BLOODSISTERS: LEATHER, DYKES, AND SADOMASOCHISM
1995. 77 min. Directed by Michelle Handelman
Tickets here.
Interdisciplinary artist Tamara Santibañez presents Bloodsisters: Leather, Dykes, and Sadomasochism, a deep dive into a community of Leatherdykes in San Francisco in the mid-90s. This debut documentary by filmmaker Michelle Handelman presents a rough collage of kink and BDSM practices, leaning into forms of play not often shown, even in queer films. From images of needle play to shots of extended BDSM scenes to tops directly addressing the audience as their submissives, the film is unflinching in its portrayal of this leather scene. Through collected interviews, an image of a community that is grappling with questions of forbidden desires, gender & sexual fluidity, and the politicization of their very existence begins to emerge. Between the bright colored overlays and the iconic 90s fashion (mullets everywhere!), the film itself transforms into a kind of a time capsule, documenting a moment in queer history in all its messy, complicated, campy glory.
Tamara Santibañez is an interdisciplinary artist and oral historian living and working in Brooklyn. They approach the body as a site for archiving and accessing personal and collective narratives and view tattooing as a political intervention. As a queer and trans artist, their practice memorializes the language and resistance strategies used by “othered” populations to build alternative worlds.
Still from Bloodsisters: Leather, Dykes, and Sadomasochism (1995, Michelle Handelman)
Queer|Art|Film is sponsored by HBO Max and presented in partnership with IFC.