Lizzie Borden: Born In Flames
March 28, 2024
8:30 PM - 10:30 PM America/Chicago
Location
Gene Siskel Film Center, Theatre 1
Address
164 N. State Street, Chicago, IL 60601
Calendar
Download iCal FileJoin GWS for a screening of the film "Born In Flames," followed by a discussion with the filmmaker Lizzie Borden.
About the Film: Lizzie Borden’s legendary second feature is a thrillingly provocative tale of female rebellion set in America 10 years after a social democratic cultural revolution. When Adelaide Norris (Jean Satterfield), the Black radical founder of the Woman’s Army, is mysteriously killed, a diverse group of women—Black, white, queer, hetero, working class, and elite—build a coalition to topple the patriarchy once and for all. Radical in both style and politics, Borden’s film brings together documentary footage, incendiary news reports, and violent action sequences to underscore the urgency of intersectional feminism in the face of oppression. Fueled by a post-punk soundtrack and featuring performances by numerous cultural luminaries including civil rights activist Florynce Kennedy, Honey, Adele Bertei, and Kathryn Bigelow, among many others, Born in Flames continues to resonate today.
About the Filmmaker: Lizzie Borden is a writer, director, editor, and script consultant. Her 1983 film Born in Flames, named one of “The 50 Most Important Independent Films” by Filmmaker Magazine, has been shown at countless festivals and theaters around the world. It has been taught and written about extensively since its 1983 premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. In 2016, when the film was restored by Anthology Film Archives, New Yorker critic Richard Brody called it “a feminist masterpiece.” Borden also wrote, directed, and produced the controversial independent fiction film Working Girls, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in the Directors’ Fortnight, won a US Dramatic Special Jury Recognition at the Sundance Film Festival, and was restored by the Criterion Collection in 2021. Borden’s long-unseen 1976 film Regrouping was restored by Anthology Film Archives in 2023.
Accessibility: The Film Center is ADA accessible. Theaters are equipped with hearing-loops. CATE (Conversations at the Edge) events are presented with real-time captions (CART). For other accessibility requests, please visit saic.edu/access or email cate@saic.edu.
Co-sponsors: Presented in partnership with the School of the Art Institute, the Gene Siskel Film Center; and University of Illinois Chicago’s (UIC) College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts.
Tickets: This film screening is free for UIC students. Tickets will be available starting Sunday, March 24, at the Gene Siskel Film Center box office with a valid school ID - limit one free ticket per ID.
$13 General public
$8 Students
$6.50 Film Center members
Date posted
Feb 1, 2024
Date updated
Feb 9, 2024