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Barbara Forever

(Brydie O'Connor, 2026) 

Brydie O'Connor in person

Columbus Premiere

A woman with short hair and bangs holds a camera beside her head.

A sublimely exhilarating exploration of the life, work, and legacy of Barbara Hammer, an iconic, pioneering lesbian filmmaker and longtime friend of the Wex.

Executive produced by Kristen Stewart, this film lifts up the great filmmaker Barbara Hammer as one of the first to put a full lesbian life on screen. Through her own images and words, the film centers Hammer’s raucous life and work, with many clips from her over 80 films and a vast collection of unreleased archival materials. Her films broke taboos about female sexuality, aging, illness, and queer love and define the trope that the personal is political. As her work is inspiring new generations in radical ways, the zest for life, art, and love she conveys through this film will surely inspire viewers too! (102 mins., DCP)

The Wex has a long history of supporting and presenting Hammer’s work. For decades, we’ve helped her make countless films in our Film/Video Studio and have had her present many movies in our theater. This all culminated with the premiere of her ambitious final project, Evidentiary Bodies, an immersive video installation that was presented in 2019 as part of the posthumously presented exhibition Barbara Hammer: In This Body.

A conversation between Brydie O’Connor and Jennifer Lange, director of the Wex's Film/Video Studio, follows the screening.

See the complete Unorthodocs 2026 lineup.

IMAGE CAPTION
Barbara Forever, courtesy of Strand Releasing.

"O’Connor’s film is worthy of its subject matter, faultlessly curated and illuminating in the instrumentation of its material."

In the press

Program Support

Unorthodocs 2026 is part of the 2026 FotoFocus Biennial: The Long View.

SUPPORT FOR UNORTHODOCS 2026 PROVIDED BY

FotoFocus

SUPPORT FOR FILM PROGRAMS PROVIDED BY

Rohauer Collection Foundation

WEXNER CENTER PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY

Greater Columbus Arts Council

Ohio Arts Council, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts

CampusParc

The Columbus Foundation

The Ohio State University

Wexner Center Foundation Board

With special thanks to our members

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Barbara Forever