Barbara Hammer facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Barbara Hammer
Hammer at the 2014 Art+Feminism Wikipedia Editathon
Born	Barbara Jean Hammer (1939-05-15)May 15, 1939 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	March 16, 2019(2019-03-16) (aged 79) New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Filmmaker
Years active	1968–2019
Spouse(s)	Florrie R. Burke

Barbara Jean Hammer (May 15, 1939 – March 16, 2019) was an American filmmaker. She was a director, producer, writer, and cinematographer. Hammer was a pioneer in making experimental films. Her movies often explored women's lives and experiences. She worked for over 50 years, creating many unique films. She lived in New York City and also taught film.

About Barbara Hammer's Life

Barbara Hammer was born in Los Angeles, California, on May 15, 1939. She grew up in Inglewood. Her family had ties to the film world. Her mother hoped Barbara would become a child star. Her grandmother even worked for famous film director D. W. Griffith. Barbara's grandparents were from Ukraine.

In 1961, Barbara earned a degree in psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles. She later got a master's degree in English literature in 1963. In the early 1970s, she studied film at San Francisco State University. There, she saw an experimental film called Meshes of the Afternoon by Maya Deren. This film inspired Barbara to make her own experimental movies about her life.

Around 1974, Barbara decided to focus on filmmaking. She started making films that explored women's experiences. One of her important early films was Dyketactics. She earned another master's degree in film from San Francisco State University.

In 1992, Hammer released her first full-length movie, Nitrate Kisses. This film was an experimental documentary. It looked at how certain groups of people were treated in the 20th century. The film was nominated for a major award at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival. It also won awards at the Berlin International Film Festival and in Madrid.

Barbara Hammer received many honors throughout her career. In 2000, she won the Moving Image award. In 2013, she was given a Guggenheim Fellowship. She also received the first Shirley Clarke Avant-Garde Filmmaker Award in 2006. In 2009, her short film A Horse Is Not a Metaphor won a Teddy Award at the Berlin Film Festival.

She taught film at The European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland. Her important collection of films and other materials is kept at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University. The Academy Film Archive in Los Angeles is working to restore all of her films.

Barbara Hammer was partners with human rights advocate Florrie R. Burke for 31 years. In 1995, she made a film called Tender Fictions that included images of Burke. Barbara Hammer passed away in 2019.

Barbara Hammer's Filmmaking Career

Barbara Hammer's career in experimental film lasted for five decades. She worked with 16mm film and video. Hammer was very creative and made almost 100 films. She always tried new things and explored different topics. Her career can be looked at in three main stages.

Early Films: 1960s–1970s

In her early films, made while at San Francisco State University, Barbara focused on topics related to women. She was one of the few women filmmakers who openly explored these themes. Her films from this time were part of a movement called "cultural feminism."

During this period, Hammer was very active in the film world. She learned new skills and techniques. She also organized showings of her films and taught workshops about women in filmmaking.

Mid-Career Films: 1980s–mid-1990s

In her mid-career, Barbara Hammer made both short and feature-length films. She moved from California to New York. This move helped her explore new ideas beyond her earlier focus. Her films started to look at the connection between people and the world around them. This included light, nature, and society. Many of her films from this period gained more public attention.

Later Films: mid-1990s–2018

Barbara Hammer's later career saw her become more well-known. She had special showings of her work in museums. She also received a Guggenheim Fellowship. During this time, she focused on themes of identity. She explored how art could connect with social issues like wars and health.

Awards and Recognition

Barbara Hammer created over 80 films and received many honors.

In 2007, she was honored with an exhibition in Taipei. In 2010, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City held a month-long exhibition of her work. She also had exhibitions at the Tate Modern in London and the Jeu de Paume in Paris.

Hammer received many awards. Her films Optic Nerve, Endangered, and Nitrate Kisses were chosen for the Whitney Biennial in 1985, 1989, and 1993. In 2006, she won the first Shirley Clarke Avant-Garde Filmmaker Award. She also won the Women in Film Award.

In 2008, Hammer received The Leo Award. Her films Generations and Maya Deren's Sink both won the Teddy Award for Best Short Film in 2011. 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.

Here is a list of some of her awards:

• Stan Brakhage Vision Award, Denver Film Society (2018)
• Temple University Films and Media Arts Tribute Award (2018)
• Selected Master Filmmaker, Robert Flaherty Film Seminar (2018)
• Resisting Paradise, Best Documentary, Memphis Film and Video Festival (2018)
• Resisting Paradise, Aesthetic Art Award, Asolo Art Film Festival (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 (2008)
• Platinum Tribute, Outfest (2007)
• Shirley Clarke Avant-Garde Film Award (2006)
• Fulbright Senior Specialist, Academy of Fine Arts and Design Batislava (2005)
• Selected Master Filmmaker, Robert Flaherty Film Seminar (2005)
• History Lessons, Documentary Award, Athens International Film/Video Festival (2003)
• Peace Prize, 1st Global Peace Film Festival (2003)
• Career Honor from Mayor of Philadelphia (2001)
• Frameline Award, Career Honor (2000)
• Devotion, Jurors' Merit Award, Taiwan International Documentary Film Festival (2000)
• Tender Fictions, Awarded Best Documentary Cash Prize (1998)
• Tender Fictions, Director's Choice, Charlotte Film Festival (1996)
• Isabel Liddell Art Award, Ann Arbor Film Festival (1996)
• Nitrate Kisses, Audience Award for Best Documentary (1994)
• Polar Bear Award for Lifetime Contribution to Lesbian/Gay Cinema (1993)
• Vital Signs, Excellence Award, California State Fair (1992)
• Best Experimental Film, Utah Film Festival (1992)
• Juror's Award, Black Maria Film Festival (1992)
• The John D. Phelan Award in Video (1991)
• Sanctus, Special Award, Ann Arbor Film Festival (1991)
• Endangered, First Prize, Atlanta Film Festival (1991)
• First Prize, Black Maria Film Festival (1991)
• First Prize, Buck's County Film Festival (1991)
• The Whitney Museum of American Art Biennial (1991, 1989, 1985)
• The John D. Phelan Award in Film (1988)
• Place Mattes, First Prize Animation (1988)
• No No Nooky T.V., Second Prize, Ann Arbor Film Festival (1987)
• Optic Nerve, First Prize, Ann Arbor Film Festival (1986)

Grants and Support

In 2017, the first Barbara Hammer Lesbian Experimental Filmmaking Grant was given to Fair Brane. This grant helps support new filmmakers.

The San Francisco State University Queer Cinema Project also gives out annual Barbara Hammer Awards. These awards provide funding to students making films focused on queer themes.

In 2020, filmmaker Lynne Sachs created the Ann Arbor Festival Award. This award is for films that show Hammer's way of celebrating the female experience.

Impact of Her Work

Barbara Hammer is seen as a pioneer in queer cinema. Her goal was to start conversations about groups of people who were often ignored. She believed that by making films about her own experiences, she could help people understand and accept different ways of life.

Illness and Death

In 2006, Barbara Hammer was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. After many years of treatment, she passed away on March 16, 2019, at age 79.

Selected Films by Barbara Hammer

Special Showings of Her Work

Barbara Hammer's films have been shown in many important art spaces around the world:

• La Virreina Centre de la Imatge, Barcelona, Spain (2020)
• "Barbara Hammer: In This Body", Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio (2019)
• "Color Me Barbara", Retrospective at NewsFest, New York City (2019)
• Museum of the Moving Image, Queens, New York (2019)
• Austrian Film Museum, Vienna, Austria (2018)
• Whitney Museum of Art, New York City (2018)
• Leslie Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, New York City (2017)
• National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (2015)
• Kunsthall Oslo, Oslo, Norway (2013)
• Toronto International Film Festival Cinematheque Free Screen, Toronto, Canada (2013)
• Jeu de paume, Paris, France (2012)
• Tate Modern, London, England (2012)
• Museum of Modern Art, New York City (2010)
• Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain (2008)
• Chinese Culture University, Taipei, Taiwan (2007)
• Turin International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, Turin, Italy (2006)
• Mar del Plata International Film Festival, Mar del Plata, Argentina (2005)
• Irish Film Centre, Dublin, Ireland (2004)
• Australia Centre for the Moving Image, Melbourne, Australia (2003)
• Seoul Art Cinema, Seoul, Korea (2002)
• Women Make Waves Film/Video Festival, Taipei, Taiwan (2002, 2000)
• Immaginaria, 6th Women's Film Festival, Bologna, Italy (1998)
• Out in South Africa Film Festival, Johannesburg/Cape Town, South Africa (1994)
• Film Forum, Directors Guild of America, Los Angeles (1993)
• Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska (1993, 1992)
• Panorama, The Berlin International Film Festival, Berlin, Germany (1986)
• Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France (1985)

See also

In Spanish: Barbara Hammer para niños

• List of female film and television directors
• List of LGBT-related films directed by women