About

Not Bad for a Girl is a documentary on women musicians of the 90’s from the indie rock music genre grunge and Riot Grrrl and celebrates madness, creativity, and gender play. Tina Silvey was the executive producer. Silvey Co. had been producing MTV music videos for most of the well known indie grunge/indie bands including: Nirvana,Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane’s Addiction, Sonic Youth, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Mudhoney, Stone Temple Pilots, The Smashing Pumpkins, Liquid Jesus, Concrete Blonde, and The Replacements. Not Bad for a Girl was written and directed by rock phenomenologist feminist Lisa Rose Apramian, edited by Kyle C. Kyle, drummer for Venus and the Razerblades, the Motels, Wafflebutt, and the Wild Stares and co-produced by Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain. It was originally released in 1995 on VHS and is being re-released on DVD with the companion Not Bad for a Girl book in the spring of 2009. Awarded Best Documentary at the New York Underground Film Festival 1996.

The bands featured in the film were Hole, L7, Lunachicks, Babes in Toyland, Joan Jett, Calamity Jane, Bulimia Banquet, The Mudwimin, Silverfish, 7 Year Bitch, Bratmobile, Bikini Kill. Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain provided funding for the film.

The documentary features in-depth interviews with every band member, including Donita Sparks and Jennifer Finch from L7, Courtney Love from Hole, Kat Bjelland from Babes in Toyland, and Becky Wreck from the Lunachicks along with clips from live performances from 1989-1994. It also features female rock communities including Riot Grrrl and the first annual Riot Grrl Convention, Rock ‘n’ Roll High School of Melbourne Australia, and the Feminist Majority Foundation sponsored “Rock for Choice” benefits with L7/ Joan Jett. It explores themes such as the musicians’ relationship to their music, the negotiation of gender identity through rock, subversion of stereotypes and gendered expectations through stage play performances and stylizations of the body, and the processes of healing and reclaiming through musical expressions.