Lasses, Sasses, and Cineastes

"Because we don't wanna assimilate to someone else's (boy) standards," explains the Riot Grrrl Manifesto, "and thus need to create forums where we can re-create, destroy, and define our own visions." Well, there you have it. Even though the first Ladyfest happened only four years ago in Olympia, Wash., the seeds were planted a decade earlier by the likes of Corin Tucker (Sleater-Kinney, Heavens to Betsy), Kathleen Hanna (Le Tigre, Bikini Kill), and Allison Wolfe (Bratmobile). Just a few of the girls sick of being odd ladies out in the mainly male-dominated music scenes of D.C. and the Northwest, they got together and started a good old-fashioned movement, claiming their rightful place in the clubs, on the stage, and elsewhere. Ladyfest is a testament to the lasting impression of the riot grrrls and the strength of the DIY movement. In just four years, the festival has spread from one rainy city in Washington to eight states (there are two in Texas alone) and six countries (Ladyfest Amsterdam is in the works for 2005). All this just because a bunch of punks believed with their "wholeheartmindbody that girls constitute a revolutionary soul force that can and will change the world for real." And so they did.

Tonight, Thursday, April 22, and on Friday, April 23, 7:30pm, at Ventana del Sol (1834 E. Oltorf), Ladyfest Texas will be screening two documentaries that tell the history of both the riot grrrls and the DIY movement: Kerri Koch's Don't Need You and Michael Dean's D.I.Y. or Die: How to Survive as an Independent Artist. The films are linked by more than just repeat guest spots (if you weren't sort of sick of Ian MacKaye before, well ...): Both give example after example of what people can do if they don't wait around for someone else to tell them the light is green. And what's really important about these movies, besides the awesome footage of Bikini Kill's first show in Don't Need You or a shockingly John Waters-y Jim Rose smart-mouthing in D.I.Y. or Die, is that they aren't only about things that have happened in the past. They are about what's happening now and what can happen in the future. The $5 admission benefits Ladyfest Texas 2004 (as well as the Austin Humane Society through Dean's Rock for Cats program), which takes place May 27-30. For more information, see www.ladyfesttx.org.