Thursday, March 28, 6:00 p.m. | Lizzie Borden’s daring first feature is a shapeshifting portrait of a women’s collective and the slippery relationship between a filmmaker and her subjects. When the collective breaks down, the film similarly fragments, with the introduction of fictional characters, disjunctive sounds and images, and multi-textual observations by artists outside the group, including Joan Jonas, Barbara Kruger, Nancy Holt, and Kathryn Bigelow, resulting in a rich and complicated depiction of 1970s feminism. The collective protested Borden’s final cut after REGROUPING's 1976 premiere and Borden shelved the film for many years. Now, with the participants’ permission, it is circulating once more in a restoration by Anthology Film Archives.

Restored by Anthology Film Archives and The Film Foundation with funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.

Presented in partnership with the University of Illinois Chicago’s (UIC) College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts; and UIC’s Department of Gender and Women’s Studies.

About the Artist

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.

Related Events: BORN IN FLAMES (Thursday, March 28, 8:30 p.m.) and WORKING GIRLS (Friday, March 29, 6:00 p.m.)

Accessibility

The Film Center is ADA accessible. Theaters are equipped with hearing-loops. CATE events are presented with real-time captions (CART). For other accessibility requests, please visit saic.edu/access or email cate@saic.edu.

SAIC Student Tickets

All CATE programs are free for SAIC students. Unless otherwise noted, SAIC student tickets are released five days prior to showtime. Tickets must be picked up in person from the Gene Siskel Film Center box office. A student ID is required.

Conversations at the Edge: Screenings, performances, and talks by groundbreaking media artists. Conversations at the Edge is a collaboration between the Film Center, Video Data Bank, and SAIC’s Department of Film, Video, New Media and Animation, organized by Amy Beste, Director of Public Programs, SAIC. View full program.