Fanny: The Right to Rock

Fanny: The Right to Rock is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Bobbi Jo Hart and released in 2021.

Outline

The film is a profile of Fanny, an all-female rock band from the 1970s whose members included lesbian music pioneer June Millington. Hart uses more than 80 photographs taken by bandmates’ friend Linda Wolf "to illustrate their unbridled woman power — a tangle of hair, bodies, and a baby — under the roof of Fanny Hill, a house in L.A. that Millington calls a sorority with amps.”
The film premiered at the 2021 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, where it was named one of five winners of the Rogers Audience Award. It was subsequently screened at the 2021 Inside Out Film and Video Festival, where it won the award for Best Canadian Film.

Cast

Fanny as themselves
June Millington as self
Jean Millington as self
Brie Howard-Darling as self
Kirk Pasich as self
Dave Darling as self
Lee Madeloni as self
Scott Millington as self
Linda Wolf as self

Reception

Dennis Harvey of Variety wrote "Fanny: The Right to Rock remains thoroughly engaging thanks to the demonstrable talent and brassy forthrightness of its central personalities". Sydney Urbanek of The Spool said "The beauty of Fanny: The Right to Rock is that it's being released now-long enough since their peak that the band can tell their story on their own terms, and early enough that they're very much around to receive their long-overdue flowers". Susan G. Cole of Point of View magazine generally praised the film but noted some omissions, such as Fanny's collaborations with other musicians or their influence on the Riot grrrl movement. John Doyle of the Globe and Mail called it "terrific and eye-opening".