Bette Gordon
País: EUAActividad:
Jurado Ahora México (2022)Biografía ES:
Pionera del cine independiente estadounidense y una de las cineastas más notables surgidas del movimiento “No Wave” de la década de los 80 en Nueva York, Bette Gordon es conocida por sus atrevidas exploraciones de temas relacionados con la sexualidad, la violencia y el poder. Su primer largometraje, Variety, que ahora es un clásico de culto, presenta a una mujer que vende boletos para un cine pornográfico en Times Square y en la revista Time Out se dijo que esta película era “una versión femenina de Taxi Driver, cruda, perturbadora y explosiva”. Sus películas se han presentado tanto en cines comerciales como en los principales festivales internacionales, incluyendo Cannes, Berlín, Toronto, Locarno, Rotterdam y Tribeca.
Biografía EN:
A pioneer in American Independent Cinema, BETTE GORDON is known for her bold explorations of themes related to sexuality, desire and power. Her films have been screened theatrically in the US and abroad, as well as in all the major film festivals, including Cannes, Berlin, Locarno, Vienna, Rotterdam, Tribeca and Toronto. Gordon’s films are in the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum, The British Film Institute, The Centre Georges Pompidou, The Royal Film Archive of Belgium, Anthology Film Archives and Museum of Modern Art in NYC. Gordon has been the subject of several retrospectives in the US as well as in Germany, Spain, France, Sao Paulo. In 2021, Gordon was invited as guest of honor to the world renown LUMIERE FILM FESTIVAL to screen a newly restored VARIETY in 4K. The festival, aunched by Cannes’s Chief Thierry Fremaux and the late Bertrant Tavernier, focuses on important works in film history.
Gordon is best known for VARIETY (1983-84), a beautifully seductive film about voyeurism and pornography. LUMINOUS MOTION (2000) a hypnotic and disturbing road movie centered around the adventures of a 10-year-old boy and his carefree and seductive mother, played by Deborah Kara Unger in a breathtaking performance (produced by Good Machine’s legendary Ted Hope and Anthony Bregman) Gordon's film, HANDSOME HARRY, premiered in competition at the Tribeca Film Festival (2009) and opened theatrically to rave reviews. The film features a stellar ensemble cast including Steve Buscemi, Aidan Quinn, Campbell Scott, Jamey Sheridan. Titus Welliver, Karen Young and John Savage. The film critic John Powers has said, “Gordon’s willingness to explore dangerous territory puts her miles ahead of most filmmakers.”
Gordon’s most recent film, THE DROWNING, (2017) is based on the book BORDER CROSSING by award winning British novelist Pat Barker. The film, a psychological thriller, stars Josh Charles, Julia Stiles, and young newcomer Avan Jogia. THE DROWNING opened theatrically at The IFC Cinema in New York City and was sold to Netflix. Hilton Als from New York Magazine called the film “A new classic that redefines with great intelligence, the erotic thrillers of the past with twenty-first century skill and vision.”
Her early short films, most notably EMPTY SUITCASES (1981), won numerous awards and festival acclaim worldwide, including at The Berlin Film Festival, The Museum of Modern Art and at The Whitney Biennial in NYC, as well as at The Chicago International Film Festival and The Atlanta Festival of Film and Video. Several of her early short films (Michigan Avenue, i-94, The United States of America) were made in collaboration with the experimental filmmaker and artist James Benning. Gordon’s film GREED (1986) stars Kate Valk (from the Internationally recognized theatre company The Wooster Group) and was produced by ZDF German Television. as part of an omnibus film called “Seven Women Seven Sins,” along with other internationally renown women filmmakers including Chantal Akerman (France) and Ulrike Ottinger (Germany).
