TBA Studios brings to the Philippines ‘FANNY: The Right to Rock’

Members of the groundbreaking all-female Filipina-American rock band FANNY rehearse in a scene from the documentary “FANNY: The Right to Rock”

 

The music documentary about long-forgotten ladies of rock-and-roll is coming to local theaters on August 17

 

One of the Philippines’ leading film production and distribution companies, TBA Studios will release FANNY: The Right to Rock, a music documentary, to Philippine theaters on August 17.

[Watch the trailer here: https://youtu.be/zspd9hFRtkw ]

Now in their 60s, FANNY is getting the band together for a new record. They trace their road to rock-and-roll stardom from being a self-formed Filipina American garage band of California teens to a ferocious rock band in the 60s and 70s. The members also recall how they battled sexism, homophobia, and racism during their heydays. But with one of them suffering a stroke and another one distancing from the group, will FANNY still be able to perform on stage for their launch?

Written and directed by Canadian filmmaker Bobbi Jo Hart, FANNY: The Right to Rock reveals the band's groundbreaking impact in music that has been lost in the mists of time. It features members from its changing roster that includes Filipino-American siblings June (guitar, vocals) and Jean Millington (bass, vocals), Alice de Buhr (drums, vocals), Patti Quatro (guitar, vocals), and Brie Howard-Darling (drums, vocals). The one-and-a-half hour documentary also features 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 B52's Kate Pierson, Charles Neville, David Bowie guitarist and bassist Earl Slick and Gail Ann Dorsey, and other music icons.

FANNY: The Right to Rock currently has a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Variety’s Dennis Harvey writes that the film “remains thoroughly engaging thanks to the demonstrable talent and brassy forthrightness of its central personalities.” Another top critic, Randy Myers of San Jose Mercury News, praises the film for being “An illuminating documentary on the sexism, racism, ageism and homophobia that confronted members of Fanny, which many consider the first all-female rock band.”

FANNY: The Right to Rock had its World Premiere in the Hot Docs International Documentary Film Festival last April 29, 2021, where it won the Audience Award and drew enthusiastic reviews, generating an early buzz for the film.

Showing in cinemas in the Philippines on August 17, FANNY: The Right to Rock, is distributed by TBA Studios.

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