SF DocFest 2024: Naked Ambition & Steph and the Customers

Filmmaker in attendance

She popularized the bikini, invented the selfie, discovered Bettie Page and slyly snuck feminist agency into the most unlikely of spaces—men’s magazines. Her creative contributions were both unabashedly delectable and ahead of their time. Miami photographer Bunny Yeager (1926-2014) made an indelible mark on US popular culture yet today she remains largely unknown.

With full access to the Bunny Yeager archives, the cooperation of her estate and family, interviews with cultural icons and experts including Dita Von Teese, Larry King, Playboy’s Dick Rosenzweig, Taschen’s book editor Dian Hanson, screenwriter Guinevere Turner, photographer Bruce Weber, as well as the participation of art curators and collectors, “Naked Ambition” is as much a rediscovery of a great photographer who was ahead of her time, as it is an examination of the evolution of women’s agency in post-war America. Yeager’s story allows us to explore the topic of agency in female sexual representation from the 1940s to today by revisiting her work for evidence that potentially distorts the historical narrative surrounding women’s subjectivity.

Playing with the short: Steph and the Customers

After losing her husband, Stephanie finds solace and support in her interactions with customers at her fishing store. Directed by Sara K Hopkins, Aaron Zhang, 8 minutes.