Sally! - A Documentary Film About Sally Gearhart

The documentary SALLY! (2024) highlights the life and legacy of Sally Gearhart—a charismatic lesbian-feminist, activist, professor, and fantasy author. A trailblazer in the 1970s and '80s lesbian feminist movement, Sally was a key spokeswoman for women’s and gay rights. But she’s also a “hidden figure”—largely omitted from the story due to history’s often patriarchal lens. This documentary emphasizes Sally’s major accomplishments, but also honestly and unflinchingly lays bare her contradictions, iconoclasm, and the complex relationship between leaders like her and the collective movements for social change they champion. Balancing humor, insight, and heart, SALLY! is both a celebration of a radical icon, a meditation on the tensions inherent in revolutionary movements, and a powerful reflection on the lessons her work offers for today’s struggles for civil rights, justice, and equality.  

Director/Producer Deborah Craig will introduce the film, describe the wild ride involved in creating independent films in a time of pushback against the queer community and arts/culture in general, and will field questions in a hopefully animated discussion.

Sally! A Documentary Film About Sally Gearhart is organized by Deborah Craig as a part of the 2026 Circa: Queer Histories Festival, presented by One Institute.