Sally Gearhart was a charismatic radical lesbian activist, author, and academic who spearheaded the 1970s and 80s lesbian feminist movement, yet her remarkable contributions have been largely unrecognized. This documentary changes that.
USA | 2024 | 96 minutes | English |
SYNOPSIS
SALLY! (dir. Deborah Craig, Jörg Fockele, and Ondine Rarey) brings into focus the life and legacy of Sally Gearhart—a charismatic lesbian-feminist, activist, professor, and fantasy author. A trailblazer in the 1970s and '80s U.S. lesbian feminist movement, Sally is a “hidden figure” deserving more attention: she was a key spokeswoman for an important period of women’s history. The film makes clear most of us haven't heard of Sally or her accomplishments largely due to the patriarchal lens through which history is recounted. At the same time, the documentary honestly and unflinchingly examines Sally’s contradictions, iconoclasm, and the complex relationship between spokeswomen like her and the movements for social change they champion, which are necessarily collective and layered. Balancing humor, insight, and heart, SALLY! is both a celebration of a radical icon, a meditation on the tensions inherent in revolutionary movements, and a powerful reflection on the lessons her work offers for today’s struggles for civil rights, justice, and equality.
PRESS
"Superb documentary... a stirring tribute to a lesbian pioneer who deserves to be remembered and celebrated."
"She Helped change history."
"A woman who helped shape more than one movement."
SCREENING HIGHLIGHTS AND AWARDS
- Audience Award, Seattle Queer Film Festival
- Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature, OUT at the Movies International Film Festival
- Best Documentary Feature, Reel Q Pittsburgh LGBTQ+ Film Festival
- Audience Award Favorite Documentary, Way OUT West Film Festival
- Jury Prize, Best Documentary Film, Everybody\'s Perfect (Geneva International Queer Film Festival)
- Best Director, Davis Film Festival
- Frameline 48 San Franciso International LGBTQ+ Film Festival
- Palm Springs International Film Festival
- Seattle Queer Film Festival
- Out at the Movies International Film Festival
- Queertactics Film Festival
- Queersicht Film Festival
- Davis Film Festival
- Q-Fest
- Way Out West Film Fest
- Image Out, The Rochest LGBTQ Film Festival
- Reel Q Pittsburgh
- Reeling, The 42nd Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival
ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)
Deborah Craig
Deborah is an award-winning documentary director and producer whose films use compelling personal stories to raise awareness about the challenges and strengths of underrepresented communities. Her work has played at LGBTQ+, women’s, and documentary film festivals in the U.S. and internationally. Deborah’s most recent short, “A Great Ride,” a 33-minute documentary about lesbians and aging, premiered at the Frameline LGBTQ+ Film Festival in San Francisco in 2018, was picked up for distribution by Frameline, has screened at over 50 film festivals around the globe, and has won multiple awards. “Sally!” is her first feature-length documentary. Deborah has a BA in history from Columbia University, did undergraduate work in photography at California College of the Arts, and has a Master of Public Health from San Francisco State University, where she currently teaches in the Public Health Department.
Ondine Rarey
Ondine is a filmmaker, editor, and writer. Her documentary “Fools and Heroes” was a Grimme-Preis nominee (the German equivalent of an Emmy), airing on ARTE in France as well as stateside on PBS. She has edited well over a dozen documentary features and shorts, including “Now en Español” (for PBS), “A Great Ride,” “Who Will Write Our History” and, “Rebel Hearts,” an official selection at Sundance 2021. She has edited on multiple TV series, including “Keeping up with the Kardashians” and “Alien Encounters.” Ondine received a BA from UC Berkeley in History and a BFA in Documentary and Journalism from the Munich University for Television and Film in Germany. She currently resides in Southern California, where she teaches Documentary Editing at Chapman University.
Jörg Fockele
Jörg Fockele is an award-winning filmmaker with a career spanning over 25 years. He has written and directed over 10 short films, four feature documentaries, and numerous music videos and PSAs. Of the awards and distinctions Jörg has received, the most important ones are retrospectives at the Goethe Institutes New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, and Mexico City, two Emmys and a special prize from the International Film Festival in Berlin. In addition, Jörg is a critically acclaimed television producer of award-winning shows such as Bravo’s “Queer Eye,” ABC ’s “Wife Swap,” the Sundance Channel’s “Big Ideas for a Small Planet” and AMC’s “Small Town Security.” He has also directed and produced shows for MTV, CBS, Oxygen, Discovery Network, PBS, Fine Living Network, and the SciFi Channel.