KL What triggered you to make Born in Flames?

LB I realised that there was big divide between feminists, white feminists and black women who would not call themselves feminists. So there was no dialogue among women and there was a lot of separation between, even socially, Blacks, Hispanics, and white women. So I decided that I wanted to create a situation, a film, in which I would bring all of these different women together and try to see if there was common cause. And I created a … in order to do that I, I wanted to make it a kind of a science fiction context because it wasn’t happening in the moment, so I wanted to create a world in which it was possible. Because I wanted to see it myself.

KL The music’s very prominent in the film; can you tell us about its role?

LB I wanted the music to be part of the different voices that all of the women speak, use.

Thank you to occasionals for transcribing this interview, made specifically for the book’s launch on 27 May 2011.