Born in Flames - dir. Lizzie Borden

Born in Flames is a 1983 documentary-style feminist science fiction film that explores racism, classism, sexism and heterosexism in an alternative United States socialist democracy.

The film that heralded the arrival of Queer Cinema is also a who’s who of the New York radical/performance scene, with a cast that includes the late Ron Vawter, and a very young Kathryn Bigelow. In the words of the director, Lizzie Borden: ‘Born in Flames poses the question of whether oppression against women will be eliminated under any kind of social system. […] It is a fantasy presenting a group of women who, confronted with the very “ordinary” oppression women have been experiencing for decades, refuse to take it any longer and become armed fighters against the government. Their position is that oppression against women is not eliminated automatically with “socialism” – not only do political values have to change, cultural values must change and become embedded in practice.’