Nitrate Kisses
In her first feature, after decades as a pioneer of lesbian cinema, Barbara Hammer weaves striking images of four contemporary gay and lesbian couples with footage of an unearthed, forbidden, and invisible history, searching eroded emulsions and images for lost vestiges of queer culture. Questions of historic representation are examined through addressing the margins, between-the-line readings, and images outside of prescribed textual boundaries. Archival footage from Lot In Sodom (1933), often regarded as the first queer film made in the United States, as well as footage from German narrative and documentary films of the thirties, are interwoven with contemporary footage in this multi-faceted, haunting documentary.
-eai.org
details
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Runtime
67 min -
Country
United States -
Year of Presentation
2016 -
Year of Production
1992 -
Director
Barbara Hammer -
Cast
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Production Company
Frameline -
Berlinale Section
Forum -
Berlinale Category
Documentary Film
Biography Barbara Hammer
Barbara Hammer was born on May 15, 1939 in Hollywood, California. She is a visual artist working primarily in lm and video and has made over 80 works in a career that spans 30 years. She is considered a pioneer of queer cinema. Her experimental lms of the 1970s often dealt with taboo subjects such as menstruation, female orgasm and lesbian sexuality. In the ’80s she used optical printing to explore perception and the fragility of 16mm lm life itself. Optic Nerve (1985) and Endangered (1988) were selected for the Whitney Museum of American Art Biennials (’85, ’89), Nitrate Kisses (1992) for the 1993 Whitney Biennial. Her documentaries tell the stories of marginalized peoples who have been hidden from history and are often essay lms that are multi-leveled and engage audiences viscerally and intellectually with the goal of activating them to make social change. She lives and works in New York City. Contact: barbarahammer@gmail.com
Filmography Barbara Hammer
1979 Available Space | 1979 Bent Time | 1979 Dream Age | 1986 Snow Job | 1987 No No Nooky T.V. | 1989 Sill Point | 1991 Vital Signs | 1993 Sanctus