🎬 Sally!

🎬 Sally! is the rediscovery of a "lost" icon. The film is an energetic, often humorous tribute to a woman who was "too big" for the history books to contain. It captures Gearhart’s electrifying charisma and fierce intellect, but it doesn't shy away from her flaws—her friends openly describe her as a narcissist with a massive ego.

The atmosphere is inspiring and revolutionary. It uses archival footage and interviews filmed shortly before her death to show her transition from a tenure-track academic to a separatist living in the forests of California. The viewer feels the righteous anger of the 1970s protest era, but also a sense of bittersweet erasure, as the film points out how Gearhart was largely left out of famous retellings of the Harvey Milk story (like the film Milk). It’s a story about reclaiming space and the realization that history is often written by those who didn't necessarily do the most work.

Did you know?
The "Milk" Erasure: Sally Gearhart was the one who actually debated John Briggs on television to defeat Proposition 6 (which would have banned gay teachers), yet she was notably absent from the Oscar-winning biopic Milk. This documentary aims to correct that record.

Sci-Fi Pioneer: Gearhart wrote The Wanderground, a foundational piece of lesbian utopian fiction, which the film brings to life through unique animations.

Faculty Director: The director, Deborah Craig, is a faculty member at San Francisco State University, where Gearhart herself helped establish one of the first Women's Studies programs in the U.S.