Episode 68: Lizzie Borden
This is Lizzie Borden directing one of the avant-garde films she made in the 1980s. She used a big clunky Panavision but you’ll just have to imagine the camera. Borden, who named herself after the ax murderer, gained a reputation as a radical feminist filmmaker with Born in Flames which is about an underground women’s army. Working Girls takes place in a brothel and tells the story of middle class sex workers. Then Borden went to Hollywood to make a film for Harvey Weinstein that turned out to be a disaster. Now, Borden’s early movies are making a comeback. A restored version of Working Girls was recently re-released in theaters across the country. I talked to Lizzie Borden about why she’s not bitter and why she still hopes to make the film of her dreams.