Every Wednesday, we celebrate a woman in film with a spotlight on her work.

Today, we're celebrating Bette Gordon, who has made her mark with subversive investigations of sexuality & gender roles that invert genre expectations with their feminist themes. https://www.criterionchannel.com/directed-by-bette-gordon
Bette Gordon’s first film MICHIGAN AVENUE (1973), made in collaboration with James Benning, is both an investigation of the relationship between two women and a formalist study of cinematic syntax.
Bette Gordon’s first film MICHIGAN AVENUE (1973), made in collaboration with James Benning, is both an investigation of the relationship between two women and a formalist study of cinematic syntax.
Bette Gordon’s first film MICHIGAN AVENUE (1973), made in collaboration with James Benning, is both an investigation of the relationship between two women and a formalist study of cinematic syntax.
Bette Gordon’s first film MICHIGAN AVENUE (1973), made in collaboration with James Benning, is both an investigation of the relationship between two women and a formalist study of cinematic syntax.
In I-94 (1974), Bette Gordon and James Benning use optical printing effects to create, in their words, “intercourse between two people who never appear on the screen at the same time.”
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (1975), one of the major works of the structuralist film movement of the 1970s, is a richly revealing portrait of Vietnam-era America as seen through the windshield of the filmmakers’ car while on a road trip from New York to Los Angeles.
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (1975), one of the major works of the structuralist film movement of the 1970s, is a richly revealing portrait of Vietnam-era America as seen through the windshield of the filmmakers’ car while on a road trip from New York to Los Angeles.
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (1975), one of the major works of the structuralist film movement of the 1970s, is a richly revealing portrait of Vietnam-era America as seen through the windshield of the filmmakers’ car while on a road trip from New York to Los Angeles.
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (1975), one of the major works of the structuralist film movement of the 1970s, is a richly revealing portrait of Vietnam-era America as seen through the windshield of the filmmakers’ car while on a road trip from New York to Los Angeles.
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (1975), one of the major works of the structuralist film movement of the 1970s, is a richly revealing portrait of Vietnam-era America as seen through the windshield of the filmmakers’ car while on a road trip from New York to Los Angeles.
Bette Gordon explores the cinematic representation of women in the feminist experimental work EMPTY SUITCASES (1980), which, in the words of the filmmaker, centers on “women’s inability to place and define themselves in language and politics, the location of radical struggle.”
Bette Gordon explores the cinematic representation of women in the feminist experimental work EMPTY SUITCASES (1980), which, in the words of the filmmaker, centers on “women’s inability to place and define themselves in language and politics, the location of radical struggle.”
Bette Gordon explores the cinematic representation of women in the feminist experimental work EMPTY SUITCASES (1980), which, in the words of the filmmaker, centers on “women’s inability to place and define themselves in language and politics, the location of radical struggle.”
Bette Gordon explores the cinematic representation of women in the feminist experimental work EMPTY SUITCASES (1980), which, in the words of the filmmaker, centers on “women’s inability to place and define themselves in language and politics, the location of radical struggle.”
Bette Gordon explores the cinematic representation of women in the feminist experimental work EMPTY SUITCASES (1980), which, in the words of the filmmaker, centers on “women’s inability to place and define themselves in language and politics, the location of radical struggle.”
A precursor to Bette Gordon’s feature debut VARIETY, this lo-fi No Wave provocation ANYBODY'S WOMAN (1981), shot on Super 8, features Wooster Group members Spalding Gray and Nancy Reilly discussing their erotic fantasies and thoughts on pornography.
A precursor to Bette Gordon’s feature debut VARIETY, this lo-fi No Wave provocation ANYBODY'S WOMAN (1981), shot on Super 8, features Wooster Group members Spalding Gray and Nancy Reilly discussing their erotic fantasies and thoughts on pornography.
A precursor to Bette Gordon’s feature debut VARIETY, this lo-fi No Wave provocation ANYBODY'S WOMAN (1981), shot on Super 8, features Wooster Group members Spalding Gray and Nancy Reilly discussing their erotic fantasies and thoughts on pornography.
A precursor to Bette Gordon’s feature debut VARIETY, this lo-fi No Wave provocation ANYBODY'S WOMAN (1981), shot on Super 8, features Wooster Group members Spalding Gray and Nancy Reilly discussing their erotic fantasies and thoughts on pornography.
A precursor to Bette Gordon’s feature debut VARIETY, this lo-fi No Wave provocation ANYBODY'S WOMAN (1981), shot on Super 8, features Wooster Group members Spalding Gray and Nancy Reilly discussing their erotic fantasies and thoughts on pornography.
The provocative tale of a woman’s journey of self-discovery, VARIETY (1983)—scripted by Kathy Acker—offers a bold challenge to conventional notions of feminism and pornography and remains revolutionary in its fearless exploration of erotic fantasy from a woman’s point of view.
The provocative tale of a woman’s journey of self-discovery, VARIETY (1983)—scripted by Kathy Acker—offers a bold challenge to conventional notions of feminism and pornography and remains revolutionary in its fearless exploration of erotic fantasy from a woman’s point of view.
The provocative tale of a woman’s journey of self-discovery, VARIETY (1983)—scripted by Kathy Acker—offers a bold challenge to conventional notions of feminism and pornography and remains revolutionary in its fearless exploration of erotic fantasy from a woman’s point of view.
The provocative tale of a woman’s journey of self-discovery, VARIETY (1983)—scripted by Kathy Acker—offers a bold challenge to conventional notions of feminism and pornography and remains revolutionary in its fearless exploration of erotic fantasy from a woman’s point of view.
The provocative tale of a woman’s journey of self-discovery, VARIETY (1983)—scripted by Kathy Acker—offers a bold challenge to conventional notions of feminism and pornography and remains revolutionary in its fearless exploration of erotic fantasy from a woman’s point of view.
LUMINOUS MOTION (1998), Gordon’s follow-up to her groundbreaking feminist noir VARIETY, is a hallucinatory erotic thriller that is no less subversive starring Deborah Kara Unger as a woman who seduces and robs gullible men while crisscrossing the country with her 10-year-old son.
LUMINOUS MOTION (1998), Gordon’s follow-up to her groundbreaking feminist noir VARIETY, is a hallucinatory erotic thriller that is no less subversive starring Deborah Kara Unger as a woman who seduces and robs gullible men while crisscrossing the country with her 10-year-old son.
LUMINOUS MOTION (1998), Gordon’s follow-up to her groundbreaking feminist noir VARIETY, is a hallucinatory erotic thriller that is no less subversive starring Deborah Kara Unger as a woman who seduces and robs gullible men while crisscrossing the country with her 10-year-old son.
LUMINOUS MOTION (1998), Gordon’s follow-up to her groundbreaking feminist noir VARIETY, is a hallucinatory erotic thriller that is no less subversive starring Deborah Kara Unger as a woman who seduces and robs gullible men while crisscrossing the country with her 10-year-old son.
LUMINOUS MOTION (1998), Gordon’s follow-up to her groundbreaking feminist noir VARIETY, is a hallucinatory erotic thriller that is no less subversive starring Deborah Kara Unger as a woman who seduces and robs gullible men while crisscrossing the country with her 10-year-old son.
Plus, watch a new interview with Bette Gordon about the evolution of her work! https://www.criterionchannel.com/directed-by-bette-gordon/season:1/videos/bette-gordon-interview
Bette Gordon Interview - Directed by Bette Gordon - The Criterion Channel

This new interview with filmmaker Bette Gordon was recorded in 2020.

https://www.criterionchannel.com/directed-by-bette-gordon/season:1/videos/bette-gordon-interview
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