Born in Flames

Friday, March 30 - Saturday, April 7, 2018

DCP projection

Experimental film maverick Barbara Hammer on BORN IN FLAMES:

“In 1983 when I saw Lizzie Borden’s BORN IN FLAMES, I was seeing a revolutionary movie with mostly female characters living in a self-constructed world surrounded by a hostile environment. Posing as a sci-fi narrative Born In Flames released the pent up frustrations from the seventies that saw not enough change. Women were still second class citizens and glass ceilings were not rising but lowering. Two radical women’s groups do not see eye to eye. One group is led by a white lesbian leader who is loud and contentious. The other group’s leader is soft spoken and African-American. They both operate separate and competing radio stations.

There are some incredible scenes like a group of women on bicycles coming to the rescue of another; wheat pasting propaganda sheets throughout the streets of lower Manhattan; putting a condom on a penis.

I won’t say more here except this film deserves to be seen. It is not only a historic early woman-directed narrative (with, by the way, Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) playing an intern; but a film that rocked the women’s film festivals worldwide. We were all about ready to join the Women’s Army after seeing BORN IN FLAMES.”

Screening as part of the series Waverly Midnights: After the Fall.

• Country USA
• Rating NR
• Year 1983
• Running Time 80 minutes
• Director Lizzie Borden
• Writer Lizzie Borden (screenplay), Ed Bowes (story)
• Editor Lizzie Borden
• Cinematographer Ed Bowes, Al Santana

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.