Bette Gordon – Hope For Film

Remembering The Past, Segueing Into The Future

Today’s guest post is from filmmaker Bette Gordon (whose Luminous Motion I produced, and will screen at the IFC Center in NYC on Monday night. I plan on being there, and hope to see you there). Everything old is new again!

In the current culture of independent filmmaking, most of us are plugged in to the idea of DIY distribution. This is not a totally new idea.

In 1983, I had just made my first feature film, VARIETY. Its about a woman who sells tickets at a pornographic movie theatre and becomes obsessed with following one of the clients from the theatre into the world of men, money and lower Manhattan. We shot on a very very low budget, with friends and friends of friends. The theatre I used as a location, The Variety Theatre, was a porn theatre on 13th Street and Third Avenue, and after a week of shooting there from 11pm at night until 9am the next morning, we had developed a good relationship with the owner. The projectionist even played the part of “the projectionist” in the movie.

Add More Indies To The NATIONAL FILM REGISTRY

I have to admit that I generally like what films get selected for preservation via the National Film Registry. I don’t know if you saw the latest list of what got selected for 2008, but you can look at it here. They add twenty five titles a year.

But what I bet you didn’t know you vote for what is to be added. Or so their website says. All you need to do is send your nominations in to:

sleg@loc.gov

You can only nominate 50 films a year. They have a handy dandy list of suggestions too. They generally do a pretty great job. There are a few areas though that need greater emphasis.

Indie films definitely need help. Without the studio support, they tend to be a little less organized and being held under worst conditions. The studios aren’t going to let a moneymaker fall into disrepair. A filmmaker who may own their negative but not the house they live in might just be a little different story from the one owned by the mega corp.

I have suggested they add in 2009:

Melvin Van Peebles’ SWEET SWEETBACK’S BADASSSS SONG (1971)

Susan Seidelman’s SMITHEREENS (1982)

Bette Gordon’s VARIETY (1983)

Alex Cox’s SID AND NANCY (1986)

Spike Lee’s SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT (1986 )

Whit Stillman’s METROPOLITAN (1990)

John McNaughton’s HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER (1990)

Todd Hayne’s POISON (1991)

Hal Hartley’s TRUST (1991)

Gregg Araki’s THE LIVING END (1992)

Allison Anders’ MI VIDA LOCA (1993)

Ang Lee’s THE WEDDING BANQUET (1993)

Tom Noonan’s WHAT HAPPENED WAS… (1993)

Terry Zwigoff’s CRUMB (1994)

Todd Solondz’s HAPPINESS (1998)

Not bad for an initial fifteen. Granted quite a few serve my self interest, but… Let me know what I should suggest for the next 35.

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