Filmmaker Bette Gordon launched her career in early-1980s Tribeca, a world far removed from the designer clothing boutiques, expansive walk-up loft art spaces and quaint eateries bombarding the area today. There were no crowds, there were no restaurants, just an abundance of weed-ridden vacant lots and buildings.

One such establishment, located on White Street, would eventually become the Collective for Living Cinema, the stomping ground for a group of artsy SUNY Binghamton graduates and cinema fanatics which Gordon joined forces with. Armed with a self-financed 16mm film projection system, the Collective began screening a warped variety of films, from 1970s horror schlock like “It's Alive!” to the avant-garde works of Michael Snow and Stan Brakhage. The tight-knit group populated what gradually became the hippest venues of their day—the legendary punk rock joint Mudd Club, just down the block; the Performing Garage in SoHo, home of the Wooster Group; the Kitchen arts space on West 19th Street. Connections were formed, ideas were fleshed out, and eventually, with funding aid from the German television station ZDF, England's Channel 4 and other foreign arts-supporting organizations, low-budget films were made.

If the name Bette Gordon doesn’t immediately ring a bell, […]