Music Film
Fanny: The Right to Rock
Directed by: Bobbi Jo Hart
Canada, 2021, 96m
“Revivify Fanny. And my work is done.”- David Bowie
Sometime in the 1960s, in sunny Sacramento, two Filipina-American sisters got together to play music. Little did they know their garage band would evolve into the legendary Fanny—the first all-women (and partially queer) band to release an LP with a major record label (Warner/Reprise, 1970). Despite releasing five critically acclaimed albums, touring with some of the greats, and amassing a dedicated fan base of music legends including David Bowie, Fanny’s groundbreaking impact in music was written out of music history. With incredible archival footage of the band’s rocking past—intercut with its next chapter, recording a new LP in their late 60s—the film includes interviews with a large cadre of music icons, including Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott, Bonnie Raitt, The Go-Go’s Kathy Valentine, Todd Rundgren, The Runaways’ Cherie Currie, Lovin’ Spoonful’s John Sebastian, The B52’s Kate Pierson, and many more. Fighting early barriers of race, gender, and sexuality in the music industry, and now ageism, the incredible women of Fanny are finally ready to claim their hallowed place in the halls of rock ‘n’ roll fame…and it’s about time!