Editing Born in Flames

{{Short description|1983 film by Lizzie Borden}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{use mdy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Born in Flames
| image          = Born in flames poster.jpg
| caption        =
| director       = [[Lizzie Borden (director)|Lizzie Borden]]
| producer       = Lizzie Borden
| writer         = [[Ed Bowes]]<br/>Lizzie Borden (uncredited)
| starring       = {{plainlist|
* Honey
* [[Adele Bertei]]
* [[Kathryn Bigelow]]
}}
| narrator       =
| music          = The Bloods<br/>[[Red Krayola|The Red Crayola]]
| cinematography = {{plainlist|
* Ed Bowes
* Al Santana
* Lizzie Borden
* [[Chris Hegedus]] 
* [[Michael Oblowitz]]
}}
| editing        = Lizzie Borden
| distributor    = [[First Run Features]]
| released       = {{Film date|1983|2|20}}
| runtime        = 90 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         =
| gross          =

}}
'''''Born in Flames''''' is a 1983 American [[Utopian and dystopian fiction|utopian/dystopian]] [[docufiction]] [[Drama (film and television)|drama]] film directed, produced and co-written by radical intersectional feminist [[Lizzie Borden (director)|Lizzie Borden]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=AnOther |date=2021-05-10 |title=Five Dystopian Films That Warn of Nightmarish Near-Futures |url=https://www.anothermag.com/design-living/13315/five-dystopian-films-that-warn-of-nightmarish-near-futures-mubi |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=AnOther |language=en}}</ref> The film explores [[racism]], [[classism]], [[sexism]] and [[heterosexism]] in an [[Alternate history|alternate]] [[Democratic socialism|socialist democratic]] [[United States]].<ref name=NYT>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/10/movies/film-born-in-flames-radical-feminist-ideas.html |title=Film: 'Born in Flames' Radical feminist ideas|author-link=Janet Maslin|first=Janet|last=Maslin|date=November 10, 1983|access-date=February 27, 2022}}</ref> The title comes from the [[Red Krayola]] song "Born in Flames", which appears in the film and was written by [[Mayo Thompson]], a member of the conceptual artists' group [[Art & Language]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/filmmaker-lizzie-borden-talks-about-her-scrappy-dystopian-magnum-opus/Content?oid=2788668|title=Lizzie Borden talks about her scrappy, feminist magnum opus, 'Born in Flames'|last=Baise|first=Greg|website=Detroit Metro Times|access-date=2017-08-21|date=March 1, 2017}}</ref>

==Plot==

The film is set during the 10th anniversary of a peaceful socialist-democratic revolution, and follows two feminist groups in New York City, each voicing their concerns to the public by [[pirate radio]]. One group, led by an outspoken white lesbian, Isabel, operates Radio Ragazza. The other, led by a soft-spoken African-American, Honey, operates Phoenix Radio. The local community is stimulated into action after a world-traveling political activist, Adelaide Norris, is arrested upon arriving at a New York City airport, and suspiciously dies while in police custody. Simultaneously, a Women's Army led by Hilary Hurst and advised by Zella, an elderly theorist and mentor, is taking [[direct action]] in the city. Initially, both Honey and Isabel refuse to join. This group, along with Norris and the radio stations, are under investigation by FBI agents. Their progress is tracked by three editors for a socialist newspaper, whose persistent and opinionated journalism ultimately gets them fired.

The story involves several different women with different perspectives and attempts to show several examples of how sexism plays out on the streets and how it can be combatted. In one scene, two men attack a woman on the sidewalk, forcing her to the ground. Before they can cause further harm, dozens of women on bicycles and blowing whistles come to chase the men away and help the woman. The movie shows women – despite their various differences – organizing in meetings, making radio shows, creating art, [[Flyposting|wheatpasting]], working various jobs, etc. The film portrays a world rife with violence against women, high female unemployment, and government oppression. The women in the film start to come together to make a bigger impact, by means that some in their society consider [[terrorism]].

Ultimately, after both radio stations are suspiciously burned down, Honey and Isabel team up and broadcast Phoenix Ragazza Radio from stolen [[U-Haul]] vans. They also join the Women's Army, which sends a group of terrorists to interrupt a broadcast of the President of the United States, who is proposing that women be paid to do housework. The film ends with the women taking one more action, to bomb the antenna on top of the [[World Trade Center (1973-2001)|World Trade Center]] to hinder further destructive messages coming from the government and mainstream media.

==Cast==
* Honey as Honey, host of Phoenix Radio
* [[Adele Bertei]] as Isabel, host of Radio Ragazza
* Jean Satterfield as Adelaide Norris
* [[Florynce Kennedy]] (credited as "Flo Kennedy") as Zella Wylie, theorist 
* [[Becky Johnston]] as Becky Dunlop, newspaper editor
* [[Pat Murphy (director)|Pat Murphy]] as Pat Crosby, newspaper editor
* [[Kathryn Bigelow]] as Kathy Larson, newspaper editor
* Hillary Hurst as the leader of the Women's Army
* [[Sheila McLaughlin]] as other leader
* [[Marty Pottenger]] as other leader/woman at site
* Bell Chevigny as Belle Gayle, a talk show host
* [[Joel Kovel]] as a talk show guest
* [[Ron Vawter]] as FBI Agent
* [[John Coplans]] as chief
* John Rudolph as TV newscaster
* Warner Schreiner as TV newscaster
* [[Valerie Smaldone]] as TV newscaster
* [[Hal Miller (actor)|Hal Miller]] as detective
* [[Bill Tatum]] as Mayor Zubrinsky
* [[Mark Boone Junior]] as man in subway harassing woman
* [[Donna Allegra]] as woman at site

''Born in Flames'' marks the first screen appearance of [[Eric Bogosian]];<ref>{{cite web |title=Eric Bogosian Biography |url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/32/Eric-Bogosian.html |work=Film Reference |access-date=2009-05-13 }}</ref> he plays a technician at a TV station who is forced at gunpoint to run a videotape on the network feed. The movie also features a rare acting appearance by [[Academy Award]]-winning film director [[Kathryn Bigelow]].<ref name=NYT/> Story contributor and cinematographer [[Ed Bowes]] portrays the editor of the socialist newspaper that ultimately fires the female journalists.

==Accolades==
In 1983, the film won the Reader Jury prize at the [[Berlin International Film Festival]]<ref name="Mubi">{{cite web |title=Born in Flames (1983) Awards & Festivals |url=https://mubi.com/films/born-in-flames/awards |website=[[MUBI]] |access-date=31 December 2022}}</ref> and the Grand Prix at the [[Créteil International Women's Film Festival]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Lizzie Borden |url=https://equalityarchive.com/people/lizzie-borden/ |website=Equality Archive |date=November 3, 2015 |access-date=31 December 2022}}</ref>

==Reception and legacy==
[[Rotten Tomatoes]] reports an 88% approval rating for the film based on 32 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/born_in_flames/|title=Born in Flames (1983)|work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|publisher=[[Fandango Media]]|access-date=2023-08-05}}</ref>

''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' said at the time of the film's release that it has "all the advantages and the disadvantages of a home movie",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/1982/film/reviews/born-in-flames-1200425584/|title=Review: 'Born in Flames'|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=December 31, 1982|access-date=2015-04-11}}</ref> while ''[[The Guardian]]'' in 2021 described the film as a zero-budget underground film with all the hallmarks of guerilla filmmaking, writing that "Borden is filming on the real New York streets, also using real news footage of real demos and real police violence" and that the "anarchic spirit of [[agitprop]] pulses from this scrappy, smart, subversive film." (In an interview, Borden herself said, "I could only shoot once a month, when I had $200 ... I would gather everyone in this old Lincoln Continental I kept parked in front of my loft, go somewhere and shoot, and then I'd spend the interim just editing.")

[[Janet Maslin]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote in 1983: "Only those who already share Miss Borden's ideas are apt to find her film persuasive."<ref name="NYT" /> Marjorie Baumgarten's 2001 review for ''[[The Austin Chronicle]]'' praised the film, saying: "Beautifully made, courageously edited, and swift-moving, this challenging, provocative film is a work that is both humanist and revolutionary."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/calendar/film/2001-06-20/141222/|title=Born in Flames|last=Baumgarten|first=Marjorie|work=[[The Austin Chronicle]]|date=2001-06-20|access-date=2015-04-11}}</ref> Frances Dickinson of ''[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out London]]'' wrote that Borden "[handles] her story with audacity and make[s] even the driest argument crackle with humour, while the more poignant moments burn with a fierce white heat."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timeout.com/london/film/born-in-flames|title=Born in Flames|last=Dickinson|first=Frances|work=[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out London]]|date=September 10, 2012 |access-date=2015-04-11}}</ref> ''[[TV Guide (magazine)|TV Guide]]'' rated it 2/4 stars, saying: "This feminist film wins laurels for close attention to detail in a radical filmmaking effort."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tvguide.com/movies/born-in-flames/review/118362/|title=Born In Flames|author=<!-- Staff -->|work=[[TV Guide]]|access-date=2015-04-11}}</ref> Greg Baise of the ''[[Metro Times]]'' called it "an early '80s landmark of indie and queer cinema".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.metrotimes.com/Blogs/archives/2010/06/16/born-in-flames|title=Born in Flames|last=Baise|first=Greg|work=[[Metro Times]]|date=2010-06-16|access-date=2015-04-11}}</ref> In 2022, the film was ranked joint 243rd in the ''[[Sight and Sound|Sight & Sound]]''<nowiki/> Greatest Films of All Time poll, tied for that ranking with 21 other films, including ''[[A Clockwork Orange (film)|A Clockwork Orange]]'', ''[[Annie Hall]]'' and ''[[Possession (1981 film)|Possession]].''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Born in Flames (1983) |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/cdbfd41c-186f-5955-b005-37107d694df4/born-in-flames- |access-date=2023-02-11 |website=BFI |language=en}}</ref>

===References===
* The movie refers to many feminist movements and tools, including [[black feminism]], [[white feminism]], [[consciousness raising]], [[independent radio]], and responses to [[police brutality]].
* There is also a reference to [[wages for housework]], a '70s feminist social movement addressing women's reproductive labor, in a scene in which the President announces on television: “For the first time in our history we’ll provide women with wages for housework,” just before a group of women hijack the broadcast to air a militant message. This moment in the film highlights political antagonisms between white heteronormative feminism and anti-racist / anti-capitalist feminism.<ref name="Beth Capper 2017 p. 97-116">{{cite journal|last1=Capper |first1=Beth |year=2017 |title=Domestic Unrest |journal=Third Text |volume=31 |number=1 |pages=97–116 |doi=10.1080/09528822.2017.1366410|s2cid=149187896 }}</ref>
* The movie also refers to U.S. policies like the [[Workfare]] program and the [[Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act|Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act]] of 1976, which in the film are taken to discriminate against single and queer women (in one scene, a TV news journalist announces that "male heads of families" would get jobs).<ref name="Beth Capper 2017 p. 97-116"/>
* In his 2013 critical analysis, media historian Lucas Hilderbrand notes the film's parallels with the [[Combahee River Collective]]'s ''A Black Feminist Statement'' (1977) [see 'Influence' below].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hilderbrand |first=Lucas |title=In the Heat of the Moment: Notes on the past, present, and future of ''Born in Flames'' |url= https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0740770X.2013.786340 |journal=Women & Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory |volume=23 |number=1 |year=2013 |page=8 |doi= 10.1080/0740770X.2013.786340|s2cid=144915893 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===Production notes===
*The film features a live performance of "Undercover Nation" by The Bloods, the group led by lead actor [[Adele Bertei]]; and the 1980 [[Red Krayola]] song "Born In Flames" (originally released as a single, it was credited then, as here, to "The Red Crayola").<ref>{{cite web |title=The Red Crayola* – Born In Flames |date=September 10, 1980 |url=https://www.discogs.com/The-Red-Crayola-Born-In-Flames/release/567037 |publisher=discogs.com |access-date=19 July 2018}}</ref> Other music used includes "[[I'll Take You There|I’ll Take You There]]" by African-American gospel/R&B/soul group [[The Staple Singers]], "[[Strange Fruit]]" by [[Billie Holiday]], "[[Voodoo Chile]]" by [[Jimi Hendrix]] and "New Town" by British female punk group [[The Slits]].
* The cast of the film includes  civil rights lawyer and activist [[Florynce "Flo" Kennedy|Florynce Kennedy]]; punk singer and [[no wave]] artist [[Adele Bertei]] (from The Bloods and [[The Contortions]]); film director [[Kathryn Bigelow]], and actors [[Ron Vawter]] and [[Eric Bogosian]].
* Cinematography and camera work involved several people over the long course of shooting the film; these included Borden herself and some of her cast and crew members; as well as documentary filmmaker [[Chris Hegedus]] and no wave filmmaker [[Michael Oblowitz]].

===Influence===
The film is discussed in [[Christina Lane]]'s book ''Feminist Hollywood: From "Born in Flames" to "Point Break"''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-133947283.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924131233/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-133947283.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2015-09-24|title=Feminist Hollywood: From Born in Flames to Point Break (Book Review)|last=Kessler|first=Kelly|work=[[Velvet Light Trap]]|date=2001-03-22|access-date=2015-04-11}}</ref>

A “graphic translation” of the movie made by artist Kaisa Lassinaro, which contains an interview of Lizzie Borden, was published by Occasional Papers in 2011.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Borden |first1=Lizzie |last2=Lassinaro |first2=Kaisa |title=Born in Flames, Occasional Papers |year=2011 |publisher=Occasional Papers |isbn=978-0-9562605-9-8}}</ref> The book is a collage composition made of screencaps with a selection of dialogues from the movie.

In 2013, a dossier on the film was published as a special issue of ''Women & Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory''.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Women & Performance: a journal of feminist theory |volume=23 |number=1 |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rwap20/23/1 |newspaper=Taylor & Francis|access-date=2015-12-07}}</ref> With an introduction from Craig Willse and Dean Spade, the dossier includes a number of essays that address race, queerness, intersectionality, radicalism, violence, and feminism in the film.

The film has experienced something of a renaissance after the [[35 mm movie film|35mm]] restoration print premiered in 2016 at the [[Anthology Film Archives]].<ref name="NPR">{{cite news |last1=Ulaby |first1=Neda |title=This 1983 Feminist Film Was Set In The Dystopian Future, So Basically Right Now Facebook Twitter Flipboard Email |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/07/03/1009254793/born-in-flames-lizzie-borden-feminist-film-bronx-museum |access-date=31 December 2022 |work=[[NPR]] |date=July 3, 2021}}</ref> followed by promotion by the Criterion Channel and a re-release that took Borden to screenings around the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=This 1983 Feminist Film Was Set In The Dystopian Future, So Basically Right Now |website=[[NPR]] |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/07/03/1009254793/born-in-flames-lizzie-borden-feminist-film-bronx-museum }}</ref> [[Richard Brody]] of ''[[The New Yorker]]'' wrote "the free, ardent, spontaneous creativity of ''Born in Flames'' emerges as an indispensable mode of radical change—one that many contemporary filmmakers with political intentions have yet to assimilate."<ref name="NY">{{cite magazine |last1=Brody |first1=Richard |title=The political science fiction of ''Born in Flames'' |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/the-political-science-fiction-of-born-in-flames |access-date=31 December 2022 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=February 19, 2016}}</ref> He also wrote "Borden's exhilarating collage-like story stages news reports, documentary sequences, and surveillance footage alongside tough action scenes and musical numbers; her violent vision is both ideologically complex and chilling."<ref name="NY" /> Melissa Anderson of ''[[The Village Voice]]'' wrote "this unruly, unclassifiable film — perhaps the sole entry in the hybrid genre of radical-lesbian-feminist sci-fi vérité — premiered two years into the Reagan regime, but its fury proves as bracing today as it was back when this country began its inexorable shift to the right."<ref name="Village">{{cite news |last1=Anderson |first1=Melissa |title=Fire Starter: Lizzie Borden's First Films Still Light Up (and Burn Down) the Left |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2016/02/16/fire-starter-lizzie-bordens-first-films-still-light-up-and-burn-down-the-left/ |access-date=31 December 2022 |work=[[The Village Voice]] |date=February 16, 2016}}</ref> Borden was invited to show the new 35mm print in [[Brussels]], [[Barcelona]], [[Madrid]], [[San Sebastián]], [[Milan]], [[Toronto]], the [[Edinburgh International Film Festival|Edinburgh Film Festival]], [[BFI London Film Festival|London Film Festival]], along with screenings in [[Detroit]], [[Rochester, New York|Rochester]], [[San Francisco]], and [[Los Angeles]].<ref name="NPR" />

==See also==
* [[List of Afrofuturist films]]
* [[List of cult films]]
* [[List of American independent films|American independent cinema]]
* [[1983 in film]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0085267}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|2=Born in Flames}}
* {{TCMDb title|id=69408}}
* {{AFI film|57029}}
* [https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-radical-80s-film-that-predicted-todays-political-clusterfuck/ Interview of Lizzie Borden] by Fiona Duncan at [[Vice (magazine)|Vice]]
* [https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2020/01/23/34-best-political-movies-ever-made/ "The 34 best political movies ever made"] by [[Ann Hornaday]] at [[The Washington Post]] (Jan. 23, 2020), ranked #25
* [http://heresiesfilmproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/heresies16.pdf Heresies journal #16] (1983) features a detailed synopsis of the plot with extensive quotations
{{Lizzie Borden}}

[[Category:1983 films]]
[[Category:1980s science fiction drama films]]
[[Category:Films about pirate radio]]
[[Category:Afrofuturist films]]
[[Category:American feminist films]]
[[Category:1983 independent films]]
[[Category:1983 LGBTQ-related films]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ-related films]]
[[Category:American mockumentary films]]
[[Category:American science fiction drama films]]
[[Category:American dystopian films]]
[[Category:1980s feminist films]]
[[Category:Films about anarchism]]
[[Category:Films about race and ethnicity]]
[[Category:LGBTQ-related political films]]
[[Category:LGBTQ-related science fiction drama films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Lizzie Borden (director)]]
[[Category:LGBTQ socialism]]
[[Category:Lesbian feminist mass media]]
[[Category:Lesbian-related films]]
[[Category:1980s satirical films]]
[[Category:1983 drama films]]
[[Category:1980s dystopian films]]
[[Category:1980s English-language films]]
[[Category:1980s American films]]
[[Category:1983 science fiction films]]
[[Category:English-language science fiction drama films]]
[[Category:English-language independent films]]