Episode 3: ‘No Wave Women’

How the downtown DIY filmmaking scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s brought female filmmakers into the spotlight.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, a combination of factors – including low rents in abandoned neighborhoods, new and more affordable technology, a cross-pollination of media, and a punk-influenced DIY spirit – collided on Manhattan’s Lower East Side to create a scene, commonly known as “No-Wave,” that dominated music, visual art, and film. And, unique among American independent cinema movements, there were just as many women in downtown NYC making movies as men. What was it about this scene that made it possible for women filmmakers to not only thrive, but dominate?

Our guests are three of those filmmakers: Susan Seidelman (“Smithereens”), Bette Gordon (“Variety”), and Lizzie Borden (“Born in Flames”), as well as contemporary film and fashion writer Abbey Bender.

Listen to the episode here.

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Still image from 'Born in Flames' (1983)

A very special screening of 'Variety,' as advertised in 'The Village Voice,' May 15, 1984.

Amy Taubin profiles Bette Gordon in 'The Village Voice,' May 15, 1984.

Susan Seidelman profile in 'The Bergen Record,' August 24, 1989.

'Cineaste' on Susan Seidelman, December, 1987.

SHOW NOTES

Here’s a heartbreaking gallery of images taken inside Variety Photo Plays, not long before its destruction in 2005.

Information on the One Ten Third building from Street Easy.

Bette Gordon was interviewed on October 19, 2020. You can buy Variety’s new Blu-ray from Kino-Lorber here, or stream it on The Criterion Channel, Kanopy, Sundance Now, and Mubi. Criterion is also streaming several of her other shorts and features.

You can watch The Blank Generation on YouTube.

As noted, the Amos Poe, Charlie Ahearn, and Jamie Nares excerpts in the first section are from the excellent 2010 documentary Blank City, directed by Celine Danhier, which is a great primer on “No-Wave Cinema.” You can buy the Kino-Lorber Blu-ray here, and streaming on Tubi and Kanopy.

That scathing New York Times review of The Foreigner is here.

The spottiness of the Village Voice digital archive is an ongoing source of consternation to New York City historians, but the full J. Hoberman article “No Wavelength: The Para-Punk Underground,” written for the Voice in May of 1979, is available on this third-party site.

The Robert Aaron and Glenn O’Brien sound comes from the 2005 documentary TV Party, directed by Danny Vinik, which you can buy here, or rent or buy on Google Play.

Susan Seidelman was interviewed on June 26, 2018 and July 19, 2019. You can buy Smithereens on Blu-ray from the Criterion Collection here, or stream it on The Criterion Channel and HBO Max; the former is also streaming two of her earlier short films.

Lizzie Borden was interviewed on October 20, 2020. You can buy Born in Flames on Blu-ray from First Run Features here, or stream it on The Criterion Channel, Kanopy, and Fandor. You can follow her on Twitter here.

Koch’s cop/teacher quote is from Ed Koch and the Rebuilding of New York City by Jonathan Soffer. Columbia University Press, 2012.

Abbey Bender was interviewed on October 20, 2020. You can read the Village Voice piece on Liquid Sky that she mentions in her interview here, and follow her on Twitter here.

Music:

Jalen Warshawsky - Dollar Theatre

The Insider - Right

Opening Theme:

Our opening theme features sound from the following films: Coogan’s Bluff, Dressed to Kill, Sweet Smell of Success, Quick Change, The Freshman, Spike of Bensonhurst, Night Shift, The Seven-Ups, Prisoner of Second Avenue, Little Murders, Taxi Driver, Midnight Cowboy, Smithereens, and For Pete’s Sake.