Su Friedrich

Su Friedrich is an American lesbian experimental filmmaker, born December 12, 1954, in New Haven, Connecticut, who has been one of the most important figures in queer avant-garde cinema since the late 1970s and a pivotal force in the establishment of queer cinema as a field. Known for Sink or Swim (1990), a formally stunning autobiographical essay about her relationship with her father told in reverse alphabetical order, Damned If You Don't (1987), a subversive response to her Catholic upbringing that explores sexuality and religion, Hide and Seek (1996), an exploration of what it meant to be a lesbian in 1950s America, and The Ties That Bind (1985). Her work consistently interrogates personal history, family, and identity through formally inventive structures that combine narrative, documentary, and experimental technique. She taught for 25 years, from 1998 to 2023, as a professor of visual art at Princeton University.