In Memoriam: Sarah Jacobson

New York City-based filmmaker and DIY stalwart Sarah Jacobson, director of the 1997 South by Southwest feature Mary Jane's Not a Virgin Anymore, passed away this past Friday after a lengthy battle with cancer. The 32-year-old underground upstart made a splash at the Fest (as she had previously at Sundance) with the film, which followed the post-defloration blooming of Mary Jane (Lisa Gerstein) who, in the wake of the dirty deed, discovers the joys of everything from solo sexual gratification to punk rawk romance and beyond.

Jacobson, who had previously helmed I Was a Teenage Serial Killer in 1993, formed Station Wagon Productions with her equally adventurous and independent-spirited mother, Ruth Jacobson, and together the pair worked tirelessly to promote and distribute not only Sarah's work, but also the idea that filmmaking itself need not be constrained by the stereotypes of mainly male Hollywood. Jacobson's efforts arrived at the cusp of the consumer DV revolution, and there's no doubt in the minds of anyone who met this relentlessly creative firebrand that she greatly helped stoke the flames of the guerrilla and indie filmmaking movement while becoming a voice for grrrl-positive cineastes everywhere. She was one of a kind, and her loss is keenly felt. For more on Jacobson and her life and work, see www.indiewire.com.