Optic Nerve & My Babushka: Searching Ukrainian Identities

Two films by avant-garde pioneer Barbara Hammer about her roots and Ukrainian grandmother.

My Babushka: Searching Ukrainian Identities
To fulfill a promise to her Ukrainian grandmother, filmmaker Barbara Hammer travels from New York to Ukraine in 2001. What begins as a personal journey, tracking down relatives in villages like Ternopil and Zbarazh, grows into a portrait of a country struggling with its identity following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Optic Nerve
Avant-garde pioneer Barbara Hammer explores how film can capture the fine line between recognition and estrangement. Using a 16mm camera, she records her grandmother's everyday life: in the care home, in the garden and out doing groceries. She then manipulates the footage using an optical printer. Hammer transforms the original material into a rhythmic, poetic composition full of negative images, superimpositions and flicker effects, accompanied by the mechanical ticking of the projector and a melancholic piano score.