Fanny: The Right to Rock

Fanny: The Right to Rock is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Bobbi Jo Hart and released in 2021.[1]

Fanny: The Right to Rock
Film poster
Directed byBobbi Jo Hart
Written byBobbi Jo Hart
Produced byBobbi Jo Hart
Robbie Hart
StarringFanny
CinematographyClaire Sanford
Sam Trudelle
Naomi Ture
Edited byCatherine Legault
Music byDaniel Toussaint
Production
company
Adobe Productions International
Distributed byBlue Ice Docs
Release date
  • April 29, 2021 (2021-04-29) (Hot Docs)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

Outline

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The film is a profile of Fanny, an all-female rock band from the 1970s whose members included lesbian music pioneer June Millington.[2] Hart uses more than 80 photographs taken by bandmates’ friend Linda Wolf "to illustrate their unbridled woman power — a tangle of hair, bodies, and a baby — under the roof of Fanny Hill, a house in L.A. that Millington calls a sorority with amps.” [3]

The film premiered at the 2021 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, where it was named one of five winners of the Rogers Audience Award.[4] It was subsequently screened at the 2021 Inside Out Film and Video Festival, where it won the award for Best Canadian Film.[5]

Cast

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Reception

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photos from the film's preview in NYC in 2011

Dennis Harvey of Variety wrote "Fanny: The Right to Rock remains thoroughly engaging thanks to the demonstrable talent and brassy forthrightness of its central personalities".[2] Sydney Urbanek of The Spool said "The beauty of Fanny: The Right to Rock is that it's being released now-long enough since their peak that the band can tell their story on their own terms, and early enough that they're very much around to receive their long-overdue flowers".[6] Susan G. Cole of Point of View magazine generally praised the film but noted some omissions, such as Fanny's collaborations with other musicians or their influence on the Riot grrrl movement.[7]

References

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  1. ^ Madeline Lines (May 26, 2021). "Finding Fanny: Bobbi Jo Hart's newest documentary is poetic justice for the first women of rock and roll". Point of View.
  2. ^ a b Dennis Harvey (May 4, 2021). "'Fanny: The Right to Rock' Review: Honoring Forgotten Female Rockers of the Early 1970s". Variety.
  3. ^ Erin Trahan (October 6, 2021). "'Forgotten Rock Legend Fanny takes the Boston Women's Film Festival stage". WBUR.
  4. ^ Pat Mullen (May 10, 2021). "Dear Future Children Wins Audience Award at Hot Docs". Point of View.
  5. ^ Amber Dowling (June 7, 2021). "Fanny: The Right to Rock nabs Best Canadian Feature at Inside Out". Playback.
  6. ^ Sydney Urbanek (May 7, 2021). "'Fanny: The Right to Rock' corrects the record, just as Bowie wanted". The Spool.
  7. ^ Susan G. Cole (April 30, 2021). "Fanny: The Right to Rock Review: The First Ladies of Rock". Point of View.
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