Michelle Handelman

Michelle Handelman

Michelle Handelman (born August 5, 1960) is an American contemporary artist, filmmaker, and writer who works with live performance, multiscreen installation, photography and sound. Coming up through the years of the AIDS crisis and Culture Wars, Handelman has built a body of work that explores the dark and uncomfortable spaces of queer desire. She confronts the things that provoke collective fear and denial – sexuality, death, chaos. She directed the ground-breaking feature documentary on the 1990s San Francisco lesbian S/M scene BloodSisters: Leather, Dykes & Sadomasochism(1995), described by IndieWire as “a queer classic ahead of its time, a vital archive of queer history.” Her early work included 16mm black and white experimental films combined with performance. She is also known for her video installations Hustlers & Empires (2018), Irma Vep, The Last Breath (2013-2015), and Dorian, A Cinematic Perfume (2009-2011). In 2011, she was awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship for her film and video work.

  • Title: Michelle Handelman
  • Popularity: 0.001
  • Known For: Directing
  • Birthday: 1960-08-05
  • Place of Birth: Chicago, Illinois, USA
  • Homepage: https://www.michellehandelman.com
  • Also Known As:
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Michelle Handelman Movies

  • 2000
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    La Suture

    La Suture

    1 2000 HD

    An attic, a giant sewing needle and an anti-gravity fairy tale of sibling rivalry. Three sisters fight over who gets the biggest phallus in this...

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  • 1994
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    Twists in the Cord (or) … Other Extensions of the Telephone

    Twists in the Cord (or) … Other Extensions of the Telephone

    1 1994 HD

    This docudrama presents the history of the telephone, updated and told from the point of view of a character who uses the screen as both a connection...

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  • 1992
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    A History of Pain

    A History of Pain

    1 1992 HD

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  • 2021
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    Claiming the Liminal Space

    Claiming the Liminal Space

    1 2021 HD

    Michelle Handelman: These Unruly and Ungovernable Selves includes the artist’s new video trilogy, The Pandemic Series (2020-2021). This series...

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  • 2020
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    Solitude is an Artifact of the Struggle Against Oppression

    Solitude is an Artifact of the Struggle Against Oppression

    1 2020 HD

    Solitude is an Artifact of the Struggle Against Oppression (2020) is a continuation of the project These Unruly and Ungovernable Selves which I...

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  • 2009
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    Dorian, a cinematic perfume

    Dorian, a cinematic perfume

    1 2009 HD

    "Dorian, a cinematic perfume" is based on Oscar Wilde’s 19th century novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and its themes of decadence, narcissism...

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  • 2014
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    Irma Vep, The Last Breath

    Irma Vep, The Last Breath

    1 2014 HD

    "Irma Vep, The Last Breath" is a multichannel video project based on Musidora, the French silent film actress, and the character she is best known...

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  • 1988
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    Safer Sexual Techniques in the-Age of Mechanical Reproduction

    Safer Sexual Techniques in the-Age of Mechanical Reproduction

    1 1988 HD

    Working from the premise that there is no such thing as safe sex, this film is designed as an arcane storybook with each sexual act being contained...

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  • 2020
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    Candyland

    Candyland

    1 2020 HD

    Candyland is one of a series of studio performances from the project "Cannibal Garden" that examines the constructed identity as it mutates through...

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  • 2002
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    I Hate You

    I Hate You

    1 2002 HD

    Riffing off of Nauman's early performance tapes, Handelman chants this negative affirmation into a song of personal endearment. Simultaneously...

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  • 2021
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    Abigail

    Abigail

    8 2021 HD

    A lonely and elderly widower struggles to come to terms with the loss of his wife and the circumstances surrounding her death. When he visits her...

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  • 2017
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    FIT Hives: Sustainability - The Secret to Survival

    FIT Hives: Sustainability - The Secret to Survival

    10 2017 HD

    A documentary that introduces FIT Hives, a student-run organization whose mission is to educate the FIT community about the importance of bees to the...

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  • 2000
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    La Suture

    La Suture

    1 2000 HD

    An attic, a giant sewing needle and an anti-gravity fairy tale of sibling rivalry. Three sisters fight over who gets the biggest phallus in this...

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  • 2000
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    La Suture

    La Suture

    1 2000 HD

    An attic, a giant sewing needle and an anti-gravity fairy tale of sibling rivalry. Three sisters fight over who gets the biggest phallus in this...

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  • 1995
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    BloodSisters: Leather, Dykes, and Sadomasochism

    BloodSisters: Leather, Dykes, and Sadomasochism

    3.7 1995 HD

    From pushy bottoms to macho femmes, Bloodsisters is an A–Z documentary guide that takes an in-depth look at the San Francisco Leatherdyke scene...

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  • 1995
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    BloodSisters: Leather, Dykes, and Sadomasochism

    BloodSisters: Leather, Dykes, and Sadomasochism

    3.7 1995 HD

    From pushy bottoms to macho femmes, Bloodsisters is an A–Z documentary guide that takes an in-depth look at the San Francisco Leatherdyke scene...

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  • 1992
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    Flesh Histories

    Flesh Histories

    1 1992 HD

    A diverse program of films and videos by various artists who challenge conventional representations of gender, family and sexuality, curated by Tom...

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  • 1995
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    BloodSisters: Leather, Dykes, and Sadomasochism

    BloodSisters: Leather, Dykes, and Sadomasochism

    3.7 1995 HD

    From pushy bottoms to macho femmes, Bloodsisters is an A–Z documentary guide that takes an in-depth look at the San Francisco Leatherdyke scene...

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  • 2020
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    These Unruly and Ungovernable Selves

    These Unruly and Ungovernable Selves

    1 2020 HD

    Michelle Handelman’s new work, THESE UNRULY AND UNGOVERNABLE SELVES (2020), recontextualizes characters from her previous works into a hypnotic...

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  • 1991
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    Homophobia Is Known To Cause Nightmares

    Homophobia Is Known To Cause Nightmares

    1 1991 HD

    A woman imitating a man, imitating himself. Using the cut-up techniques of William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin, I edited this film using...

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