As we celebrate Women’s History Month, it is perfect timing for a free screening of the film Girls in the Band
WMPG’s Jazz At The Movies, in partnership with Portland Conservatory of Music, is proud to present a free screening of the film “The Girls in the Band” on March, 18th 2023
This award-winning documentary tells the poignant, untold stories of female jazz and big band instrumentalists from the late 30s to the present day. The first-hand accounts of the challenges faced by these talented women provide a glimpse into decades of racism and sexism that have existed in America.
They wiggled, they jiggled, they wore low cut gowns and short shorts, they kowtowed to the club owners and smiled at the customers…and they did it all just to play the music they loved. In the thirties and forties, hundreds of women musicians toured the country in glamorous All-Girl Bands, while others played side by side with their male counterparts. Yet by the mid-fifties, female jazz musicians had literally disappeared from the workplace; their names, their contributions to music, completely forgotten.
These incredibly talented women endured sexism, racism and diminished opportunities for decades, yet continued to persevere, inspire and elevate their talents in a field that seldom welcomed them. Today, there is a new breed of gifted young women taking their rightful place in the world of jazz, which can no longer deny their talents.
Directed by: Judy Chaikin
Produced by: Judy Chaikin, Michael Greene, Nancy Kissock, Hugh M. Hefner
Released: 2013
Excerpt taken from collectiveeye.org
FREE! but register for tickets at Event Brite from Portland Conservatory of Music
7pm
28 Neal St., Portland, ME 04102