‘The Punk Singer’ is a new documentary about punk feminist Kathleen Hanna, lead singer of Bikini Kill, Le Tigre, and more recently the Julie Ruin, and pioneer of the riot grrrl movement. In a new clip (way too short by the way, I wanted to see more of this so badly) she talks about her friendship with Kurt Cobain, and in a minute we learn that the Nirvana frontman came from ‘feminist art punk’ and that Kathleen coined the famous ‘smells like teen spirit’!
Directed by Sini Anderson, the documentary features interviews with Hannah but also Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon and Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker – Hanna didn’t want any male experts to be interviewed, even though she could have had Ian MacKaye or Thurston Moore! – and reveals about intimate parts of her life such as her battle with late-stage Lyme disease and her relationship with husband and Beastie Boys Adam Horovitz. She said this to the NY Times, during an interview about the movie:
‘Mortality looming over you really changes your personality in such a huge way. I thought I was dying, so I was like, “I don’t care anymore — I am vulnerable. I’m sick of being guarded!” Adam really got me through coping with Lyme: every day, he would place every single one of the 39 pills I had to take in my pill case so I didn’t have to do it. He’s the person who changed my IV bags, kept the house clean, cooked every single meal for me and kept everything running for two years. Besides the fact that he’s hot as hell, really talented and has the best sense of humor of anyone I know, who else would change an IV bag for you while you’re laying on the couch having a seizure?’
It’s very comforting to read this about a human being. She is doing better these days, she is still in treatment for Lyme disease but has started performing again with her band the Julie Ruin.
The documentary will have a national theatrical release in December 2013, but if you live in Los Angeles you can watch the movie starting November 29th and ending December 5th at Cinefamily, and if you live in New York, at IFC center from November 29th to December 3rd, with Kathleen Hanna in person on November 29th and 30th! You can check the other dates on the Punk Singer website.
‘I needed to tell everybody. In the end, my story is about telling the truth. Feminism is something you do, not something necessarily you have to call yourself. There’s still a lot to scream about.’ She says in this same NY Times interview, she is still very outspoken, and if you read her blog, you will understand what she means by ‘there’s still a lot to scream about’.