festival, Memphis, TN (2018) * ''Resisting Paradise'', Aesthetic Art Award, Asolo Art Film Festival, Asolo, Italy (2018) * ''Resisting Paradise'', Southern Circuit Tour (screenings in 7 southern cities) (2018) * Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts, Trinity College (2012) * The Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction (2011) * The Publishing Triangle Lambda Award for Best Lesbian Memoir Writing (2011) * LEO Award for Outstanding Contribution to Film, Flaherty Seminars, Leo Dratfield Endowment and International Film Seminars (2008) * Platinum Tribute, Outfest (2007) * Shirley Clarke Avant-Garde Film Award, St. Louis International Film Festival, NYWFT (2006) * Fulbright Senior Specialist, Academy of Fine Arts and Design Batislava, Slovakia (2005) * Selected Master Filmmaker, Robert Flaherty Film Seminar, Claremont, CA (2005) * ''Resisting Paradise'', Southern Circuit Travel Award (2004) * ''History Lessons'', Documentary Award, Athens International Film/Video Festival (2003) * ''Resisting Paradise'', Close-up: Visionaries of Modern Cinema Award,

Frameline The Frameline Film Festival (aka San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival) (formerly San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival; San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival) began as a storefront event in 1976. The first ...

(2003) * Peace Prize, 1st Global Peace Film Festival (2003) * Tribute, U.S.A. Film Festival (2003) * Career Honor from Mayor of Philadelphia, International Gay-Lesbian Film Festival (2001) * Frameline Award, Career Honor, Frameline International Film Festival (2000) * ''Devotion'', Jurors' Merit Award, Taiwan International Documentary Film Festival (2000) * ''Tender Fictions'', Awarded Best Documentary Cash Prize, Immaginaria Festival (1998) * ''Tender Fictions'', Documentary Competition, Yamagata International Doc Film Festival (1997) * ''Tender Fictions'', Director's Choice, Charlotte Film Festival (1996) * Documentary Competition,

(1996) * The Forum,

(1996) * Isabel Liddell Art Award,

Ann Arbor Film Festival The Ann Arbor Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Ann Arbor in the U.S. state of Michigan. Established in 1963, it is the fourth-oldest film festival in North America (after the Yorkton Film Festival, 1947; Columbus International Fil ...

(1996) * Cineprobe,

, NYC (1995) * ''Nitrate Kisses'', Audience Award for Best Documentary, International Festival of Women Directors (1994) * Polar Bear Award for Lifetime Contribution to Lesbian/Gay Cinema, Berlin International Film Festival (1993) * Cineprobe, Museum of Modern Art, NYC (1993) * ''Vital Signs'', Excellence Award,

California State Fair The California State Fair is the annual state fair for the state of California. The fair is held at Cal Expo in Sacramento, California. The Fair is a 17-day event showcasing California's industries, agriculture, and diversity of people. The CSF ...

(1992) * Best Experimental Film, Utah Film Festival (1992) * Juror's Award, Black Maria Film Festival (1992) * Society for the Encouragement of Contemporary Art Video Award (1992) * The John D. Phelan Award in Video (1991) * ''Sanctus'', Special Award, Ann Arbor Film Festival (1991) * Second Prize, Experimental Film, Baltimore Film Festival (1991) * ''Endangered'', First Prize,

Atlanta Film Festival The Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF) is a long-running, international film festival held in Atlanta, Georgia operated by the Atlanta Film Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Started in 1976 and occurring every spring, the festival shows a ...

(1991) * First Prize, Black Maria Film Festival (1991) * First Prize, Buck's County Film Festival (1991) *

The Whitney Museum The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–1942 ...

of American Art Biennial (1991) * Cineprobe, Museum of Modern Art, NYC (1991) * The Whitney Museum of American Art Biennial (1989) * ''Endangered'' and ''Optic Nerve'' (1988) * The John D. Phelan Award in Film (1988) * ''Place Mattes'', First Prize Animation, Marin Country Film Festival (1988) * ''No No Nooky T.V.'', Second Prize, Ann Arbor Film Festival (1987) * First Prize, Humboldt Film Festival (1987) * ''Optic Nerve'', First Prize, Ann Arbor Film Festival (1986) * First Prize, Onion City Film Festival (1986) * ''Optic Nerve'', Cineprobe, Museum of Modern Art, NYC (1985) * The Whitney Museum of American Art Biennial (1985)

Style and reception

Hammer was an

avant-garde film Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that rigorously re-evaluates cinematic conventions and explores non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many experimental films, parti ...

maker and focused a large sum of her films on feminist or lesbian topics. Through the use of experimental cinema, Hammer exposed her audiences to

feminist theory Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical, fictional, or philosophical discourse. It aims to understand the nature of gender inequality. It examines women's and men's social roles, experiences, interests, chores, and femin ...

. Her films, she said, are meant to promote "independence and freedom from social restriction." Her films were regarded as being controversial because they focused on taboo, feminine topics such as

menstruation Menstruation (also known as a period, among other colloquial terms) is the regular discharge of blood and mucosal tissue from the inner lining of the uterus through the vagina. The menstrual cycle is characterized by the rise and fall of ...

, the

female orgasm Orgasm (from Greek , ; "excitement, swelling") or sexual climax is the sudden discharge of accumulated sexual excitement during the sexual response cycle, resulting in rhythmic, involuntary muscular contractions in the pelvic region charac ...

, and lesbianism. Hammer experimented with different

film gauge Film gauge is a physical property of photographic or motion picture film stock which defines its width. Traditionally, the major movie film gauges are 8 mm, 16 mm, 35 mm, and 65/70 mm (in this case 65 mm for the negative and 70 mm f ...

s in the 1980s, especially with 16mm film, in order to show just how fragile film itself is. One of her most well-known films, ''Nitrate Kisses'', "explores three deviant sexualities – S/M lesbianism,

mixed-race Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-eth ...

gay male Gay men are male homosexuals. Some bisexual and homoromantic men may also dually identify as gay, and a number of young gay men also identify as queer. Historically, gay men have been referred to by a number of different terms, including '' ...

lovemaking, and the passions and sexual practices of older lesbians." Hammer's film ''Dyketactics'' (1974) illustrates the importance of the female body to her work, and is shot in two sequences: the first sequence depicts a group of nude women gathering in the countryside to dance, bathe, touch one another, and interact with the environment; in the second sequence, Hammer herself is filmed sharing an intimate moment with another woman within a Bay Area house. Between the two sequences, Hammer aimed to create an erotic film that used different film language than the mainstream, heterosexual erotic films of the time. She called it a "lesbian commercial". Hammer's early films utilized natural imagery, such as trees and fruit, associating them with the female body. ''Nitrate Kisses'' (1992), her longest film to date upon its completion, functions as a commentary on how members of the LGBT community are often left out of history; it simultaneously works to remedy the problem by offering some of this lost history to its viewers. This style of filmmaking was met with mixed reactions. In a review of Hammer's films ''Women I Love'' (1976) and ''Double Strength'' (1978), critic Andrea Weiss noted, "It's become fashionable for women's bodies to be represented by pieces of fruit," and criticized Hammer for "adopting the masculine romanticized view of women." According to Michael Schell, "her relentless pursuit of an artistic vision, informed by the American tradition of experimental cinema, whose integrity was ''personal'', not simply political, can pose a challenge to the assumptions of both sub- and mainstream cultures".

Grants

In 2017, the first Barbara Hammer Lesbian Experimental Filmmaking Grant was awarded to Fair Brane. The San Francisco State University Queer Cinema Project supports queer filmmakers through the annual Barbara Hammer Awards, which grants two SFSU students funding towards the completion of a queer-focused project. In 2020, filmmaker

Lynne Sachs Lynne Sachs (born 1961) is an American experimental filmmaker and poet living in Brooklyn, New York. Her moving image work ranges from documentaries, to essay films, to experimental shorts, to hybrid live performances. Working from a feminist p ...

created the Ann Arbor Festival Award, for the creation of a film that best conveys Hammer's celebration of the female experience.

Feminist and lesbian works impact

Through her controversial work, Hammer is considered as a pioneer of queer cinema. Her goal through her film work was to provoke discourse on the marginalized, more specifically, marginalized lesbians. She felt that making films that showed her personal experience around renaming herself as a lesbian would help start the conversation on lesbianism and get people to stop ignoring its existence.

Illness, right to die activism, and death

In 2006, Hammer was diagnosed with stage-three ovarian cancer. After twelve years of

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemother ...

, she fought for the right of self-

euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...

. She referenced this in her works, such as her 2009 film ''A Horse Is Not a Metaphor'', in which she expressed the ups and downs of a cancer patient. Through her experience, she became an advocate for the right to die movement and fought for the New York Medical Aid in Dying Act. On October 10, 2018, Hammer presented "The Art of Dying," a performative lecture at the Whitney Museum of Art. Hammer died from endometrioid ovarian cancer on March 16, 2019, at the age of 79. She had been receiving

palliative Palliative care (derived from the Latin root , or 'to cloak') is an interdisciplinary medical caregiving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Wit ...

hospice Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life b ...

care at the time of her death.

Filmography

*''Contribution to Light'' (1968) *''The Baptism'' (1968) *''White Cassandra'' (1968) *''Schizy'' (1968) *''Clay I Love You II'' (1968–69) *''Aldebaran Sees'' (1969) *''Barbara Ward Will Never Die'' (1969) *''Cleansed II'' (1969) *''Death of a Marriage'' (1969) *''Elegy'' (1970) *''Play or 'Yes', 'Yes', 'Yes'' (1970) *''Traveling: Marie and Me'' (1970) *''The Song of the Clinking Cup'' (1972) *''I Was/I Am'' (1973) *''Sisters!'' (1974) *''A Gay Day'' (1973) *Yellow Hammer (1973) *''Dyketactics'' (1974) *''X'' (1974) *''Women's Rites, or Truth is the Daughter of Time'' (1974) *''Menses'' (1974) *''Jane Brakhage'' (1975) *''Superdyke'' (1975) *''Psychosynthesis'' (1975) *''Superdyke Meets Madame X'' (1975) *''San Diego Women's Music Festival'' (1975) *''Guatemala Weave'' (1975) *''Moon Goddess'' (1975) – with G. Churchman *''Eggs'' (1972) *''Multiple Orgasm'' (1976) *''Women I Love'' (1976) *''Stress Scars and Pleasure Wrinkles'' (1976) *''The Great Goddess'' (1977) *''Double Strength'' (1978) *''Home'' (1978) *''Haircut'' (1978) *''Available Space'' (1978) *''Sappho'' (1978) *''Dream Age'' (1979) *''Take Back the Night March on Broadway, 1979'' (1979) *''Our Trip'' (1980) *''Lesbian Humor: A Collection of Short Films'' (1980–1987) *''Pictures for Barbara'' (1980) *''Machu Picchu'' (1980) *''Natura Erotica'' (1980) *''See What You Hear What You See'' (1980) *''Our Trip'' (1981) *''Arequipa'' (1981) *''Pools'' (1981) – with B. Klutinis *''Synch-Touch'' (1981) *''The Lesbos Film'' (1981) *''Pond and Waterfall'' (1982) *''Audience'' (1983) *''See What You Hear What You See'' (1983) *''Stone Circles'' (1983) *''New York Loft'' (1983) *''Bamboo Xerox'' (1984) *''Pearl Diver'' (1984) *''Bent Time'' (1984) *''Doll House'' (1984) *''Parisian Blinds'' (1984) *''Tourist'' (1984–85) *''Optic Nerve'' (1985) *''Hot Flash'' (1985) *''Would You Like to Meet Your Neighbor? A New York Subway Tape'' (1985) *''Bedtime Stories'' (1986) *''The History of the World According to a Lesbian'' (1986) *''Snow Job: The Media Hysteria of AIDS'' (1986) *''No No Nooky T.V.'' (1987) *''Place Mattes'' (1987) *''Endangered'' (1988) *''Drive, She Said'' (1988) *''Two Bad Daughters'' (1988) *''Still Point'' (1989) *''T.V. Tart'' (1989) *''Sanctus'' (1990) *''Vital Signs'' (1991) *''Dr. Watson's X-Rays'' (1991) *''Nitrate Kisses'' (1992) *''Save Sex'' (1993) *''Shirley Temple and Me'' (1993) *''Out in South Africa'' (1994) *''Tender Fictions'' (1996) *''The Female Closet'' (1997) *''Blue Film No. 6: Love Is Where You Find It'' (1998) *''Devotion: A Film About Ogawa Productions'' (2000) *''History Lessons'' (2000) *''My Babushka: Searching Ukrainian Identities'' (2001) *''Our Grief Is Not a Cry for War'' (2001) *''Resisting Paradise'' (2003) *''Love/Other'' (2005) *''Dying Women of Jeju-Do'' (2007) *''Fucking Different New York'' (2007) (segment: "Villa Serbolloni") *''A Horse Is Not a Metaphor'' (2009) (Teddy Award-winner) *''Generations'' (2010) *''Maya Deren's Sink'' (2011) *''Welcome to This House'' (2015) *''Lesbian Whale'' (2015) *''Evidentiary Bodies'' (2018)

Retrospectives

* La Virreina Centre de la Imatge,

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

(9 June 2020 – October 18, 2020) * "Barbara Hammer: In This Body", Wexner Center for the Arts at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best pub ...

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

(2019) * "Color Me Barbara", Retrospective at NewsFest, New York City, New York (2019) * Museum of the Moving Image,

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, New York (2019) * Austrian Film Museum,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

(2018) * Whitney Museum of Art, New York City, New York (October 10, 2018) * Leslie Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, New York City, New York (2017) *

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of ch ...

, Washington, D.C. (2015) * Kunsthall Oslo,

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

(2013) *

Cinematheque Free Screen,

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

(Winter 2013) * Jeu de paume, Paris,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

(June 12 – July 1, 2012) *

, London,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

(February 3 – 26, 2012) *

, New York City, New York (September 15 – October 13, 2010) * XII Muestra Internacional de Cine Realizado por Mujeres, Zaragosa, Spain (2009) *

Universidad Complutense The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university loca ...

, Madrid, Spain (2008) *

Chinese Culture University The Chinese Culture University (CCU; ) is a private Taiwanese university located in Yangmingshan in Shilin District, Taipei, Taiwan. CCU was established in 1962 and is one of the largest universities in Taiwan with an enrollment of about 32,00 ...

, Taipei,

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

(2007) * Turin International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival,

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

(2006) *

Mar del Plata International Film Festival The Mar del Plata International Film Festival ( es, Festival Internacional de Cine de Mar del Plata) is an international film festival that takes place every November in the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina. It is the only competitive feature fes ...

Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" is a sh ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

(2005) * Irish Film Centre,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

(2004) * Australia Centre for the Moving Image,

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

(2003) * Seoul Art Cinema,

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...

(2002) * Women Make Waves Film/Video Festival, Taipei, Taiwan (2002) * Women Make Waves Film/Video Festival, Taipei, Taiwan (2000) * Immaginaria, 6th Women's Film Festival,

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different na ...

, Italy (1998) * yyz Gallery, Toronto, Canada (1997) * Out in South Africa Film Festival,

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

(1994) * Film Forum,

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film director, film and television director, television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Dire ...

, Los Angeles, California (1993) * Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery,

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a public land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the Morrill Act of 1862, the school was known as the Univers ...

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

(1993) * Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska (1992) * Retrospective: Film Forum,

, Los Angeles (1991) * Panorama, The Berlin International Film Festival, Berlin,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

(1986) *

Musée National d'Art Moderne The Musée National d'Art Moderne (; "National Museum of Modern Art") is the national museum for modern art of France. It is located in Paris and is housed in the Centre Pompidou in the 4th arrondissement of the city. In 2021 it ranked 10th in t ...

Centre Georges Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

, Paris, France (1985)

References

External links

Official Website
*
Barbara Hammer
a

Barbara Hammer
at

Women Make Movies Women Make Movies is a non-profit feminist media arts organization based in New York City. Founded by Ariel Dougherty and Sheila Paige with Dolores Bargowski, WMM was first a feminist production collective that emerged from city-wide Women's Li ...

website
Barbara Hammer in the collection of MoMA

"Barbara Hammer's Exit Interview,"
Masha Gessen, ''New Yorker'', February 24, 2019. * Barbara Hammer Papers. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hammer, Barbara 1939 births 2019 deaths American autobiographers American educators American experimental filmmakers American people of Ukrainian descent American women film directors American women non-fiction writers Lesbian artists American lesbian writers LGBT film directors Women autobiographers Women experimental filmmakers American LGBT artists Film directors from California LGBT people from California Artists from Los Angeles Writers from Los Angeles San Francisco State University alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni Academic staff of European Graduate School Lambda Literary Award winners Deaths from ovarian cancer Place of death missing American women academics 21st-century LGBT people 21st-century American women Feminist artists American feminists Feminist filmmakers Lesbian feminists Queer feminists 20th-century women 21st-century women 20th-century American women