Uproarious 81-year-old documentarian’s ’73 feminist film still terribly relevant

NEW YORK — “Oh, bullshit!” cried 81-year-old poet, journalist, author, New York intellectual and filmmaker Sandra Hochman both on screen and off at a rare showing of her outstanding 1973 documentary “Year of the Woman.”

The experimental film project is a bit of a free-form jazz riff on decades-old feminist themes. Back when she was 36, Hochman took an all-woman film crew down to Miami to poke around during the 1972 Democratic National Convention.

The spine of the film highlights the first National Women’s Political Caucus and rallies around Shirley Chisholm, whose drive for the vice presidential candidacy on George McGovern’s ticket was ignored by the establishment.

But Hochman’s other goal was to stir up trouble. While her views were radical then, most sound like common sense now. Using theatrical measures, like wearing a giant plaster crocodile mask to confront “crocodile tears” from the media, her politics are angry — but her spirit is hilarious.

Famous 1970s faces pop up all over the movie. They include Warren Beatty, who comes off like a sexist jerk; Art Buchwald, who is at least a friendly and self-aware sexist jerk; Gloria Steinem; Norman Mailer; Bella Abzug (“is it a hat or a halo?”); Shirley MacLaine; Jerry Rubin and others.

Hochman also devotes a lot of time to two women on the fringes. They are Liz Renay, a voluptuous and politically conservative stripper/author/ex-con who turns men to pudding just by walking into a room (and who later starred in a John Waters film), and Florence Kennedy, a no-nonsense African-American activist who is absolutely fearless in the face of adversity.

“Year of the Woman” doesn’t exactly have a plot, but it does ask a question: “If women make up half the country, why are they so poorly represented in government?” (Watching from 2018, we can answer, “It’s getting better, but it is still ridiculously low.”)

Hochman doesn’t highlight her Jewishness much, but her voice (and comic timing) is in the Fran Drescher mode, and I mean this as a compliment. Appearing on camera in flowing 70s-style dresses she is a gorgeous, fierce Jewess who is unafraid to look men in the eye and bluntly explain why the thing they just said isn’t cute but is actually insulting as hell. (Again, “oh, bullshit!” is the common refrain.)

After a new digital print showed April 19 at New York’s Film Forum (which consistently programs special events of inspiring and “lost” films), Hochman talked to the audience for over 30 minutes.

She said her interest in politics came in 1969 when Norman Mailer, who championed her earlier books of poetry, was running for mayor of New York and “thought it would be funny if he had a poet raising the money.”

“I liked his ideas of having black and white people jousting in the park instead of killing each other,” she recalled. One of her fundraisers was for women only, and that’s where she met Gloria Steinem and Florence Kennedy.

“I really liked George McGovern but, you know, another white man was not going to make a difference,” Hochman said, explaining why she became a delegate for African-American Shirley Chisholm. “McGovern didn’t like that we were for two candidates, but Flo Kennedy said, ‘What, if you shop at Macy’s you can’t also shop at Gimble’s?’”

A producer named Porter Bibb (who had success with the Rolling Stones documentary “Gimme Shelter”) suggested that Hochman make a film about feminism and politics at the Miami convention.

About the scene where she confronts the news anchors (including Mike Wallace, Harry Reasoner, Dan Rather and, for a flash, Walter Cronkite) she remains fiery.

“They weren’t going to say a thing about the Women’s Caucus. Those fucking lying fascists were going to make it look like no woman even ran! This was an important moment in history, let’s march on them and scare them to death! It was like Mars sent a weird group down on them,” she said.

Hochman’s talk went off-script a bit, dropping names here and there (“I was at dinner with Danny Kaye,”) and explaining how her 1971 novel “Walking Papers” could not have been published without the help of Philip Roth. (Hochman’s book, so she said, was later handed to Erica Jong by her editor, who said “copy this” to Jong, inspiring Jong’s 1973 blockbuster “Fear of Flying” which “made millions because of the right timing and I didn’t make anything.”)

Hochman’s second marriage had just ended, and she and Roth were friendly because she had written a piece in the Village Voice defending “Portnoy’s Complaint” against accusations of anti-Semitism.

“Rabbis were saying it was anti-Semitic. It wasn’t! I explained that his book just showed how everyone in America wants to be something they aren’t: Jews want to be Gentiles, blacks want to be white, children want to be grown-ups. The book is just an allegory for a sick society.”

Roth visited Hochman when she was low. “I have to go on dates again! I had married a lawyer, I thought things would be easy now,” she lamented.

Her papers were all around her bed and Roth picked them up. “Those are just notes,” she said, but Roth, after reading some pages, said, “You are telling the secrets of women!” He took the work to his publisher and said, “If he doesn’t publish it, I’m leaving him.”

The only comment from the audience came from someone who didn’t much care for the movie. She argued that “Year of the Woman” wasn’t a true feminist film because it featured a stripper who didn’t respect the feminist movement, because she mocked feminism by flirting with the audience.

“Well, that’s exactly wrong. Whores are just as important as senators!” responded Hochman.

The event’s moderator Janet Coleman of WBAI radio — who couldn’t get much of a word in — mentioned the legendary documentary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker, to which Hochman barked back “I don’t like Pennebaker — he’s a crook! He fell in love with my film, and he wanted to buy it and put it in his chest.”

She told a story that one could perhaps interpret as his being tenacious in his approach, though Hochman took great glee in calling him a “dishonest con-man who comes off to the world as this saint.”

(I happened to catch a glimpse of Film Forum’s Bruce Goldstein, who maintains a good relationship with Pennebaker, and he looked like he was having a good time while also having a mild heart attack.)

Coleman also touched upon Senator Tammy Duckworth, who has a newborn and was recently granted permission to breastfeed on the Senate floor. While most interpret this as a step forward for women, Hochman always manages to be unpredictable.

“It’s a step backwards! I don’t want to see women nursing babies.”

“It’s the human body,” Coleman responded.

“So is masturbation! I don’t want to see that either. I’m not against women feeding their baby, but why do they have to do it in front of people?”

“Well, because they have to be there to raise their hand to give a vote.”

“Bullshit.”

I don’t know if I necessarily agree with Sandra Hochman, but I can listen to her all day. Did I mention she was 81? I don’t know if this cleaned-up print will be touring around the country, and if Hochman is traveling with it, but if this show does come to your town you mustn’t miss it.