The 9 Lives on Barbara Dane chronicles the lifelong activism that stood alongside Dane's genre-crossing musician career. Filmmaker Maureen Gosling visited the WYSO studios ahead of the documentary's May 28 screening at the Neon in downtown Dayton.
"[Dane] would reinvent herself and she always stood by her principles and it sometimes meant that she missed quote unquote opportunities," Gosling told WYSO's Evan Miller. "Like she was courted by Albert Grossman who went on to be the manager of Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Odetta, and more. He tried to convince her to change her priorities. And that meant career first, politics, family. So she said, I can't do that. I just can't. And so she turned him down."
Gosling says that this became a pattern in Dane's life, saying no to opportunities that didn't align with her principles. What Dane said yes to was aligning herself and her music with a variety of social justice moments.
"She's someone that should be a household word, but we're trying to mitigate and correct women's history, American history, about this very influential woman who pretty much intersected with hundreds of the cultural luminaries of the 20th century," aid Gosling of her film. "She died just a year and a half ago at the age of 97, but she was marching against fascism at the age of 18, way before civil rights in Detroit. She decided that her life was gonna be about anything she could do to promote peace and justice. And she knew that she had a voice."
Dane's on screen voice will be joined by a pre-screening performance from Dayton-based artist Khrys Blank on the Neon patio. For more information on the film, visit https://barbaradanefilm.com
