This film is part of our series THE FUTURE WE LIVE IN, showing in March and April at De Uitkijk.
Lizzie Borden’s Born in Flames is a groundbreaking and radical docu-fiction that presents an alternative America—a supposedly liberated and socialist nation. Set in a future New York, ten years after a peaceful revolution, the film paints a dystopian vision where issues of minority rights, feminism, and social justice are controlled by the state.
The story follows four women's organizations: the pirate radio stations Radio Ragazza and Phoenix Radio, the armed coalition The Women’s Army, and the establishment publication Socialist Youth Review. After the murder of a radical Black activist, women from diverse backgrounds unite to undermine the system.
With a raw, grainy aesthetic and a montage of political vignettes, activism, and media imagery, the film exposes the failures of socialism while serving as a critique of patriarchal, racist, and sexist systems of oppression. It underscores the urgency of amplifying and centering the voices of Black, Indigenous, and queer women. Featuring an edgy soundtrack, Born in Flames delivers a visceral, uncompromising, and electrifying take on activism and revolution.
Preserved by Anthology Film Archives with restoration funding from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and The Film Foundation. Distributed by Cinenova.