Vever (for Barbara)

A cross-generational binding of three filmmakers seeking alternative possibilities to the power structures they are inherently part of. Each woman extends her reach to a subject she is outside of. Vever grew out of the abandoned film projects of Maya Deren and Barbara Hammer.  Shot at the furthest point of a motorcycle trip Hammer took to Guatemala in 1975, and laced through with Deren’s reflections of failure, encounter and initiation in 1950s Haiti.

Deborah Stratman makes films and artworks that investigate power, control and belief. She is a Fulbright, USA Collins, Guggenheim and Sundance Art of Nonfiction Fellow and has exhibited internationally at venues including MoMA NY, Centre Pompidou, Hammer LA, Whitney Biennial, Austrian Film Museum, Berlinale, Viennale and TIFF.  She lives in Chicago where she teaches at the University of Illinois.