Variety | Screening and Discussion with Bette Gordon
In-person event | 7:00 p.m. (Paris)
The film will be shown in the original English with French subtitles. The discussion will be in English.
This event is part of the Women's Month 2023 series from Columbia Global Centers | Paris.
About the film
A bold story about a woman who sells tickets at a pornographic movie theatre, set in the neon-lit squalor of Times Square in the mid 1980’s. She becomes increasingly obsessed with a wealthy patron who may or may not be involved with the mafia. Bette Gordon’s acclaimed classic indie film VARIETY (1983) stars Sandy McLeod, Will Patton, and Richard M. Davidson, with a screenplay by Kathy Acker from a story by Gordon. Time Out Magazine called the film “A female Taxi Driver, gritty disturbing and explosive."
Bette Gordon
A pioneer in American Independent Cinema, Bette Gordon is known for her bold explorations of themes related to sexuality, desire and power. Her other feature films include Luminous Motion, (2000) a hypnotic and disturbing road movie, Handsome Harry, (2010) featuring an impressive ensemble cast with Steve Buscemi, Campbell Scott, Aidan Quinn, Titus Welliver, and Jamey Sheridan, and The Drowning (2017), a psychological thriller based on the novel Border Crossing by award winning British author Pat Barker. Her films have been screened theatrically in the US and abroad, as well as in all the major film festivals, including Cannes, Berlin, Toronto and Sundance. Recently she was guest of honor to the world renowned Lumière Film Festival to screen a newly restored VARIETY in 4K. Her work is in the permanent collections of The Whitney Museum, The Centre Pompidou, the Museum of Modern Art and The Royal Academy of Film in Belgium. Gordon is currently in pre-production on a new film, Lost Angels, to be shot in Iceland later this year. She is a Professor of Professional Practice in The School of the Arts Film MFA Program at Columbia University.
