JESSIE BARR

Filmmaker. Sophie Jones (Oscilloscope). Sundance alum. Radner + Jane Campion are my patron saints. More at JessieBarr.com.

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THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965) dir. Robert Wise

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THE DREAMERS (2003) dir. Bernardo Bertolucci

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The Dreamers (2003) dir. Bernardo Bertolucci

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Sylvia Plath photographed by Gordon Lameyer c. 29 August 1954 (The Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana)

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"SYLVIA" coming soon...

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all hail

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RIOT ON

On protest art and performing w/ Nadya Tolokonnikova (Pussy Riot) @ MOCA

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PUSSY RIOT SIBERIA - POLICE STATE PERFORMANCE  @moca

Photos by Melinda May

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In awe of Nadya Tolokonnikova’s ferocity, humanity, artistry and resilience. An honor and a privilege to stand, rage, unleash and support her in PUSSY RIOT SIBERIA performance — the culmination of her installation POLICE STATE at @moca.

Nadya’s art and activism epitomizes how the political is always personal and how powers of persona, performance, and art as activism weave together to become tools for resistance and social change.

I grew up largely believing the American Myth that says there is this “America” where you’ll find an ever-expanding horizon and ALL THAT FREEDOM. I was privileged and naive. Russia always seemed like the antithesis of this American fantasy. But the moment Trump became president the distance between the American myth I’d believed and Putin’s reality, collapsed —

The North American frontier has always been an enduring symbol of romance, rebellion, escape, and freedom. At the same time, it’s a profoundly masculine myth. Nadya’s art and @pussyriot itself feels like an opportunity to see art and an art collective - not an army - in resistance to patriarchal ideals.

In some ways the world Pussy Riot fights for is lawless because the current laws under the Putin regime and now Trump’s are not laws but despotic authoritarian rule. At the same time, Pussy Riot’s world is utopian. It’s an attempt to forge a frontier Eden in authoritarian spaces —

PUSSY RIOT is about HOPE. And HOPE is something the world needs. 

Thank you, Nadya. Alchemizing pain and creating so much power must come at great personal cost. I hope our hearts fed yours.

RIOT ON ⛓️‍💥

[jessiebarr]

NVR RLLY by King Isis (2025) directed by moi

[jessiebarr]

BCG GIRL (2025)

BCG Girl (15 min)

A film by Jessie Barr

Directed, filmed, and edited by Jessie Barr

Additional editing by Alec Styborski

BCG Girl is a documentary short film that offers an intimate and visceral exploration of immunotherapy treatment through the lens of personal experience. The film focuses on the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) treatment—a tuberculosis vaccine repurposed as a form of bladder cancer immunotherapy—administered in six weekly rounds.

Through stark, observational detail, the film immerses the audience in the raw physical and emotional reality of the procedure: a catheter-delivered dose of BCG, the challenge of holding it in for two hours, the ritualistic rotations on the hospital bed every fifteen minutes (the exact length of the film) to ensure full coverage of the bladder lining. These details, clinical yet deeply human, highlight the endurance required in the face of medical intervention.

By centering bodily experience and quiet resilience, BCG Girl sheds light on the intersection of medicine, vulnerability, and the unspoken rituals of survival. It’s an unflinching, poetic meditation on the body’s relationship to disease, treatment, and the act of waiting—both for relief and for the unknown.

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Donkey Skin (1970)

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Sylvia, cumming soon...

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Delulu Girls

On "Heavenly Creatures," the too-muchness of girlhood and bumblebees ignoring the laws of aerodynamics.

Film Rec: "Heavenly Creatures" (1994) Dir. Peter Jackson

Fav quote: "We have decided how sad it is for other people that they cannot appreciate our genius."

[jessiebarr]

Resurrecting "GIVE ME MORE," my substack on cinema + culture, cause I desperately need it and hope you do too.

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Sophie Jones dir. Jessie Barr (2020)

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SOPHIE JONES a film by Jessie Barr

Jessie Barr's critically-acclaimed debut feature. From Oscilloscope Laboratories. Now Streaming on Showtime, available on Digital for Purchase or, Rental and on Collector's Edition DVD + Blu-Ray. 100% on Rotten Tomatoes

WATCH HERE

ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK

LISTEN HERE 

FIRST SINGLE: Ashes Into The Sea (feat. King Isis) [Extended Version] 

By GRAMMY-NOMINATED COMPOSER NATE HELLER 

FULL ALBUM DROPS 4/1

Released by Gardener Recordings

Mastered by Stephen Marsh / Marsh Mastering

"Coming-of-age at its best."- THE PLAYLIST 

"A poignant exploration of this arduous age, rooted in staggering authenticity...a fully realized portrait of grief that's universal in its texture." - VARIETY

"‘EUPHORIA' meets 'LADYBIRD'." - SCREEN QUEENS