‘1-800-ON-HER-OWN’ will be shown in single screening at North Park

The Buffalo International Film Festival and the North Park theater will present a single screening of “1-800-ON-HER-OWN,” a new documentary about Buffalo native and post-punk music legend Ani DiFranco tomorrow night (Wednesday April 23, 7 p.m.)

The screening will include a Q&A with director Dana Flor and producer Amy Hobby. Tickets are available here and at the door. 

Buffalo native DiFranco crashed onto the music scene in the early ‘90s, a thundering new voice in the cultural wilderness, unapologetically bisexual, political and feminist. She toured relentlessly, thrashing out hundreds of frenzied shows that were part mosh pit, part hootenanny and part full-on tent revival, then selling cassette tapes from the trunk of her car to make it to the next gig.

DiFranco became a worldwide phenomenon when she beat the male-dominated music industry at its own game by founding Righteous Babe Records, the first “woman-run non-corporate queer-happy” label, still going strong after nearly 35 years. The press called her “an entrepreneurial wonder” and “the industry’s worst nightmare.” Prince called her “my hero.” DiFranco simply called herself a folk singer, dedicated to art, activism and staying true to herself, no matter the cost.

“1-800-ON-HER-OWN” takes us on a wild cinematic road trip, from DiFranco’s punk-folk past to her life today as she reinvents herself as a passionate activist and revered rock star. Throughout the ride, she’s brutally honest, famously foul-mouthed and totally hilarious. Her daily challenges resonate as we reveal both an enduring, inspiring musical icon and a very relatable contemporary “everywoman” with her own epic fails and hard-won victories.

Flor is a documentary director, producer and writer based in Washington D.C. Flor co-directed and produced “Check It,” a feature-length documentary about a black gay street gang in D.C., as well as “The Nine Lives of Marion Barry,” a feature-length documentary about the notorious mayor. She also wrote and directed the Emmy award-winning documentary “Latinos in Beisbol” and the Emmy-nominated documentary “Cesar Chavez.”

In a statement, Flor said, “I was drawn to do a film on Ani DiFranco not only because she is a groundbreaking creative artist with a remarkable life, but also because she’s a masterful storyteller who makes the personal political, the political personal, and all of it universal.

“Ani has always written lyrics that are not just songs, as much as they are a musical roadmap, suggesting an alternate path. She embodies the idea that you don’t need to ask for permission. You can reject categorization, resist definition, and refuse to play by other people’s rules.

“It’s this mantra that has allowed her to connect so deeply with audiences throughout her career. It’s what I connected with when I was first following her and why the vulnerability she allows us to witness on screen is so elevated.

“In our current post-Roe world, with the foundations of democracy and civil rights on the very thinnest of ice, it seems more important than ever to recognize women like Ani, who has spent her lifetime fighting misogyny and injustice, often at the expense of her personal life and career. For more than three decades, she has stayed true to herself as a musician and as an activist.”

Hobby is an Academy Award-nominated, and Emmy and Peabody Award-winning producer. Most recently she produced “1-800-ON-HER-OWN” (world premiere Tribeca Festival 2024), “Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV” (Sundance Film Festival 2023) and the series “Eat the Rich” (Netflix 2023). Other notable films include “What Happened, Miss Simone?” (directed by Liz Garbus, Netflix), “And Everything Is Going Fine” (directed by Steven Soderbergh, Criterion Collection), “Love, Marilyn” (directed by Liz Garbus, HBO), “Shepard & Dark” (Cannes Film Festival) and “The Last Laugh” (directed by Ferne Pearlstein, ITVS/PBS). Her narrative features include the indie hit “Secretary,” “Hamlet,” Lucky Them,” “Paint It Black” and “Nadja,” among many others. Her films have played and/or won awards at festivals including Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW, Cannes, Berlin, Hot Docs, CPH:DOX, IDFA and TIFF. City. Hobby is a former executive director of the Tribeca Film Institute (2016-2020). and is a current co-founder of Distribution Advocates.