Rise Above: The Tribe 8 Documentary

A documentary about the first all-queer, all-woman punk band is going to feature a lot of frank talk about sexual politics. And because that band is San Francisco’s Tribe 8, whose performances regularly feature bare-chested band members, males from the crowd fellating strap-on dildos, and on-stage depictions of castration, the talk is going to get heated.

Rise Above: The Tribe 8 Documentary doesn’t fail to deliver the intensity of that band-audience exchange. Even when that discussion turns vile — a participant in a workshop hosted by Tribe 8 opines on which sex “deserves to be mutilated” — Rise Above still has the viewer feeling fortunate to know that there is a band out there spurring these examinations of sexuality and gender.

Director Tracy Flannigan sagely uses interviews with the band members to plumb not just the reason for Tribe 8’s participation in these exchanges but also how they do it. After all, the reason for women empowering themselves is obvious.

It is evincing how the women of Tribe 8 were able to step up on the stage and explore an issue in feminism not widely considered: substance abuse. Member after member of the group talks about using drugs and alcohol to repress their feelings of anger about sexual assault both direct and atmospheric. It was only after getting clean that they were able to have the focus and drive to pick up that instrument or that mic and express their rage, several of the women say.

The viewer can truly feel the triumph of the music in the women’s lives. Rise Above is the kind of affecting and energy-packed experience that will make you want to bust down your own obstacles.

- Buck Austin

Rise Above: The Tribe 8 Documentary
www.riseabovethetribe8documentary.com
Director: Tracy Flannigan
80 minutes, Red Hills Pictures
DVD release: 12/05/06