NITRATE KISSES
by Barbara Hammer, Documentary, 67', 1992, 16mm, USA

"Barbara Hammer composed an exceptionally intense collage, which tells a history until now repressed or forbidden. While investigating in the George Eastman Files in Rochester, she discovered what is perhaps the oldest gay film in the world: Lot in Sodom. Combining various film extracts with a set of material of various origins, including German film sequences of the Thirties, interviews, and images of three couples making love (of which most touching are those of two lesbians "of the third age"). With a great visual force, these images represent a challenge compared to the heterosexually ideology which prevails in our societies. " (Bérénice Reynaud)

BARBARA HAMMER
Born in 1939, in Hollywood, Hammer is a graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles with a Bachelor's degree in psychology. She also holds two Master's degrees from San Francisco State University, one in English literature and one in film. She also took postgraduate classes in the field of digital media. Hammer is known for creating groundbreaking experimental films dealing with women's issues such as gender roles, lesbian relationships and coping with aging and family. Hammer is responsible for some of the first lesbianmade films in history, including Dyketactics (1974) and Women I Love (1976) Tender Fictions (1995) The Female Closet (1997) History Lessons (2000). She is a regular guest at the Créteil Festival de Films de Femmes .