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The Girls in the Band

Play trailer Poster for The Girls in the Band 2011 1h 21m Documentary Music Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 10 Reviews 56% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
The history of all female bands and the struggles that the handful who made it faced.
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The Girls in the Band

Critics Reviews

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J. R. Jones Chicago Reader The documentary is rescued only by a final sequence in which Chaikin restages the famous 1958 group photo A Great Day in Harlem, this time with mostly women. Feb 28, 2014 Full Review Paul de Barros Seattle Times The major strength of "The Girls in the Band" is its abundant, crisp footage of women playing at the highest level, from pianist Lil Armstrong (Louis' wife) to contemporary reed player Anat Cohen. Rated: 3/4 Feb 13, 2014 Full Review Mick LaSalle San Francisco Chronicle The movie meanders a bit in the beginning, though the information comes across. Then it gets into a chronological groove after about 30 minutes and finds its proper form. Rated: 3/4 Jan 16, 2014 Full Review Matt Pais RedEye Undeniably achieves its primary purpose of making viewers walk out of the theater knowing a lot more about the subject than when they entered. Rated: 3/4 Feb 19, 2014 Full Review Avi Offer NYC Movie Guru Among those rare, delightful music documentaries, in the vein of Standing in the Shadows of Motown, that provokes you emotionally and intellectually while remaining entertaining throughout. Rated: 9.5/10 May 10, 2013 Full Review Prairie Miller NewsBlaze A euphoric, triumphant documentary, in which these unsung female jazz musicians get the last word too. As when one recalls when asked by a reporter, 'what's it like to be a female composer' she replies, 'what's it like to be a male journalist.' May 7, 2013 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Sharon T Fabulous to see the pioneers and the young talent in the same movie. Loved the progression from big to solo and back to big. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/03/22 Full Review Audience Member Eye-opening and great story. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Terrible. It covered what seemed like an endless list of female players with each just getting 2 or 3 minutes with very short snippets of their music. Would have been much better if the cover 1/3 as many people with 3 times more time for each. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member A truly amazing documentary. Great photos, untold stories that I am so glad that are being told and the music, oh the music. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Audience Member I saw this at the Cleveland International Film Fest 2012 and had to buy the DVD from Judy Chaikin who was there to answer questions after the screening. Informative and fun doc filled with lots of big band/jazz music. Chaikin begins the movie with a famous group portrait of all the big name jazz musicians living in the '50s. Only three women are included and two are identified. This music doc uncovers the fact that there were many more women who were jazz musicians, but so many have been forgotten. It was okay for women to be vocalists or pianists, but women faced many obstacles if they wanted a career playing brass, sax, drums, or other instruments. This doc looks at sexism and racism. It examines nearly a whole century in the history of female jazz musicians with graphics that suggest an old photo album. In the 20s through the 40s The International Sweethearts of Rhythm are given special focus. In the post-WWII years, things reverted to rampant sexism. A few women who achieved some success as jazz soloists and arrangers are highlighted. Then following the feminist movement, beginning in the mid-70s, the Kansas City Women's Jazz Festival and a new generation of women jazz musicians are celebrated. In the end, the photo from Harlem '58 is recreated in front of the same brownstone with a few survivors and dozens of girls from jazz bands. This movie has whetted my interest in jazz! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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Movie Info

Synopsis The history of all female bands and the struggles that the handful who made it faced.
Director
Judy Chaikin
Producer
Judy Chaikin, Hugh Hefner
Screenwriter
Judy Chaikin, Edward Osei-Gyimah
Genre
Documentary, Music
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 3, 2015
Runtime
1h 21m
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