Not Bad for a Girl

Not Bad for a Girl is a documentary[2] on women musicians of the 90s from the indie rock music genre grunge and riot grrrl and celebrates madness, creativity, and gender play. It was written, directed, produced and shot by rock phenomenologist feminist Lisa Rose Apramian, edited, shot and co-produced by drummer Kyle C. Kyle and co-produced by Courtney Love[3] and Kurt Cobain. A DVD, with a booklet, was available for purchase at the official website (until 2019 when the website was shut down) and a release date for the sequel book is still in the works as of 2019.

Not Bad for a Girl
Directed byLisa Rose Apramian
Produced byLisa Rose Apramian
Kyle C. Kyle
Kurt Cobain
Courtney Love
Tina Silvey
StarringLori Barbero
Kat Bjelland
Mia d'Bruzzi
Jill Emery
Eric Erlandson
Kristen Pfaff
Patty Schemel
Lisa Fay
Jennifer Finch
Suzi Gardner
Maureen Herman
Joan Jett
Courtney Love
Bambi Nonymous
Demetra Plakas
Lesley Rankine
Jula Bell
Gilly Hanner
Caroline Rue
Donita Sparks
Rachel Thoele
Becky Wreck
Theo Kogan
Gina Volpe
Sydney "Squid" Silver
Kate Schellenbach
Erika Reinstein
Anie Stanley[1]
Edited byKyle C. Kyle
Distributed bySpitshine Productions and Quantum Enterprises
Release date
  • 1995 (1995)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The bands featured in the film were Hole, L7, Lunachicks, Babes in Toyland, Joan Jett, Calamity Jane, Bulimia Banquet, The Mudwimin, Silverfish, 7 Year Bitch, Bratmobile, Bikini Kill. Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain provided funding for the film.[4] Skateboarder and snowboarder Cara-Beth Burnside is also featured on the beginning and end titles.

The documentary features in-depth interviews with every band member, including Donita Sparks and Jennifer Finch from L7, Courtney Love from Hole, Kat Bjelland from Babes in Toyland, and Becky Wreck from the Lunachicks along with clips from live performances from 1989-1994. It also features female rock communities including riot grrrl and the first annual Riot Grrl Convention, Rock 'n' Roll High School of Melbourne Australia, and the Feminist Majority Foundation sponsored "Rock for Choice" benefits with L7/ Joan Jett. According to press releases, the film explores themes such as the musicians' relationship to creativity and music, the negotiation of gender identity and gender performance (feminist term coined by Judith Butler) through rock, subversion of stereotypes and gendered expectations through stage play performances and stylization of the body, and the processes of healing and reclaiming through musical expressions.

The sequel Not Bad for a Girl book contains images, anecdotes, reviews, interviews from many more bands unable to fit into the original including Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, Strangefruit, 7 Year Bitch, Tribe 8, Dickless, Girl in a Coma and rock musicians in France, Japan, Brazil, Italy and the Middle East.

It was awarded Best Documentary at the New York Underground Film Festival 1996,[5] Nominated: Best Director, 19th Atlanta Film and Video Festival 1995.

Screenings

The film was screened at film festivals, including the following:

In addition to these festivals, it was also screened at many universities, museums and conferences some of which are listed below:

Its art house and theatrical screenings include:

  • ED VIC MOVIE HOUSE, San Francisco, CA, August, 1996
  • FILMHOUSE, Edinburgh, Scotland, May 1996
  • DEUTSCHE INSTITUTE FUR FILMKIND, Amsterdam, Netherlands, October 1996
  • NUART THEATER, Los Angeles, CA, October 18–24, 1996
  • CINEMA DU PARC, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, November 1–14, 1996
  • CINEMA VILLAGE, New York, NY, November 22–29, 1996
  • NEIGHBORHOOD FILM SOCIETY, Philadelphia, PA, December 11–13, 1996
  • WINNIPEG FILM GROUP, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, December 11–14, 1996
  • CINEMATEQUE, Cleveland, OH, January 18–19, 1997
  • BRATTLE THEATER, Cambridge, MA, February 4, 1997
  • CINEFEST FILM THEATRE, Cambridge, MA, February 18–19, 1997
  • BRATTLE THEATRE, Cambridge, MA Return Engagement, March 11, 1997
  • ROXIE THEATER, San Francisco, CA, April 1–3, 1997
  • LARK THEATER, Larkspur, CA, April 4–5, 1997
  • WORMWOOD’S THEATRE, Halifax, NS, Canada, April 11–14, 1997
  • ROXIE THEATER, San Francisco, CA Return Engagement, April 18–25. 1997

It is in the permanent collection of many universities for students to watch and study.

References
  1. "Not Bad for a Girl" film.com Archived August 10, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  3. https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9802E2DA163DF931A15752C1A960958260
  4. NYUFF.com
  5. Internet Movie Database
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