In "The Female Closet," Barbara Hammer explores the misrepresentation of lesbians in art history through a look at the lives of three female artists, Alice Austen (1866-1952, an early twentieth century Victorian lesbian documentary photographer), Hannah Höch (1889-1978, a Weimar Dadaist artist recognized for her photomontages created during the 1920’s and 30’s in Berlin), and Nicole Eisenman (a contemporary New York painter), using interviews, home movies, archival photographs, photocollages and paintings. This film is a look at the relationship between art, life, and sexuality, examining the museum as closet and the negotiation of visibility, secrecy, codes and knowledge in lesbian history. Barbara Hammer demonstrates how these artists’ sexuality - whether closeted or not - influenced their work, careers, and legacies: this buried history is revealed and lesbian contributions to art can be known. (by Vanina Vignal)