Sundance review: 'Barbara Forever' pays tribute to the no-holds-barred filmmaking of pioneering lesbian director Barbara Hammer
Barbara Hammer was a singular and usually confrontational figure in American cinema, so it’s appropriate that directory Brydie O’Connor’s documentary about her, “Barbara Forever,” is so unique and in-your-face.
Hammer was a pioneer in the field of lesbian-focused film — which is a fancy way of saying she was out front about her sexuality, her lovers and her life when others were still in the shadows about being gay. She frequently carried her camera with her, and all of O’Connor’s movie is taken from Hammer’s archives (which are held at Yale and the Academy Museum).
Hammer held nothing back, particularly in showing herself. There is a remarkable amount of nudity throughout the film, as Hammer shot footage of herself through all stages of her life. There’s an incredible jump cut early in the film, juxtaposing Hammer as a young, athletic woman and as someone in the later stages of ovarian cancer. (She died in 2019.)
Through her films, Hammer chronicled not only her own life but the progress of gay liberation in America, starting in the 1970s and through to the legalization of gay marriage. People attending Sundance will get a kick out of footage from 1992, when her first feature-length film, “Nitrate Kisses,” premiered here. (There’s even a shot of John Cooper, the festival’s director from 2010 to 2020, as a wet-behind-the-ears volunteer.)
“Barbara Forever” is a challenging watch, but a necessary one — a movie that gives one of independent film’s most unique practitioners her long-delayed flowers.
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‘Barbara Forever’
★★★
Screening in the U.S. Documentary competition of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. Not rated, but probably NC-17 for copious graphic nudity. Running time: 102 minutes.
The film screens again: Wednesday, Jan. 28, 8:50 p.m., Redstone Cinemas 3, Park City; Friday, Jan. 30, 8:45 p.m., Park City Library, Park City; Saturday, Jan. 31, Broadway Centre Cinemas 3, Salt Lake City. Also screening on Sundance’s web portal, Thursday through Sunday, Jan. 29 to Feb. 1.