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.

Deborah Craig is an award-winning documentary director and producer whose films use compelling personal stories to raise awareness about the challenges and strengths of underrepresented communities. Her work has played at LGBTQ+, women’s and documentary film festivals in the U.S. and internationally. Deborah’s short “A Great Ride,” a 33-minute documentary about lesbians and aging, premiered at the Frameline LGBTQ+ Film Festival in San Francisco in 2018, was picked up for distribution by Frameline, has screened at over 50 film festivals around the globe, and has won multiple awards. “Sally!” is her first feature-length documentary and also premiered at Frameline in 2024. Since then, it has screened at more than 90 festivals in the U.S. and around the globe, winning over a dozen audience and jury awards. Deborah has a BA in history from Columbia University, did undergraduate work in photography at California College of the Arts, and has a Master of Public Health from San Francisco State University, where she currently teaches in the Public Health Department.