Rise Above: Tribe 8 documentary

bristol | community | press release Monday September 14, 2009 12:43 by gudrun bristolqueercaf at googlemail dot com

queer caf & film screening

open to all genders and sexualities

7pm (film @ 8pm)
Thurs 24th September
@ Kebele
14 Robertson Road
Easton
kebelecoop.org

Next queer cafe we'll be screening Rise Above, the documentary about legendary queer punk band Tribe 8. (more info below)
we'll show that in the back room (the events space) so if there's anything else anyone would like to organise in the cafe space, get in touch.
The cafe space will of course still be there for people who just wanna come hang out, and we'll be serving tea & cake. BYOB as usual.

more info about the film:
TRACY FLANNIGAN / TRIBE 8
Rise Above: The Tribe 8 Documentary

This entertaining flick chronicles hilarious live performances, candid moments of their lives at work and on the road, and the controversy at The Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, an all women's music festival, that landed them in a quagmire of protest and praise from a fiercely divided crowd. It also captures the truly funny and warm people behind the music and the politics!

The images presented on stage of blow jobs, sadomasochistic acts and mock castrations are not shocking the audience for shock's sake, but understood on a deeper level through the band members' intense personal disclosures. These interviews inform an understanding and respect for why they do what they do. Especially riveting are the interviews with singer Lynn Breedlove and her mother. This documentary concludes that it is the humor and physicality that lies within the controversial performance that gives these five individuals the peace to experience the rapture of being alive. The extras on this dvd inculde deleted scenes, interviews, lyrics, and more live performances. Brand New and available nowhere else... yet!

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT

IBy Tracy Flannigan

I was first compelled to make the documentary Rise Above when I saw the dyke punk rock band Tribe 8 perform at South by Southwest in 1998. I immediately recognized in them a unique ability to confront difficult issues head-on with candor and humor and I appreciated the satirical spirit with which they approached otherwise uncomfortable themes of sexuality and power.

From the beginning, I saw an opportunity to look beneath the surface of the band's outrageous stage behavior and see the humanity of these five performers who might otherwise seem shocking to a mainstream audience.

As I got to know them better, I recognized that many of the circumstances the band members have worked so hard to transcend through their cathartic performances, mirrored those I've worked to overcome through my own filmmaking. Such similarities between my subjects and myself allowed for a candor and an openness in the filmmaking process which gave a greater depth to our work together than I ever could have hoped for at the start.

As a filmmaker, I've always been drawn to stories about outsiders and what is commonly overlooked or marginalized. In the case of Rise Above, it is through lead-singer Lynn Breedlove's irreverent parody of male rock-star posing that I've been able to reveal a broad spectrum of male and female power dynamics that I feel is too often missing from mainstream media. In addition, through exploring the childhood histories and personal lives of all the band members, we have, I believe, created a universal story whose relevance and appeal extends beyond their punk audience.

From watching this film at festivals and screenings with audiences all
over the world, I see the importance in the expansion of Tribe 8's audience to include people who would never have the benefit of their irreverence, intelligence and transcendence.

TRACY FLANNIGAN

Director, Producer TRACY FLANNIGAN
TRACY FLANNIGAN is an award winning independent filmmaker residing in the Echo Park area of Los Angeles who began making movies when she was seventeen years old. She has worked professionally for the last fifteen years in the film business and has created numerous short films and music videos. Her work has been screened at many film festivals throughout the United States.

Tracy’s feature length screenplay, THE LATE GREAT W.J., won a fellowship at the Squaw Valley Community of Writers.

RISE ABOVE marks Tracy Flannigan’s documentary feature debut. The film was made over a five-year period in which Tracy dedicated herself to capturing he lives and performances of the all woman punk rock band, TRIBE 8. RISE ABOVE has screened internationally and garnered the July Award for Best Documentary at Frameline, the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and earned Ms. Flannigan the Emerging Talent Award at Outfest, the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.

Currently, Ms. Flannigan is in pre-production on a second feature length documentary on the experiences of poverty stricken illegal immigrants, who on a daily basis must find work outside stores like Home Depot.