[7][15] The film is named for a song written by Mayo Thompson of the Red Krayola, a member of the artists' group Art & Language.

It was named one of "The Most Important 50 Independent Films" by Filmmaker magazine[citation needed] and has been the subject of extensive feminist analysis, including that of Teresa de Lauretis.

Borden's next film, Working Girls, depicted the lives of sex workers and maintains some of the stylistic and thematic features of her debut, but is more mainstream in its approach.

The main character, Molly (portrayed by Louise Smith), claims to have a degree from Yale and is a lesbian in her private life.

The original script by Allan Moyle was rewritten by Laurie Frank, a female screenwriter specifically requested by Borden.

Love Crimes was subjected to much studio interference and it fell victim to Hollywood attitudes regarding sex on screen in the 1990s; as a result, it lacked the taboo representations she had previously been able to show in her work.

[13] Numerous scenes were removed and some never shot, in the studio's attempts to present what they termed an "acceptable" vision of the lead's sexuality to a mass audience.

While Borden found herself in the position to direct a mainstream production, she said her power over the film's content was disrupted by (as she put it) "everyone else's psyches ... with their fetishes, and what they don't like.

The VHS release of the film's unrated version became a fast seller and it remains a cult favorite and highly collectible.

[19] In 2018, Borden disowned the "director's cut" label as a misnomer, and a marketing ploy by the studio and Harvey Weinstein, who she later said "threatened to destroy my career.

Borden was one of four directors involved in the 1995 sex-vignette anthology film Erotique; and she cast a not-yet-famous Bryan Cranston for her segment.

In 2001, Borden flew to New York City for final script discussions with actress Susan Sarandon for her next film project, Rialto.

[22] She has worked on some pilots for Fox Television, wrote a play about singer Nina Simone, and continues to solicit financing for her independent projects.

The restoration was part of a larger multi-year project, "Re-Visions: American Experimental Film 1975–1990," supported by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

[24] To commemorate the re-release, The New Yorker remarked, "the free, ardent, spontaneous creativity of 'Born in Flames' emerges as an indispensable mode of radical change — one that many contemporary filmmakers with political intentions have yet to assimilate.

[26] The Bronx Museum of the Arts featured Born in Flames as the title piece of an exhibition about feminism and futurity from April to September 2021.

[21] Regrouping was restored by The Anthology Film Archives for a 2021 release and is part of Borden's early catalog acquired by Criterion.