Murray State's Cinema International will present a Friday-only special showing of Here to Be Heard: The Story of the Slits, the world's first all-girl punk band. Original drummer, Paloma McLardy, and MSU Dept. of History chair, Kathy Callahan, Ph.D., visit Sounds Good to discuss the upcoming screening.
From The Slits Documentary website:
""HERE TO BE HEARD" The Story of the Slits" is a film about the world's first all girl punk band who formed in London in 1976. Contemporaries of The Clash and The Sex Pistols, they are the pioneering godmothers of the musical movement known as "Punky Reggae." The film tells the story of the band and the lives of the women involved, from the band's inception in 1976 to the bands end in 2010 coinciding at the death of lead vocalist Ari Up.
When Ari passed away, she was working with SLITS tour manager and friend, Jennifer Shagawat, on a film about the band. After Ari passed and the film was still not completed, Jennifer contacted her long time friend, Bill, over at Molasses Manifesto to come on and help finish the project. The film includes previously unseen footage of the band, as well as photographs and newspaper clippings."
Sponsored by C.I., the Religious Studies Program, and the Women's Faculty Caucus (MSU), Murray State's Cinema International will present the riveting documentary tonight, Friday April 19th, at 7:30 P.M. in the Curris Center Theatre. Here to Be Heard draws on stunning personal archives and interviews with key band members, telling the story of young women "hidden from history."
Along with this one-time screening, original drummer, Paloma McLardy, will be on Murray State's campus to tell her story with the band as well as her mystical experiences and quest as a musician. McLardy will discuss The Slits' trials with poverty, hard-earned success, and the journey in between the two. The documentary, much like the band themselves, refuses to shy away from the darker sides of the story.
"I love all of the original footage. I love that it doesn't glorify - it tells the whole story," explains McLardy. "I think when you do history, it's good to tell the whole story. If you write about someone, you glamourize someone, people don't learn from that. You can glean more from it when it's something real."
For more information on The Slits documentary, visit their website. For more information on this free and public screening, visit the Murray State website.
