''It's Only Life After All'' is a 2023 American
documentary
A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
film, directed, produced, and edited by
Alexandria Bombach
Alexandria Bombach is an American filmmaker.
Career
Bombach is from Santa Fe, New Mexico. They graduated from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. In 2009, they founded the production company, Red Reel. Their first film, ''23 Feet'' (2011), "c ...
. It follows the lives and careers of the band
Indigo Girls
Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duet (music), duo from Atlanta, Georgia, United States, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. The two met in Primary school, elementary school and began performing together as Secondary school, hig ...
. It had its world premiere at the
2023 Sundance Film Festival
The 2023 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 19 to 29, 2023. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 7, 2022.
Films U.S. Dramatic Competition
* '' The Accidental Getaway Driver'', directed by Sing J. Lee
...
on January 19, 2023, and was released on April 10, 2024, by
Oscilloscope
An oscilloscope (formerly known as an oscillograph, informally scope or O-scope) is a type of electronic test instrument that graphically displays varying voltages of one or more signals as a function of time. Their main purpose is capturing i ...
.
Premise
Explores the lives, careers, and activism of the band
Indigo Girls
Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duet (music), duo from Atlanta, Georgia, United States, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. The two met in Primary school, elementary school and began performing together as Secondary school, hig ...
.
Production
In May 2020, it was announced
Alexandria Bombach
Alexandria Bombach is an American filmmaker.
Career
Bombach is from Santa Fe, New Mexico. They graduated from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. In 2009, they founded the production company, Red Reel. Their first film, ''23 Feet'' (2011), "c ...
would direct a documentary film revolving around
Indigo Girls
Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duet (music), duo from Atlanta, Georgia, United States, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. The two met in Primary school, elementary school and began performing together as Secondary school, hig ...
. Initially the documentary was set to follow the band on tour in a
Cinéma vérité
Cinéma vérité (, , ) is a style of documentary filmmaking developed by Edgar Morin and Jean Rouch, inspired by Dziga Vertov's theory about '' Kino-Pravda''. It combines improvisation with use of the camera to unveil truth or highlight subje ...
style, but the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
changed the way the film was made. During post-production, Bombach had 1,000 hours of footage to work with.
Release
''It's Only Life After All'' had its world premiere at the
2023 Sundance Film Festival
The 2023 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 19 to 29, 2023. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 7, 2022.
Films U.S. Dramatic Competition
* '' The Accidental Getaway Driver'', directed by Sing J. Lee
...
on January 19, 2023. It also screened at
South by Southwest
South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...
on March 14, 2023. and
Tribeca Festival
The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...
on June 14, 2023. In December 2023,
Oscilloscope
An oscilloscope (formerly known as an oscillograph, informally scope or O-scope) is a type of electronic test instrument that graphically displays varying voltages of one or more signals as a function of time. Their main purpose is capturing i ...
acquired distribution rights to the film. It was released on April 10, 2024.
Reception
Critical reception
Robyn Bahr of ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' wrote: "The rare confessional rockumentary that envelops you like a soft blanket." Jude Dry of ''
IndieWire'' gave the film a B+ writing: "Brimming with previously unseen footage and refreshingly frank interviews with the artists, it’s an adoring opus befitting two long overlooked musicians and activists."
References
External links
*
2023 films
2023 documentary films
Documentary films about musical groups
Documentary films about women in music
2020s American films
2023 LGBTQ-related films
Documentary films about lesbians
American LGBTQ-related documentary films
Impact Partners films
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