14th(2012)
A Horse Is Not a Metaphor
Barbara HAMMER
- USA
- 2009
- 30min
- HD
- color/black and white
- Experiment
SYNOPSIS
Synopsis
Filmmaker Barbara HAMMER fights ovarian cancer with visions of horseback riding and river swimming in her new experimental film, A Horse Is Not a Metaphor . HAMMER says she is a \"cancer thriver as well as survivor\" in this hopeful and densely layered personal work with music by composer Meredith MONK.
Program Note
A Horse Is Not a Metaphor is an essay about the life that director Barbara HAMMER experienced through her fight against ovarian cancer. The image of equipment that measures vital signs is overlapped with images of death prevalent in western societies, such as a skull, a clip from Alain RESNAIS’s film Hiroshima Mon Amour, and an excerpt from FOUCAULT’s the Birth of the Clinic among others. The cause of death and weaknesses in life are simultaneously connected to active images—physical activities, swimming, horseback riding, etc. And it extends to become the cause of strength and dynamism of life. Life is weak but strong, and the freedom to gallop anywhere and everywhere is life. (HONG So-in)
PROGRAM NOTE
Synopsis
Filmmaker Barbara HAMMER fights ovarian cancer with visions of horseback riding and river swimming in her new experimental film, A Horse Is Not a Metaphor . HAMMER says she is a \"cancer thriver as well as survivor\" in this hopeful and densely layered personal work with music by composer Meredith MONK.
Program Note
A Horse Is Not a Metaphor is an essay about the life that director Barbara HAMMER experienced through her fight against ovarian cancer. The image of equipment that measures vital signs is overlapped with images of death prevalent in western societies, such as a skull, a clip from Alain RESNAIS’s film Hiroshima Mon Amour, and an excerpt from FOUCAULT’s the Birth of the Clinic among others. The cause of death and weaknesses in life are simultaneously connected to active images—physical activities, swimming, horseback riding, etc. And it extends to become the cause of strength and dynamism of life. Life is weak but strong, and the freedom to gallop anywhere and everywhere is life. (HONG So-in)
Director
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Barbara HAMMERBarbara HAMMER
Barbara HAMMER is an internationally recognized film artist who has made 80 films/videos making a significant contribution to lesbian and gay cinema. Her experimental films of the 1970’s often dealt with taboo subjects such as menstruation, female orgasm, and lesbian sexuality. In the 80’s, she used optical printing to explore perception and the fragility of 16mm film life itself. Her documentaries tell the stories of marginalized people who have been hidden from history and are often essay films which are multileveled and engaging audiences with the goal of activating them to make social change.
Credit
- ProducerBarbara HAMMER
- Cinematography Barbara HAMMER
- Art director Barbara HAMMER
- Editor Barbara HAMMER, Gina CARDUCCI
- Music Meredith MONK
- Sound Stephanie TESTA
