Susan Seidelman’s Contemporary Films: The Feminist Art of Self-reinvention in a Changing Technological Landscape

This chapter spotlights Susan Seidelman, who came of age during the second-wave feminist movement and found success and acclaim in the 1980s indie wave but, like other female filmmakers of her generation (Julie Dash and Allison Anders), struggled subsequently when their follow-up projects failed through poor distribution or never reached production. Lane examines Seidelman’s long-term response to this dilemma through self-reinvention and by capitalising on new technologies, including digital, social and emergent media and micro-budget strategies such as crowdsourcing and self-distribution. Her most recent films (Boynton Beach Club, 2005, and The Hot Flashes, 2013) are low-budget ‘high concept’ endeavours marketed to niche audiences – seniors, Latinos and disabled rights groups – yet blend elements of commercial and independent film.