In 1965, the small central New Hampshire town of Fremont gave birth to one of the most original perplexing acts in the history of American music: The Shaggs, a trio of three sisters (Dot, Betty, and Helen) whose domineering father Austin insisted they form a band to fulfill a prophecy foreseen by his palm-reading mother. With no formal musical training and little direct inspiration beyond Herman’s Hermits, the sisters forged a musical language – innocent yet dissonant, shambolic yet self-confident – entirely their own. Derided by critics and celebrated by adventurous listeners and musicians from Kurt Cobain to Frank Zappa, their 1969 album Philosophy of the World has become an intergenerational touchstone of DIY, riot grrl, and twee music.
In his first documentary feature, director Ken Kwapis (HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU, SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS) chronicles the Wiggin sisters’ unlikely journey, from the obligatory rehearsals of their teenage years in the 1960s through their rediscovery in the 1970s and their ambivalent embrace of their own complicated legacy in recent years. Through deft use of interviews, archival material, and animated sequences, Kwapis invites audiences to appreciate the ingenuity of their music and to weigh the still-unresolved questions about novelty, taste, and influence that it poses.
Following this special screening of WE ARE THE SHAGGS, director Ken Kwapis will appear to discuss the film.
Presented in partnership with the Master of Science in Leadership for Creative Enterprises (MSLCE), the EPICS program, and the Radio/TV/Film department at Northwestern University.
Cost: Free
Block Museum of Art
(847) 491-4000
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