''Radical Harmonies'' is a 2002 American

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

directed and executive produced by

Dee Mosbacher Diane "Dee" Mosbacher, MD, Ph.D., (born January 13, 1949 in Houston, Texas) is an American filmmaker, lesbian feminist activist, and practicing psychiatrist. In 1993, she founded Woman Vision, a nonprofit organization to promote equal treatment ...

that presents a history of

women's music Women's music is music by women, for women, and about women. The genre emerged as a musical expression of the second-wave feminist movement as well as the labor, civil rights, and peace movements. The movement (in the USA) was started by lesbian ...

, which has been defined as music by women, for women, and about women. The film was screened primarily at

LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is ...

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending up ...

s in 2003 and 2004. Using archival performance footage, still photographs, and interviews with many women involved in the early years and heyday of women's music, ''Radical Harmonies'' presents a history of the genre that one scholar has described as "the soundtrack for the cultural arm of radical feminism". The film depicts "women's music as both a cultural network comprising visual arts, dance, theater, and music, and as a utopian vision of women's community". The interviewees include not only women's music pioneers such as Cris Williamson,

Holly Near Holly Near (born June 6, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, teacher, and activist. Early years Holly Near was born in Ukiah, California, United States, and was raised on a ranch in Potter Valley, California. She was eight years ...

, Linda Tillery, Mary Watkins,

Ferron Ferron (born Deborah Foisy on 1 June 1952) is a Canadian-born singer-songwriter and poet. In addition to gaining fame as one of Canada's most respected songwriters, Ferron, who is openly lesbian, became one of the earliest and most influential ...

Alix Dobkin Alix Cecil Dobkin (August 16, 1940 – May 19, 2021) was an American folk singer-songwriter, memoirist, and lesbian feminist activist. In 1979, she was the first American lesbian feminist musician to do a European concert tour. Early life Dobki ...

and

Bernice Johnson Reagon Bernice Johnson Reagon (born Bernice Johnson on October 4, 1942) is a song leader, composer, scholar, and social activist, who in the early 1960s was a founding member of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee's (SNCC) Freedom Singers in ...

but also festival producers, concert promoters, sound engineers, sign language interpreters, dancers, comedians, choral conductors, photographers, journalists, record distributors, and record label executives who were part of the cultural movement that was essentially unknown to mainstream audiences. Younger musicians and bands such as

Toshi Reagon Toshi Reagon (born January 27, 1964) is an American musician of folk, blues, gospel, rock and funk, as well as a composer, curator, and producer. Early life Born January 27, 1964 in Atlanta, Georgia, Reagon grew up in Washington, D.C. She ...

, Ubaka Hill,

Bitch and Animal Bitch and Animal, a duo consisting of musicians Bitch and Animal Prufrock, were a queercore band that performed from 1995 to 2004. They became established while touring as an opening act for Ani DiFranco, and later launched their own highly succe ...

, and Tribe 8 are also featured, as well as interviews with mainstream artists

Amy Ray Amy Elizabeth Ray (born April 12, 1964) is an American alto singer-songwriter and member of the contemporary folk duo Indigo Girls. She also pursues a solo career and has released six albums under her own name, and founded a record company, Daemo ...

and Ani DiFranco who "insist on the importance of the women's music movement to their own careers". The documentary is a Woman Vision film. Director Mosbacher, a lesbian feminist activist filmmaker and psychiatrist, established Woman Vision as a nonprofit organization "to promote equal treatment of all people through the production and use of educational media". Musicians involved in the film's production include

June Millington June Millington (born April 14, 1948) is a Filipina-American guitarist, songwriter, producer, educator, and actress. She was the co-founder and lead guitarist of the all-female rock band Fanny, which was active from 1970 to 1974. Millington has ...

as associate director, Margie Adam as associate producer, and Judith Casselberry as production consultant.

Synopsis

''Radical Harmonies'' opens with some of the film's participants answering the question "What is women's music?" and makes the point that there is not a single definition of the genre. The film next puts the women's music movement into historical context by linking it to

second-wave feminism Second-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity that began in the early 1960s and lasted roughly two decades. It took place throughout the Western world, and aimed to increase equality for women by building on previous feminist gains. W ...

as well as the

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life ...

peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

, and

labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

movements of the 1960s and 1970s in the United States. It discusses the sexism that pervaded the male-dominated music industry in the 1970s, and the struggle of the women's music movement with

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy ...

within both the larger society as well as the feminist movement. Interviews are conducted with some of the women involved with the sound, lighting, recording, production and record distribution industries, as well as the founding of Olivia and Redwood Records. The origins and scope of women's music festivals is documented, and they are described in the film's narration as "the heart and soul of the movement". The film discusses contributions in the area of accessibility from women's music events to the larger society, recognizing that "sliding scale ticket prices, sign-language interpreters, and wheelchair access … were first instituted in the women's music movement". The broadening of the focus of women's music from "white girls with guitars" to include more women of color and to incorporate other musical genres such as "classical, choral, jazz and improvisation, rhythm and blues, indigenous, non-Western, punk, rock, and nonvocal genres" as well as performance genres such as comedy, dance, and theater is detailed. The film discusses

separatism Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...

and women-only spaces at some music festivals, and tells the "terrifying and inspirational tale" of two women's "efforts to launch Camp Sister Spirit and the Gulf Coast Women's Festival in Ovett, Mississippi". The women's music response to homophobia in general and specifically the anti-gay rights crusades of

Anita Bryant Anita Jane Bryant (born March 25, 1940) is an American singer known for anti-gay activism. She scored four "Top 40" hits in the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including " Paper Roses" which reached No. 5 on the charts. She was t ...

in the mid-1970s is covered. The film ends with interviews and performance segments from a younger, more radical generation of women's music performers, and a "cross-generational conversation among the musicians themselves".

Interviewees

The following musicians or others involved in the women's music cultural network are named and seen onscreen in an interview setting, usually for small amounts of screen time. *

*Amy Horowitz * Ani DiFranco *Barbara Price *

*Boden Sandstrom *

Bonnie J. Morris Bonnie J. Morris (born May 14, 1961; Los Angeles, California) is an American scholar of women's studies. She completed a PhD in women's history at Binghamton University in 1989 and has taught at various universities including Georgetown University, ...

*Brenda and Wanda Hensen *Cassie Culver * Catherine Roma * Cris Williamson *Debbie Lempke *Diane Gomez *Edwina Lee Tyler *Elizabeth Seja Min *

*Ginny Berson *Gwen Avery *Havens Levitt * Hazel Dickens *Helen Hooke *

*Ivy Young *Jackie Strano *

Joan E. Biren Joan E. Biren or JEB (born July 13, 1944 in Washington, DC) is an American feminist photographer and film-maker, who dramatizes the lives of LGBT people in contexts that range from healthcare and hurricane relief to Womyn’s Music and anti-racis ...

(JEB) *Judith Casselberry *Judy Dlugacz *Julie Wolf *

* Kay Gardner *Krissy Keefer *

Kristin Lems Kristin Lems is an American musician, singer-songwriter, feminist, and author/educator in the field of teaching English as a Second Language (ESL). Early life and education Lems grew up in Evanston, Illinois and started singing at a young age. S ...

*Laurie Fuchs *Lin Daniels *

Linda Shear Linda Shear (born 1948 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and piano player. Musical career On May 13, 1972, she and percussionist Ella Szekely performed in the first known out-lesbian concert in the U.S. at the ...

* Linda Tillery *Lisa Vogel * Margie Adam *Mary Byrne * Mary Watkins *

Maxine Feldman Maxine "Max" Adele Feldman (December 26, 1945 – August 17, 2007) was an American folk singer-songwriter, comedian and pioneer of women's music. Feldman's song "Angry Atthis," first performed in May 1969 and first recorded in 1972, is considere ...

*Miriam Abrahams *Nancy Vogl *Patricia Thumas *Penny Rosenwasser *Ramona Galindez *Rhiannon *Robin Tyler *

Ronnie Gilbert Ruth Alice "Ronnie" Gilbert (September 7, 1926 – June 6, 2015), was an American folk singer, songwriter, actress and political activist. She was one of the original members of the music quartet the Weavers, as a contralto with Pete Seeger, ...

*Sherry Hicks *Slade Bellum *

Sue Fink Sue Fink is an American singer, songwriter, conductor, and voice teacher. Career Fink is the founder and conductor of the Angel City Chorale, as well as a songwriter and voice teacher. She graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts ...

* Susan Abod *Susan Freundlich *Susann Schanbaum * Teresa Trull *Terry Grant *Toni Armstrong, Jr. *

* Tret Fure *Ubaka Hill

Performances

The following musicians, bands, comedians, dance troupes, or sign language interpreters are named and seen in either archival or contemporary performance footage, usually for small amounts of screen time. There are no full-length song performances in the film. *Alive! *

* Ani DiFranco *Azucar y Crema * Barbara Higbie *

* The Butchies *Casselberry-Dupree *Cassie Culver * Catherine Roma *

Chicago Women's Liberation Rock Band The Chicago Women's Liberation Rock Band and the New Haven Women's Liberation Rock Band (1969–1973) sought to challenge the genre of rock music by installing women's voices and feminist-type lyrics into the musical canon. "We loved to dance, ...

* Cris Williamson * Deidre McCalla *Dianne Davidson *Doralynn Folse *Edwina Lee Tyler *Ellen Seeling *

Fanny Fanny may refer to: Given name * Fanny (name), a feminine given name or a nickname, often for Frances In slang * A term for the vulva, in Britain and many other parts of the English-speaking world * A term for the buttocks, in the United States ...

*Gwen Avery *The Hail Marys *

Indigo Girls Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duo from Atlanta, Georgia, United States, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. The two met in elementary school and began performing together as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, part o ...

*Jackie Strano *Jean Fineburg *JUCA *Judith Casselberry *

*Karen Williams * Kate Clinton * Kay Gardner *

Kinnie Starr Alida Kinnie Starr (born 1970) is a Canadian multidisciplinary recording artist. Early life Starr was born and raised in Calgary, where she attended Western Canada High School. Her ancestry is French, German, Irish and indigenous, specificall ...

* Linda Tillery *Lisa Weems *

Malvina Reynolds Malvina Reynolds (August 23, 1900 – March 17, 1978) was an American folk/ blues singer-songwriter and political activist, best known for her songwriting, particularly the songs "Little Boxes", " What Have They Done to the Rain" and " Morningt ...

* Margie Adam *Maria Zemantauski * Mary Watkins * Meg Christian *

Melissa Ferrick Melissa Ferrick (born September 21, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter. Her song "Drive" (2000) is considered a lesbian anthem. She is a music professor at Northeastern University and at Berklee College of Music. Early life Ferrick was rais ...

Michigan Womyn's Music Festival The Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, often referred to as MWMF or Michfest, was a feminist women's music festival held annually from 1976 to 2015 in Oceana County, Michigan, on privately owned woodland near Hart Township referred to as "The L ...

Inspirational Choir *

The Murmurs The Murmurs were an American alternative pop music duo composed of singer-songwriters Leisha Hailey and Heather Grody. Some time after the duo went their separate ways, Hailey became one half of Uh Huh Her and Grody became a founding member of ...

*Nancy Vogl * Nedra Johnson *Patricia Thumas *Rhiannon *Robin Flower *

*Sexpod *Shelly Doty *Sherry Hicks *Slade Bellum *Susan Freundlich * Sweet Honey in the Rock * Teresa Trull *

* Tret Fure * Tribe 8 *Ubaka Hill * Ulali * Vicki Randle *The Washington Sisters *Wild Mango *Wallflower Order * The Women's Philharmonic

Critical response

Reviews of the film were mixed. As of December 2018, there are no reviews or scores collected on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

. Scholarly books and journals in general praise the film for its "archival function" and "impassioned testimony" in documenting an important aspect of American lesbian culture from the early 1970s to the late 1990s. The film was described by some critics as "long-awaited" and "celebratory", containing "dazzling concert footage", and as "an impressively comprehensive look at a unique and influential musical subculture". In her book ''Songs in Black and Lavender'', musicologist Eileen Hayes states that "in part because of its medium, celebratory tone, and rockist frame, Sandstrom and Mosbacher's film will dictate the way women's music is perceived for decades to come". But scholars also criticize the filmmakers for shying away from a "deeper analysis" of the "persistent conflicts around racism and separatism" within the culture of women's music. Multiple scholarly critics noted the complete absence within the film of any mention of the "women-born-women-only policy" or "anti-trans policy" at the

, despite that controversy generating annual protests outside of the festival site beginning in 1991. Reviews in the mainstream, alternative, and gay press are also mixed, with male reviewers somewhat less enthusiastic about the film than female reviewers. Dennis Harvey wrote in '' Variety'' that the film is a "whirlwind tour through three decades of mostly lesbian-targeted, folk rocking 'women's music' " and "is entertaining on its own terms, but offers little for those not already well-acquainted with this musical scene". In the ''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by ...

'', reviewer Patrick McGavin wrote "Although visually and formally plain, the work is enlivened by expressive performances from

, and Sweet Honey in the Rock that showcase the liberating power of the music". The Washington, D.C. gay newspaper ''

Metro Weekly ''Metro Weekly'' is a free weekly magazine for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in Washington, D.C., United States. It was first published on May 5, 1994. ''Metro Weekly'' includes national and local news, intervie ...

'' review gave the film five out of five stars, with reviewer Nancy Legato writing "In the sheer volume of footage and inclusion of voices, Mosbacher … has managed a huge accomplishment". In two different newspapers in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

, a male reviewer deemed the film "mildly compelling", while a female reviewer described it as "lively", "bursting with terrific live clips" and featuring "insightful interviews". A review in '' Library Journal'', which helps librarians with purchasing decisions, concluded with "strongly recommended for all women's studies and music collections". As of December 2018, the film is held in 227 libraries worldwide.

Screenings

The film was shown primarily at LGBTQ

s in the United States between 2003 and 2004. It has also been shown at benefits for women's organizations or other non-profit organizations, as well as at some colleges and universities, usually as part of classes or workshops on feminism, gender equality, or gay studies. * San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (Frameline) (World premiere: June 28, 2002) *Benefit for Astraea's Lynn Campbell Memorial Fund (New York City premiere, October 21, 2002) *Screening sponsored by the Women's Studies Department,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern t ...

(November 23, 2002) *

London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival, formerly known as the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (LLGFF), is the biggest LGBTIQ+ film festival in Europe. It takes place every spring in London, England. It began in 1986, as a season of gay and ...

(April 3, 2003) *Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (April 27, 2003) *Boston Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (May 2, 2003) *Connecticut Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (June 6, 2003) *

Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees. The SIFF runs for more th ...

(June 7, 2003) *Fundraising benefit for ImageOut: The Rochester Lesbian and Gay Film & Video Festival (June 19, 2003) *

Outfest Outfest is an LGBTQ-oriented nonprofit that produces two film festivals, operates a movie streaming platform, and runs educational services for filmmakers in Los Angeles. Outfest is one of the key partners, alongside the Frameline Film Festival ...

Los Angeles (July 2003) *Nashville Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (September 2003) * Milwaukee LGBT Film & Video Festival (October 11, 2003) *Pittsburgh International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (October 24, 2003) *Paris

Cineffable Cineffable is a French organization whose purpose is to promote lesbian cinema, especially through the International Lesbian and Feminist Film Festival in Paris: When lesbians make movies. The association was born in 1989 out of the lack of suff ...

International Lesbian and Feminist Film Festival (November 8 and 9, 2003) * St. Louis International Film Festival (November 15, 2003) *Minneapolis/St. Paul LGBT Film Festival (November 17, 2003) * Reeling 2003: The Chicago Lesbian and Gay International Film Festival (November 2003) *Benefit for the Institute for the Musical Arts (IMA)'s Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Teen Girls Scholarship Fund (February 15, 2004) *Southern Arizona Wingspan LGBT Film Festival (March 7, 2004) *Kingston ReelOut Queer Film and Video Festival (March 10, 2004) *Reykjavik Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (March 13, 2004) *Women in the Director's Chair International Film & Video Festival (March 20, 2004) *Boston Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (May 8, 2004) *Knoxville Heritage Night (May 26, 2004) *Kalamazoo YWCA (June 13, 2006) *Kalamazoo Public Library (March 29, 2007) *Kunst Kultur Frauenfeste Clubnächte, Vienna Austria (April 16, 2009) *Benefit for the Women's Museum of California at Art Rocks Film, San Diego (August 16, 2015)

Awards

*2002: Won Best Documentary (audience award) at the 26th San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival *2003: Won the audience award for Outstanding Soundtrack at

, the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

LGBT film festival

References

External links

*, includes a streaming copy of the entire film * *{{AllMovie title, id=289321, title=Radical Harmonies 2002 films 2002 documentary films 2002 independent films 2002 LGBT-related films American documentary films American independent films American LGBT-related films Documentary films about lesbians Documentary films about the music industry Women's music 2000s English-language films 2000s American films