Featuring an eclectic array of artists, ‘Underplayed’ tells the story of women in the male-dominated electronic scene, and shows the way to a more inclusive future.
Released on International Women’s Day, Underplayed explores gender inequality in the electronic music scene. This Canadian production was premiered at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival and is available to stream via Apple (iTunes and Apple TV), Google Play, Amazon, and more.
Directed by New Zealander Stacey Lee, the film traces the Summer festival circuit with some of the world’s biggest DJs, electronic artists, and studio pros including Alison Wonderland, Rezz, Nervo, Tokimonsta, Tygapaw, Suzanne Ciani, Heba Kadry, among others.
The statistics are grim: women comprise only a small percentage of DJs on the international circuit, an even smaller fraction of technical roles in music production. Part of the purpose of Underplayed is to showcase the female artists who have made their way to the top of a male-dominated game, and share their stories of being met with scepticism for just participating in the field.
Another crucial element of Underplayed‘s message is the respect shown by these artists to their predecessors. Though the contributions of women have clearly been overlooked for decades, they have always been present. In the film, the current generation reflects on the influence of artists like Grace Jones, Suzanne Ciani, Delia Derbyshire, and Wendy Carlos, to name a few.
For more info, head over to the Underplayed website.
While you’re here, check out In CTRL, a mini-documentary that explores the underrepresentation of women in sound engineering and production.
