Award Winning Documentary FANNY: THE RIGHT TO ROCK Set to Premiere
— — —Broadcast/Streaming Premiere Set for May 22nd on PBS — — -
The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) and PBS announced the May 22nd broadcast premiere and streaming launch for the critically-acclaimed documentary Fanny: The Right to Rock. The film, directed by Bobbi Jo Hart and winner of the coveted Hot Docs Audience Choice Award, chronicles the life and revival of this groundbreaking all-female rock group in 1970s America, revealing the fascinating untold story of a phenomenal band that were dubbed the “female Beatles”. FANNY: The Right to Rock will premiere on PBS nationally Monday, May 22, 10 p.m. ET, and stream on PBS.org and the PBS App.
Sometime in the late 1960s, in sunny Sacramento, two Filipina American sisters got together with other teenage girls to play music. Little did they know their garage band would evolve into the groundbreaking rock group Fanny, the first all-women band to release an LP with a major record label (Warner/Reprise w/ Grammy winning producer Richard Perry). Yet, despite releasing five critically acclaimed albums over five years, touring with famed bands from Slade to Chicago and amassing a dedicated fan base of music legends including David Bowie, Fanny’s groundbreaking impact in music was written out of history…until now.
With incredible archival footage of the band’s rocking past, intercut with its revival with a new rock record deal, 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 B-52s’ Kate Pierson, Charles Neville and David Bowie guitarist and bassist Earl Slick and Gail Ann Dorsey. Fighting early barriers of race, gender and sexuality in the music industry, and now ageism, the incredible women of Fanny are ready to claim their hallowed place in the halls of The Rock ’n’ Roll fame.
“I am honored to celebrate the untold story of Fanny’s vital — yet buried — contributions to Rock & Roll with the public,” says the award-winning director Bobbi Jo Hart. “Just like Sister Rosetta Tharpe inspired Elvis, Fanny shattered the glass ceiling of the genre to lay crucial groundwork for future bands of women to succeed, from The Runaways to The Go Go’s, and continue to do so today. Fanny deserves nothing less than to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2024.”
Leading up to the May 22 PBS premiere, a series of special events with Fanny will be taking place in Los Angeles and across California. The highlight event will feature the reunion of Fanny bandmates at the famed Whisky A Go-Go nightclub on Sunset Strip in Los Angeles for a 50th Anniversary concert on May 17. Special guests will join band mates June Millington, Jean Millington, Brie Darling, Alice de Buhr and Patti Quatro on stage for this special night.
The night before on May 16, the Grammy Museum will host an exclusive screening of the film in the Clive Davis Theater, followed by a Q/A discussion with filmmaker Bobbi Jo Hart and Fanny bandmates.
For more information, visit the film’s website.
Originally published at https://behindtherabbitproductions.wordpress.com on April 17, 2023.
