Screening times:
Saturday, November 8, 6:00 PM
Ally Pankiw | Canada, USA | 2025 | 99m
Lilith Fair: Building A Mystery tells the untold story of the groundbreaking music festival featuring only women artists, started by iconic Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan and her team in the late 1990s, in opposition to systematic industry barriers that limited women from playing together on a concert bill and getting back-to-back airplay on the radio. The film is produced with the support of the original Lilith Fair founders – Sarah McLachlan, Terry McBride, Dan Fraser and Marty Diamond.
“I’m so filled with pride and nostalgia watching this film,” said McLachlan. “Ally and the team have beautifully captured the magic and strength of a community of women who came together and lifted each other up to create positive change in the world.”
The film draws from more than 600 hours of never-before-seen archival footage as well as new interviews and stories from fans, festival organizers, and artists. The documentary reunites and features interviews from original Lilith Fair artists Bonnie Raitt, Sheryl Crow, Erykah Badu, Paula Cole, Jewel, Mýa, Natalie Merchant, Indigo Girls, and Emmylou Harris and a new generation of artists who have carried the torch including Brandi Carlile and Olivia Rodrigo, among others. As the film celebrates the festival’s groundbreaking legacy and impact, it also confronts the backlash that tried to diminish it and explores what Lilith means in today’s world.
“Lilith Fair holds a very special place in my heart,” said producer Dan Levy. “It was one of the first spaces where I remember feeling at home. The music, the sense of community, and the power of a group of women proving an entire industry wrong was a tremendous thing to experience.”
“Lilith Fair is partly adapted from an excellent 2019 Vanity Fair oral history of the festival by Jessica Hopper, Sasha Geffen, and Jenn Pelly, but the documentary has the benefit of being able to draw on raw footage of Lilith’s prize asset: its audience.” - Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic
“Art only works if it’s shared in community and handed down from older people to younger ones, and it’s at its best when artists get to collaborate. Every night at Lilith Fair ended with an encore in which all the artists went onstage and sang together.” - Alissa Wilkinson, New York Times
“Whether you were around at the time or are learning about it afresh, like Olivia Rodrigo, you may spend the entirety of the doc wishing we could get ourselves back to the garden.” - Chris Willman, Variety
Tickets $12 ($11.40 cash at the door if available)
