Bette Gordon's "Empty Suitcases" on 16mm

Introduced by Julia Petrocelli
1 films
On Tuesday, March 3rd, 2026, at 7pm, Julia Petrocelli presents Bette Gordon’s landmark early feature EMPTY SUITCASES (1980) on 16mm at The Film-Makers’ Cooperative (475 Park Avenue South, 6th Floor).

Films

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    Empty Suitcases
    Experimental

    Empty Suitcases
    Bette Gordon

    16mm, color, sound, 48.75 min
    Rental format: 16mm
    • Arts / Artists
    • Personal / Diary / Journal
    • Economics

Description

On Tuesday, March 3rd, 2026, at 7pm, Julia Petrocelli presents Bette Gordon’s landmark early feature EMPTY SUITCASES (1980) on 16mm at The Film-Makers’ Cooperative (475 Park Avenue South, 6th Floor).

*Note: This screening was originally scheduled for February 23rd but rescheduled to due the blizzard.*

Empty Suitcases is a narrative derived from film’s own material and my concern for exploring issues of representation and identification in cinema. The film presents fragments of a woman’s life — her work (as a photographer), her friendship and relationships — in short, her economic, sexual, and artistic struggles. By deconstructing the fragments of text, speech, music and picture, the film forces focus on the workings of narrative, as well as on the narrative itself.” —Bette Gordon

Total Run Time: 50 minutes.