Friday, March 29, 6:00 p.m. | In her groundbreaking third feature, Lizzie Borden looks at gender, race, and labor relations in a Manhattan brothel. Inspired by the experiences of sex workers Borden met while making BORN IN FLAMES, WORKING GIRLS follows the rhythms of a day-in-the life of Molly (Louise Smith), an artist who turns to sex work to fund her photography practice (images provided by the artist Nan Goldin). Molly and her colleagues greet clients in the brothel’s pastel-hued reception, change sheets, answer the phone, and log their earnings in a ledger overseen by their overpaid boss, paralleling women’s labor of all kinds—from domestic to the office. 

Digitally restored by The Criterion Collection and the UCLA Film & Television Archive, in conjunction with Sundance Institute. Funding provided by The Criterion Collection and Sundance Institute. Laboratory services by Criterion Post and Roundabout Entertainment, Inc.

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: REGROUPING (Thursday, March 28, 6:00 p.m.) and BORN IN FLAMES (Thursday, March 28, 8:30 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.