Barbara Hammer on Non-Narrative Cinema, Kathy Acker, and More | INTERVIEWS

Why It Matters

Hammer’s defense of non-narrative and experimental film underscores a push for broader representation and formal innovation in cinema, challenging institutions and funders to support diverse storytelling methods that better reflect contemporary identities. Emphasizing abstraction and multiplicity signals potential shifts in how audiences experience and validate marginalized perspectives on screen.

Summary

Filmmaker Barbara Hammer argues that all art is inherently political and that her non-narrative cinema springs from social feelings and contexts, particularly around queer visibility. She criticizes traditional linear storytelling as a closed form and advocates for introducing abstraction, mixed media, and spontaneous structures—citing Kathy Acker as an influence who expanded notions of what narrative can be. Hammer envisions films that move beyond single-character arcs to embrace multiple identities, bodies, colors, and voices, and she laments limited funding for such experimental work. She frames ambiguity and multiplicity as essential to representing the varied realities of queer and artistic life, especially in the current sociopolitical climate.

Original Description

In this video from 2017, the late filmmaker Barbara Hammer talks about her work and life.