Michelle Handelman
Michelle Handelman (born August 5, 1960) is an American contemporary artist, filmmaker, and writer who works with live performance, multiscreen installation, photography and sound. Coming up through the years of the AIDS crisis and Culture Wars, Handelman has built a body of work that explores the dark and uncomfortable spaces of queer desire. She confronts the things that provoke collective fear and denial – sexuality, death, chaos. She directed the ground-breaking feature documentary on the 1990s San Francisco lesbian S/M scene BloodSisters: Leather, Dykes & Sadomasochism(1995), described by IndieWire as “a queer classic ahead of its time, a vital archive of queer history.” Her early work included 16mm black and white experimental films combined with performance. She is also known for her video installations Hustlers & Empires (2018), Irma Vep, The Last Breath (2013-2015), and Dorian, A Cinematic Perfume (2009-2011). In 2011, she was awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship for her film and video work.
| Film | Credit |
|---|---|
| CClaiming the Liminal Space2021 · Director | Director |
| CCandyland2020 · Director | Director |
| SSolitude is an Artifact of the Struggle Against Oppression2020 · Director | Director |
 These Unruly and Ungovernable Selves2020 · Director | Director |
| IIrma Vep, The Last Breath2014 · Director | Director |
 Dorian, a cinematic perfume2009 · Director | Director |
| II Hate You2002 · Director | Director |
| LLa Suture2000 · Actor, Director of Photography, Director | Actor, Director of Photography, Director |
 BloodSisters: Leather, Dykes, and Sadomasochism1995 · Producer, Director | Producer, Director |
 Twists in the Cord (or) … Other Extensions of the Telephone1994 · Actor | Actor |
 A History of Pain1992 · Actor, Director, Writer, Producer | Actor, Director, Writer, Producer |
 Flesh Histories1992 · Director | Director |
 Homophobia Is Known to Cause Nightmares1991 · Director | Director |
 Safer Sexual Techniques in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction1988 · Director | Director |