David Henry Hammer Award in Film

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View David's most recent body of work

• David Hammer's Films for the National Gallery of Art

I am empty when I am not in love
And so I will always overflow
Because I have a good imagination.~ David Hammer, 1983

The hard world was a little softer because David was in it.~ Elisa Slattery, family friend since 1987

The inaugural David Henry Hammer Award in Film was given in May 2024 to the faculty’s choice of a graduate in the Screenwriting & Directing Program, recognising a filmmaker possessing both artistic ambition & generosity of spirit, a rare combination.We plan to continue annually. In this way, we support filmmakers who embody gentle dignity coupled with exquisite expertise calling to mind our beloved friend, colleague, and kinsman.The award will be a cash prize and access to a unique sounding board we're forming to offer light-touch mentoring and support on an ad hoc basis. Through the sound boarding, conversation and connection is possible in the period after graduation when the universe widens, perhaps in daunting or disappointing ways, determination wavers or intensifies.Family endorsement for an arts career is not available to every artist, although it was continual for David. Filling the gap is part of why we've created this award in my brother's honour.The annual award will continue as long as funds from donors allow, or until the award grows to be an endowed scholarship - our ultimate aim.

Contributing to the David Henry Hammer Award in Film Fund

To make a 501c tax-deductible donation, visit Columbia University’s dedicated link, and select your donation amount.

Thank you to our donorsSusan Arensberg
Libby Bauer
David Burk and Family
Gea Hammer Carr
Jack Clark
Leslie Findlen & Rich Wald
Marge Ginsburg and Howard Slyter
Patty Ginsburg
Bo Hammer & Becky Thompson
Dan & Shelley Hammer
Hali Hammer
Matt Hammer & Michelle Longosz
Gregory Jecmen
Madelyn Postman
Di Sobel
and others

David Henry Hammer
27 July 1965 -22 May 2023

"The hallmark of David's presence was that he was both generous and demanding, a rare combination. He gave freely of his time and his wisdom to help out other people and he never stopped aiming high -- both in his own work and in his insights into the work of others." ~ School of the Arts classmate Evan Camfield ('01)

"I remember David fondly from his student days in Columbia University's MFA Program, when I was Director of Undergraduate Film Studies. He was selected for the prestigious position of Preceptor to teach 'Nonfiction Filmmaking' in Spring 2000, and did so well that he was reappointed in Spring 2001. It was - and remains - unusual for the same person to teach the class twice. May his memory be for a blessing." ~ film historian Annette Insdorf

After his death, Director of Photography Patrick Duval (in the checked shirt above) remembered "David's gentle warmth and generosity as well as professional patience always stood out when meeting people and working with crews -- someone you always wanted to collaborate with."

My brother, David, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in a sweltering summer when our mother's only access to air conditioning was in movie theatres. Our parents Edna Clark (1936-2014) and Mark Hammer (1937-2007) were jobbing actors at the time. From Cincinnati they brought baby David to the Bronx, where our father worked three jobs and tried to get his stage career off the ground. (He did not succeed.) Pregnant with me, the trio moved south to Maryland. Dad started teaching in the MFA Program in Acting at Catholic University, where our parents had met as grad students in the late 1950s, and our mother became a reluctant housewife. In the mid-60s, theirs would have been considered a mixed marriage: she a Protestant who later became Unitarian, he a Jew, lapsed in his practice but true to his cultural heritage. David's commitment to civil rights germinated at our kitchen table.The arts were always part of our lives. During our childhood, Dad acted on Broadway and became a long-standing member of the Arena Stage resident acting company; and our mother taught Shakespeare, theatre history and speech, eventually earning a PhD in theatre history and becoming a Dean of an American university in London. In his later career, Dad was an award-winning narrator of audio books, a member of the LAByrinth Theatre Company and a teacher at the Stella Adler Conservatory with a periodic role as a judge on Law & Order. In her 70s, our mother self-published her first novel. David's professional choice was backed by our family at every step. His was an apple falling close to the family tree.From his first days, David was known to be gentle and shy enough he'd often blush. In third grade, he met his lifelong best friend Michael Meredith (who later founded a theatre in Chicago). By junior high, they were making super-8 films with another school friend, David Levine, now a cartoonist, illustrator and painter living in Switzerland. Known as the Diseased Filmmakers, and joined by a fourth friend, Jon Persons, the quartet made stop-motion animation and live action silent films. In high school, David also wrote poems published in the high school literary magazine and editorial columns for the student newspaper. At University of Maryland College Park, David majored in Radio, Television and Film.In his 20s, David travelled in Europe, returning to the DC Metro area to work in marketing and in production management for live events. And he began studying filmmaking more seriously. When he was ready to commit to an MFA program, David chose Columbia because of the emphasis on storytelling.At Columbia, David worked in the equipment library. By then, by all accounts, he knew his gear and was always willing to advise fellow students there and then, and on the set. During David's MFA years, our father and stepmother were gravely injured in a car accident. David became Dad's companion and healthcare advocate during a slow, unsteady recovery. Dad also acted in several of David's student films. After graduating from Columbia, David spent a further year in New York City, picking up production work with the Law & Order series.Maryland called to David. He returned to his hometown, resuming work at Tess Wald Productions and making the occasional corporate video. He married Ginger Crockett in 2005. Through Ginger, an art historian, he found work at the National Gallery of Art as a filmmaker. Returning to his first love, David developed a corpus of work where artworks and artists speak directly to audiences. His work won CINE Gold Eagle, Daveys, Emmys, Tellys, Worldliest, W3 awards and has been featured in festivals internationally. David would narrate, even compose film scores, when necessary. But he was equally at home directing narrations from top-tier actors including Adrian Brody, Glenn Close, Ed Harris, Ethan Hawke, John Lithgow, Tilda Swinton and Stanley Tucci.After a 10-week fight against cancer in spring 2023, David Henry Hammer died in Sibley Memorial Hospital two months shy of his 58th birthday. David was until his death Senior Producer at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.At his life celebration, National Gallery of Art Senior Curator Harry Cooper described David Hammer as one of the art world's finest filmmakers of his generation.David was a loving, kind, gifted man committed wholeheartedly to his craft.~ Kate Hammer