YALE DAILY NEWS -- Hammer, 78, was born in Hollywood and began her filmmaking career in 1968. She studied at San Francisco State University, receiving a Master’s degree in film in 1975.
Her first film to include homosexual themes was A Gay Day, a 1973 satire about gay marriage, followed shortly by Dyketactics in 1974, which was one of the first lesbian films by an openly lesbian filmmaker in the U.S.
Hammer’s filmography spans more than 40 years and includes nearly 80 films and a handful of accolades. Hammer told the News that her films have consistently been of the experimental and avant-garde genres, alike in their exploration of themes of lesbian identity and sexuality. However, her work has not been solely limited to these themes: Her latest film, Welcome to this House: A Film on Elizabeth Bishop” (2015), is a documentary about the various homes and personal life of the eponymous American poet.