Followed by a Zoom Q & A with the director, Maureen Gosling
In this exuberant dance of a documentary, familiar movements in the 20th-century get a high-energy shakeup in the story of a powerhouse blues/jazz/folk singer, activist, feminist, record producer, and committed troublemaker.
Pick a 20th century social justice movement, and this unsung hero of American music was probably there. Standing strong with her singular confidence, Dane emanated the people-powered connectivity of folk, the defiance of blues and the elemental cool of jazz, while propelling major historic events with boldness and subversion that cut through commercial artifice and earned her a 5” FBI file.
THE 9 LIVES OF BARBARA DANE is an underground history of a singer-agitator overlooked by many storytellers of American history. Overlooked, that is, until now. Dane’s unbending principles guide her through notoriety, obscurity, and finally, music legend.
Through the lens of a recent concert tour, we examine an outspoken and tireless artist whose devotion to music and social justice showcases the vigor and spirit at the heart of American dissent.
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Maureen Gosling has been a documentary filmmaker for 50 years. She has worked as director, producer, editor, sound recordist and distributor. Producer/Director credits include the feature doc THIS AIN’T NO MOUSE MUSIC! (premiered SXSW), with Chris Simon, on the legacy of American roots music record producer, Chris Strachwitz; and the feature doc BLOSSOMS OF FIRE, on the Isthmus Zapotecs of Oaxaca, Mexico (HBO Latino). Gosling edited PLEISTOCENE PARK (VICE); THE LONG SHADOW (PBS); A NEW COLOR (PBS) and many other docs. She is best known for her 20-year collaboration (as co-filmmaker, editor, sound recordist) with the late Les Blank on more than 20 films, including BURDEN OF DREAMS (BAFTA for Best Documentary 1982). For the last 20 years, she has worked with Producer Jed Riffe on nine films, including CALIFORNIA’S “LOST” TRIBES, of the PBS series CALIFORNIA AND THE AMERICAN DREAM. Gosling is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture, Arts and Sciences.
