The Punk Singer

Saturday, November 9

noon

The Punk Singer

2013 / USA / 80 min / HDCam Director: Sini Anderson
Cast: Kathleen Hanna, Joan Jett, Adam Horovitz
Print Source: IFC

Kathleen Hanna will be in attendance doing intro.

Whenever the early-90s Riot Grrrl movement is mentioned, Olympia’s own Bikini Kill usually tops the list. While just one of several groups that seized the stage to carve out an equal space for women in the punk subculture, Bikini Kill was arguably the seminal Riot Grrrl band, and lead singer Kathleen Hanna, with her volcanic energy and fury, came to epitomize the Riot Grrrl moment for admirers and detractors alike. Post- Bikini Kill, Hanna went on to push boundaries in other projects like Le Tigre and The Julie Ruin, but has been largely absent from the pop culture landscape for the past eight years. The Olympia Film Festival is proud to present Sini Anderson’s acclaimed documentary The Punk Singer, which explores Hanna’s life, art, and legacy. Combining over 20 years of performance footage and intimate, probing interviews with Hanna, locating her work both within a musical and cultural movement and as part of an individual’s life, Anderson has made a film that does both her subject and the movement she helped found justice. Whether your life was changed the first time you heard “I eat your hate like love” or couldn’t tell a Riot Grrrl from a Pussycat Doll, whether you were here back in 1991 at the International Pop Underground or first encountered “Rebel Girl” on YouTube, you will be inspired, energized, and moved by The Punk Singer.

Kathleen HannaMusician Kathleen Hanna is best known as the front woman for the seminal punk band Bikini Kill and the indie group Le Tigre. A punk rock icon, she had a pivotal role in pioneering the female empowering Riot Grrrl movement in the 1990s that championed a “punk rock for all” philosophy. Her current projects include The Julie Ruin, which released the album Run Fast in September. Hanna’s influential career is now being spotlighted in the documentary The Punk Singer, which makes it’s west coast premiere at this years Olympia Film Festival.