Watch History Lessons

Pioneering lesbian experimental filmmaker Barbara Hammer was one of the first gay women to pick up a camera and document the lives of lesbians on film in an honest - and wildly creative - manner. Films like DYKETACTICS, WELCOME TO THIS HOUSE, and others have been acclaimed by scholars and lovers of experimental film and documentary for their unique contribution to lesbian herstory. In HISTORY LESSONS (2000), the final entry in a trilogy which includes NITRATE KISSES (1992) and TENDER FICTIONS (1996), Hammer compiles a pastiche of clips and images from throughout the 20th century to show how lesbians were depicted in cinema and other popular media. Educational films, newsreels, silent movies, and early porn films all collide to show that there was visibility - if you were skilled at reading between the lines. If you think you know everything there is to know about American history, think again. Hammer's brilliantly inventive and wildly entertaining will show you things you'd never learn in school.