Amplify Her is a great new documentary that showcases eight up-and-coming women DJs, producers, and electronic musicians. It’s actually a bit more than that, because in addition to the documentary, Amplify Her includes a six-part motion comic and a graphic novel dedicated to telling the stories of these women in comic form, as well as a series of events centered around the film screenings. On Thursday night, Amplify Her will premiere at SIFF Cinema Uptown, with an after-party at Re-Bar, and a show headlined by French producer CloZee (which is already sold out).
The documentary is, though, the centerpiece, and overall, I liked it quite a bit. Directors Nicole Sorochan and Ian MacKenzie are effective at giving an overview of where these women are working to generate attention for themselves in spaces that are often dominated by men. One musician retells a story of meeting a fan who said that she was his favorite DJ, but didn’t actually know she was a woman, but assumed the music he listened to was made by a man. I found it easy to get immersed in the experiences of the DJs here and wished some stories were given some more time to expand on. Every musician featured in the film was new to me, and the movie sent me down the most enjoyable Soundcloud/YouTube rabbit hole. My heart is richer, and so is my mp3 player. Moreover, by any objective measure this is a jam:
{Amplify Her makes its Seattle debut at SIFF Cinema Uptown on Thursday, October 26 at 6 and 9pm. You should go. Tickets can be found here.}
