Radical Harmonies Screening Celebrates Women’s History Month

In celebration of Women’s History Month, Frameline is partnering with the James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center of San Francisco Public Library to screen Dee Mosbacher’s Radical Harmonies (2002) on March 4, 2025. The documentary, which had its world premiere at the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival in 2002, delves into the very idea of “women’s music” — the genre’s history, how it’s defined, and, most crucially, how it changed queer culture.

The winner of Frameline26’s Audience Award for Best Documentary, Radical Harmonies is a time capsule of two decades of American queer culture and women-helmed folk rock, from the lesbian folk singers who gave rise to Olivia Records in the 1970s to the dyke punk rock grrrl bands who brought mosh pits to Michigan in the ’90s. Not only does Mosbacher’s film spotlight the women musicians who made waves, but the way women’s music opened doors for women producers and sound technicians, women-owned record companies, and art that offered a more diverse, feminist alternative to the male-dominated mainstream music industry.

Brimming with archival footage and performances by singular artists like Ani DiFranco, Linda “Tui” Tillery, The Murmurs, Tribe 8, Vicki Randle, Indigo Girls, Meg Christian, Holly Near, Mary Watkins, Bitch and Animal, and Melissa Ferrick, the documentary, as Frameline program note writer Sabrina Alonso puts it, “shows how a distant dream sprang into a full-blown cultural movement.”

At the Radical Harmonies screening on March 4, 2025 at 5:30 PM at Koret Auditorium, San Francisco Main Library, director Dee Mosbacher is expected to be in attendance. In addition to helming Radical Harmonies, Mosbacher is the Oscar-nominated filmmaker behind essential LGBTQ+ documentaries like Straight from the Heart (1994), All God’s Children (1996), and Training Rules (2009), Audience Award winner for Best Documentary at Frameline33.

Although the screening is FREE, and seating is first come, first served, be sure to RSVP to Radical Harmonies in advance. After all, Radical Harmonies is the perfect way to honor pioneering women artists this Women’s History Month!

Please Note: The Koret Auditorium is wheelchair accessible. This screening does not currently have captions or ASL interpretation.