I Know CoMo » Blog Archive » An Intimate Session with Barbara Hammer

Posted on 18 October, 2009 | No Comments

by Alex Goff

Barbara Hammer is a filmmaker who has worked on over 80 films. She often discusses taboo subjects such as lesbianism, female orgasm and menstruation. She brought two of her films, “Diving Women of Jeju-Do” and “A Horse is Not a Metaphor” to the Citizen Jane Film Festival and also stayed for conversation and a Q&A.

She opened with “Diving Women of Jeju-Do” which was a documentary film about women who live on a small island between Korea and Japan. They spend most of their days diving for anything they can find and sell. Most of the women are in their 50s and 60s because the younger generations do not learn the trade and also, most of their resources have been gathered so the findings are scarce.

Barbara made this film in 5 days when she heard about these women. She gathered up a team to help her out, a translator, another camera person, etc., put her diving suit on and jumped into the story. The film played traditional Deju music throughout most of it and did a really good job of showing the hardships of the women on that island. They worked incredibly hard for next to no pay or reward.

The next film that Barbara showed was called “A Horse is Not a Metaphor” and was about her battle with ovarian cancer, and also… her love of horses? It was kind of a strange movie. There was very little dialogue. Most of the film was shaky camera images and awkward shots. It looked as if she had just learned how to use filters in Photoshop because scenes would have awkward effects that weren’t really used well. Often times, she would layer two clips on top of each other. While she was going for an artsy, emotional effect, it was at times difficult to watch, and not because of the strong emotional vibes, but because of the camera work and editing.

However, the film was very raw and emotional and Barbara definitely displayed some vulnerability. There were a bunch of shots that showed how the chemotherapy affected her body, and a few shots of her walked around naked. Barbara said, “I don’t think you can make good work unless you’re vulnerable,” at the Q&A after the screening.

I still don’t understand what horses had to do with anything. The first horse she introduced in the film was also battling cancer, but then she had shots of other horses throughout the film, and never said what happened to Casper, her fellow cancer survivor. The entire film, I was trying to understand how the horse was not a metaphor because it seemed to me that the horses’ struggles were supposed to be symbolic of her own.

At the Q&A after the show, someone asked Barbara why she had named her film the way she did. She responded that she wanted to be enigmatic, and thought it would be funny for people to puzzle over the title. Apparently, she had been calling the film “Cancer Horse” while it was still in editing stages. Also, Barbara doesn’t actually own any horses, and hasn’t for a number of years. She just likes to ride them.

Overall, Barbara’s films left me unimpressed. Their jarring effects seemed overwhelming and amateur, yet emotional. Kudos to her for finding a means of self expression, but it just didn’t really sit right with me.

Watch the trailer for “A Horse is Not a Metaphor”: