Tender Fictions (1995): Cast

Childhood memories of the filmmaker as a young lesbian and later intimate reflections of the lesbian as an artist frame a life of daring performances. Armed with a Swiss‑army knife she robs an American Express bank in Morocco, confronts a shepherd on International Women’s Day and tap‑dances on Shirley Temple’s star on Hollywood Boulevard. Her mother measured her against a former child movie star, while her grandmother, once a cook for Lillian Gish, introduced them to D.W. Griffith. Hammer blends personal lesbian autobiography with cultural critique, giving the narrative an ironic, scholarly edge.

• BH Barbara Hammer