NO WAVE WOMEN: FEMALE FILMMAKERS OF THE 80'S UNDERGROUND
Four films from women making films on their own terms.
SMITHEREENS 1982
A vibrant time capsule of the gritty East Village and its young Eighties punk life, SMITHEREENS earned much praise and even competed for the Palme d'or — making it one of America’s trailblazing indies before the movement kicked into high gear at the end of the decade.
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Wild teen Wren (Susan Berman) trades NJ for NYC, where she hopes to join what's left of punk culture. She hangs out with fellow transplant Paul (Brad Rijn), but he's too safe for her tastes — which run to narcissistic rockers. She finds one in Eric (punk icon Richard Hell), about to cut a record in LA. Before long, Wren plans to accompany Eric out west, but it's clear she's trusted the wrong person.
SMITHEREENS marked the directorial debut of Susan Siedelman, whose career includes DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN (featuring Madonna) and charming mob comedy COOKIE. Here, she turns all the dyed hair, striped shirts, checkered miniskirts, and dingy street settings into an snapshot of a subculture teetering on oblivion.
Thursday, March 5
Director: Susan Seildelman
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Starring: Susan Berman, Brad Rijn, Richard Hell
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Runtime: 94
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Language: English
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Director: Sara Driver
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Starring: Suzanne Fletcher, Ann Magnuson, Tony Todd
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Runtime: 75 min
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Language: English
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SLEEPWALK 1986
Sara Driver’s first feature is a tantalizingly enigmatic, surrealist fantasia rooted in the grit and anything-goes energy of the 1980s New York night world. When Nicole (Suzanne Fletcher), a young copy-shop employee, is hired to translate an ancient Chinese manuscript, she soon finds that the document has strange powers that exert an eerie influence over her life. As women go bald, people mysteriously die, and Xerox machines seem to develop minds of their own, Driver guides this hypnagogic reverie into increasingly hallucinatory, dreamlike realms, aided by the striking chiaroscuro compositions of cinematographer Jim Jarmusch.
Wednesday, March 11
BORN IN FLAMES 1983
A blistering rallying cry issued loud, clear, and unapologetically queer, Lizzie Borden’s explosive postpunk provocation is a DIY fantasia of female rebellion set in America ten years after a revolution that supposedly transformed the country into a social-democratic utopia. In reality, racism, sexism, and economic inequality are as virulent as ever, and a band of radicals—led by Black, lesbian, and working-class women—join forces to fight back. Told through a furiously fractured, kinetically edited flurry of television news broadcasts, pirate radio transmissions, agitprop, and protests shot guerrilla-style on the streets of New York City, Born in Flames is a shock wave of feminist futurism that’s both an essential document of its time and radically ahead of it.
Wednesday, March 18
Director: Lizzie Borden
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Starring: Honey, Adele Bertei, Jean Satterfield
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Runtime: 80 min.
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Language: English
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VARIETY 1983
The provocative, sexually charged tale of a woman’s journey of self-discovery, Bette Gordon’s independent landmark offers a bold challenge to conventional notions of feminism and pornography. Emerging out of New York City’s 1980s artistic underground, VARIETY follows Christine (Sandy McLeod), a bright and unassuming young woman who takes a job selling tickets at a porno theater near Times Square. Instead of distancing herself from the dark and erotic nature of her new milieu, Christine soon develops an obsession that begins to consume her life. Featuring contributions from a variety of counterculture luminaries—including cult novelist Kathy Acker, who cowrote the script; musician John Lurie; and photographer Nan Goldin—VARIETY remains revolutionary in its fearless exploration of erotic fantasy from a woman’s point of view.
Wednesday, March 25
Director: Bette Gordon
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Starring: Sandy McLeod, Luis Guzman, Nan Goldin, Cookie Mueller
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Runtime: 101 min.
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Language: English
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