GIRLS IN THE BAND Set for 2-Week Run at Quad Cinema

Following a successful weeklong run at Lincoln Center, the acclaimed documentary The Girls in the Band is coming to New York's Quad Cinema for a two-week run beginning May 24. Written, directed and produced by Judy Chaikin and produced and executive produced by Michael Greene, the film tells the stories of female jazz and big band instrumentalists from the 1920s to the present day and chronicles their inspired journeys and struggles for recognition. To celebrate the film's Lincoln Center premiere, Mayor Bloomberg declared May 10 "Women in Jazz Day." Tickets for the Quad Cinema screenings will be available here. The film will also play for one week in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Noho 7 beginning June 4. Screening times and tickets for the Los Angeles run are available at here.

Combining archival footage and interviews with musicians including drummer Viola Smith, saxophonists Roz Cron, bassist Carline Ray and trumpeter Clora Bryant, Chaikin explores how even in the face of extreme prejudice, sexism and racism these women helped shape the history of American music and bravely challenged the racial barriers that prevenTEd White and black musicians from working together. The film also reveals how female jazz musicians of today, including Maria Schneider, Anat Cohen, Sherrie Maricle and Esperanza Spalding, are continuing to build upon the talent and courage of their predecessors.

Judy Chaikin, a graduate of AFI's Directing Workshop for Women, first came to recognition when she wrote, produced and directed the 1987 Emmy-nominated PBS documentary Legacy of the Hollywood Blacklist. In 2004 she received her second Emmy nomination for the documentary Building on a Dream. Chaikin has also worked on the ABC series "FBI: The Untold Stories," the CBS Movie of the Week Stolen Innocence and the PBS documentary Los Pastores. Michael Greene is President and CEO of Artist Tribe and previously served for 15 years as the President/CEO of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Grammy Awards where he founded the Grammy Educational Foundation and The Musicares Foundation, providing financial grants and assistance to music professionals in need. The New York screenings of The Girls in the Band are sponsored by NYWIFT, WAMCO, herFlix and Musicians Union Local 802.

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