films that were seen as inspiration for the riot grrrl movement, were written, or inspired by, those in the scene, as well as a few i and others personally recommend and consider; and lastly, documentaries on riot grrrl & allied bands.
i tried to keep this as accessible as possible. these are films that can be found on youtube, vimeo, archive.org, ubuweb, or (for those who can access them) are free on tubi and pluto or can be rented on kanopy. links and where's-to-watch under cut.
letterboxd.
Born in Flames (1983): kanopy (library card needed), facebook (i know). (Set ten years after the most peaceful revolution in United States history, it presents a dystopia in which the issues of many groups - minorities, liberals, gay rights organizations, feminists - are dealt with by the government.) dir. Lizzie Borden. x.
Baise-moi (2000): jex, effedupmovies. (Two young women, marginalised by society, go on a destructive tour of sex and violence.) dir. Virginie Despentes, Coralie Trinh Thi.
Rain Without Thunder (1993): free on tubi. (In the year 2042 women are going to prison for terminating their pregnancies. An investigating reporter is determined to reveal the truth behind the convictions.) dir. Gary O. Bennett.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1982): free on pluto, archive.org. (Corrine Burns retreats far into plans for her band, The Fabulous Stains, after her mother’s death.) dir. Lou Adler. x.
I Was A Teenage Serial Killer (1993): archive.org, youtube, tubi. (Mary was a good girl until she decides to kill all the "sexist pigs". She of course encounters many of which, and enjoys killing them.) dir. Sarah Jacobson.
Mary Jane's Not a Virgin Anymore (1996): youtube, tubi. (A high schooler from suburbia gets in touch with her sexuality while working at a dingy movie theater in the city.) dir. Sarah Jacobson.
All Over Me (1997): youtube. (Claude and Ellen are best friends living in New York. They’re involved in the subculture of 90s youth, complete with drugs, live music, and homophobia. All is changed one night when a violent and meaningless death rocks their lives.) dir. Alex Sichel.
The Watermelon Woman (1996): kanopy, archive.org. (Cheryl, a young black lesbian, works a day job in a video store while trying to make a film about a black actress from the 1930s known for playing the stereotypical “mammy” roles relegated to black actresses during that period.) dir. Cheryl Dunye.
But I’m a Cheerleader (1999): archive.org, second archive.org. (A naive teenager is sent to rehab camp when her parents and friends suspect her of being a lesbian.) dir. Jamie Babbit.
The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love (1995): youtube, archive.org. (An adventurous love story between two young women of different social and economic backgrounds who find themselves going through all the typical struggles of a new romance.) dir. Maria Maggenti.
Baby Doll (1982): dailymotion, ubuweb. (Short film about the girls working the now defunct Baby Doll Lounge in downtown Manhattan.) dir. Tessa Hughes-Freeland.
Girl Power (1992): ubuweb, youtube. (Benning relates their personal rebellion against school, family, and stereotypes as a story of personal freedom, telling how they used to model like Matt Dillon and skip school to have adventures alone.) dir. Sadie Benning.
The Judy Spots (1995): archive.org, vimeo. (These five short videos introduce Judy, a paper maché puppet voiced by Kathleen Hanna, who ruminates on her position in society.) dir. Sadie Benning.
If Every Girl Had a Diary (1990): ubuweb, archive.org. (Setting their pixelvision camera on themself and room, Benning searches for a sense of identity and respect as a lesbian.) dir. Sadie Benning.
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docs:
Don't Need You: The Herstory of Riot Grrrl (2005): youtube. (A documentary that tells the story of the origins of Riot Grrrl in the independent music scene of the 1990s, and how this feminist movement evolved into a revolutionary underground network.) dir. Kerri Koch.
Not Bad For A Girl: (1995): drive. (A documentary on women musicians of the 1990s from the indie rock music genre, grunge and punk.) dir. Lisa Rose Apramian.
She's Real (Worse Than Queer) (1997): youtube, vimeo 1, 2. (A document of the Riot Grrrl and Queercore scene in the 1990s.) dir. Lucy Thane.
It Changed My Life: Bikini Kill in the UK (1993): vimeo. (A video made during the 1993 UK tour by bands Bikini Kill and Huggy Bear.) dir. Lucy Thane.
L7: Pretend We're Dead (2017): youtube, tubi. (Documentary on the grunge band L7.) dir. Sarah Price.
No Alternative Girls (1994): youtube, vimeo. (A short film of interviews from women in rock.) dir. Tamra Davis.
The Punk Singer (2013): youtube, free on pluto, dailymotion. (A look at the life of activist, musician, and cultural icon Kathleen Hanna, who formed the punk band Bikini Kill and pioneered the riot grrrl movement of the 1990s.) dir. Sini Anderson.
Who Took the Bomp? Le Tigre on Tour (2010): free on pluto, free on tubi. (Follows iconic feminist band Le Tigre on their 2005 international tour.) dir. Kerthy Fix.
Dirty Girls (2000): youtube, vimeo. (Shot in 1996 and edited in 2000, a short documentary about a group of 13-year-old riot grrrls in Los Angeles who were socially ostracized at their school by their peers and upperclassmen.) dir. Michael Lucid.
Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché (2021): kanopy. (The death of punk icon and X-Ray Spex front-woman Poly Styrene sends her daughter on a journey through her mother's archives.) dir. Celeste Bell, Paul Sng.
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