RISE ABOVE: THE TRIBE 8 DOCUMENTARY

Director Tracy Flannigan / 2003 / USA

Tribe 8: a compelling combination of funny, tough, foul-mouthed, ribald, outspoken, outrageous and just plain out-there women playing full-throttle, militantly lesbian punk rock. Add to this their penchant for playing topless and engaging in sadomasochistic play and mock castrations onstage and you're in for one eye-opening documentary. The film chronicles hilarious live performances, candid moments from the members' lives at work and on tour and the controversy at an all women's music festival that landed them in a quagmire of protest and praise from a fiercely divided crowd.

Tribe 8—Lynnee Breedlove, Leslie Mah, Flipper Howard, Slade Bellum and Tantrum Payne—make loud, fabulously filthy music while poking fun at everyone (and every man) along the way. The candid interviews (some mums even agreed to appear!), performance footage and episodes from the road lead to intense personal disclosures. Rise Above concludes that it is the humour and physicality that lies within powerhouse performance that gives these five individuals the peace to experience the rapture of being alive.

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