“I was so angry when I made it—now I think women are angry all over again and reclaiming that in a new way.” —Lizzie Borden
Radical indie filmmaker Lizzie Borden set her 1983 sci-fi film, Born in Flames, in a dystopian future (aka now). Using documentary techniques alongside satirical comedy and invented narratives to tell the story of a feminist insurgency against a “Socialist Democratic” government, the film follows the news that the Black radical founder of the Women’s Army (Jeanne Satterfield) has gone missing in New York City and the diverse coalition of queer feminist revolutionaries who rise up to fight the System. 1983, 80 min., 35mm.
Preserved by Anthology Film Archives with restoration funding from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and The Film Foundation.
A Q&A with Lizzie Borden and Jon Davies follows the screening.
Bios
Lizzie Borden (b. 1950, Detroit) is a writer and director best known for her independent films Born in Flames and Working Girls. In 2016, Anthology Film Archives restored and revived Born in Flames for a run at international film festivals and screenings in US cities, including at the Walker. Borden’s long-unseen first film Regrouping (1976), an experimental documentary about women’s groups, was restored in 2021. Borden made two films for Hollywood in the ’90s—Love Crimes and Erotique—that she’s since disowned due to the studio’s re-editing and control over her work. Borden published an anthology in 2022, WHOREPHOBIA: Strippers on Art, Work and Life with Seven Stories Press. She is currently working on several TV and film projects.
Jon Davies is a Montreal-born curator and writer. He earned a PhD in art history from Stanford University for his dissertation The Fountain: Art, Sex and Queer Pedagogy in San Francisco, 1945–1995. Davies was a member of the Pleasure Dome programming collective before working as an assistant curator at the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto, and associate curator at Oakville Galleries. Davies has curated film programs for venues including the Ann Arbor Film Festival, Aurora Festival, Gallery TPW, Images Festival, Inside Out Film Festival, and Vtape. Davies’s book about the film Trash by Paul Morrissey was published by Arsenal Pulp Press in 2009 and his anthology, More Voice-Over: Colin Campbell Writings, was published by Concordia University Press in 2021. His writing on film, video, and contemporary art has been published in many anthologies, catalogues, journals, and periodicals, including C Magazine, Canadian Art, Criticism, Fillip, Frieze, GLQ, and No More Potlucks.
Content and Accessibility Notes
Content note: This film contains racism, protest violence, violence against women, and police murder of a Black woman.
Accessibility
This film has open captions.
Assistive Technology
Assistive listening devices (ALDs) are available at the Main Lobby desk for most film screenings. ALDs play the film’s audio track through headphones. Each side has a separate and adjustable volume setting. Call 612-375-7564 or email access@walkerart.org for the availability of assistive technology at this event.
Seating
For seating that doesn’t require the use of stairs, enter the Cinema through the left-side door. Our accessible seating is situated at the back of the house, with clear views of the screen and stage. The area is elevated slightly above the tiered seating and can accommodate two wheelchairs. As space is limited, reservations are encouraged. Please call 612-375-7564 or email access@walkerart.org for availability.
Restrooms
Accessible restrooms near the Cinema are located in two areas. There are two all-gender, single-user restrooms with manual doors to the left of the restaurant, across from the Cinema. There are gendered, multi-stall restrooms behind the Main Lobby desk, accessible by elevator (level LL).
Parking
Vineland Place parking meters provide four-hour options for vehicles with disability license plates or certificates.
Accessible parking in the underground ramp is designated near the elevator and entrance. To get to the Cinema from the parking ramp, follow the P1 (level 1) hallway (look for the large “WALKER” sign) into the Main Lobby.
Services such as Metro Mobility should be instructed to drop off and pick up passengers at 725 Vineland Place. There is a disability transfer zone by the main entrance on Vineland Place.
Questions?
For information or to request accommodations, call 612-375-7564 or email access@walkerart.org. For more information about accessibility at the Walker, visit our Access page.
Contact the box office at 612-375-7600 for day of event questions.
Before Your Visit
Paid underground parking is available on-site. Enter the ramp on Vineland Place at Bryant Avenue. Biking or taking Metro Transit? Learn more.
Visiting the galleries? Enhance your experience by joining a public tour or with self-guided resources accessible for free on Bloomberg Connects.
Personal photography is permitted throughout the Walker and the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, but please turn off the flash when visiting the galleries.
To help us promote future events and programs, this event may be photographed or recorded. By attending, you consent to appear in this documentation and its future use by the museum. Please let staff know upon arrival if you prefer not to be photographed.
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