On next
Sally! + Discussion Panel
Sat
3
Sat 3 May 4:30 PM
Platform Arts (Courthouse)
Wheelchair
Open Captioned
Companion Card
General Admission
Unclassified 15+
120 Mins May
Sally Gearhart documentary followed by a discussion panel with Platform Arts Co-CEO Tennille Moisel, with producer and activist Victoria Firth-Smith and visual artist and educator Pia De Bruyn. Our panellists will discuss the role of activists, artists and community leaders in bringing communities together. What role does film play in ensuring that legacies and lessons are remembered?
Sally!
Directors: Deborah Craig, Jörg Fockele, Ondine Rarey, United States, 2024, 96 minutes, English with open captions, Unclassified 15+
Sally Gearhart was a lesbian-feminist firebrand, professor, and fantasy author who helped transform the world for gay people—but too few folks know of this “hidden figure.” This film celebrates Sally’s dynamism and complexity, as well as the collective (if chaotic) nature of revolutionary movements and their icons.
On the surface, the documentary is about Sally Miller Gearhart, an iconoclastic radical lesbian who lived life on her own terms. However, the film goes beyond being the straightforward biography of a “hidden figure” deserving more recognition. It also studies social movements, whose leaders wouldn’t exist without their equally resolute behind-the-scenes compatriots.
The film examines several issues including:
The need for women’s spaces: Throughout her life, Sally thrived in women’s spaces such as her women’s land community in Northern California where she spent her final decades. These spaces provided refuge from a patriarchal system that constrained women to a limited sphere. But besides providing respite, these women’s spaces enabled Sally and others to come into their own.
The tensions in revolutionary movements: The film also explores the tensions inherent in revolutionary movements between ideological principles and human realities: In Sally’s case there was lesbian separatism versus mainstreaming, throwing down the gauntlet versus reaching across the aisle. Sally’s relevance lies in how well she held these contradictions.
Accessibility update: Access to the theatre is on the 1st floor, accessible by stairs. The lift at Platform Arts is currently out of order. We apologise for any inconvenience.
Sally!
Directors: Deborah Craig, Jörg Fockele, Ondine Rarey, United States, 2024, 96 minutes, English with open captions, Unclassified 15+
Sally Gearhart was a lesbian-feminist firebrand, professor, and fantasy author who helped transform the world for gay people—but too few folks know of this “hidden figure.” This film celebrates Sally’s dynamism and complexity, as well as the collective (if chaotic) nature of revolutionary movements and their icons.
On the surface, the documentary is about Sally Miller Gearhart, an iconoclastic radical lesbian who lived life on her own terms. However, the film goes beyond being the straightforward biography of a “hidden figure” deserving more recognition. It also studies social movements, whose leaders wouldn’t exist without their equally resolute behind-the-scenes compatriots.
The film examines several issues including:
The need for women’s spaces: Throughout her life, Sally thrived in women’s spaces such as her women’s land community in Northern California where she spent her final decades. These spaces provided refuge from a patriarchal system that constrained women to a limited sphere. But besides providing respite, these women’s spaces enabled Sally and others to come into their own.
The tensions in revolutionary movements: The film also explores the tensions inherent in revolutionary movements between ideological principles and human realities: In Sally’s case there was lesbian separatism versus mainstreaming, throwing down the gauntlet versus reaching across the aisle. Sally’s relevance lies in how well she held these contradictions.
Accessibility update: Access to the theatre is on the 1st floor, accessible by stairs. The lift at Platform Arts is currently out of order. We apologise for any inconvenience.
May
Platform Arts (Courthouse)
Cnr Little Malop Street and Gheringhap Street
Geelong, Victoria, 3220