“I actually believe right now, it is more important than ever to look at women like Ani and her career and what she’s done as a feminist,” filmmaker Dana Flor says of her newest directorial project, 1-800-ON-HER-OWN, a documentary about legendary ’90s folk singer and activist, Ani DiFranco. 

DiFranco rose to fame in the ’90s with songs like “Both Hands” and “Untouchable Face.” She released songs through her own record label, Righteous Babe Records, which she started at 19 years old. 

Along with releasing music that helped a whole host of Gen X women question their sexuality, she has spent her career performing music at rallies, marches, benefits and fundraisers, urging people to vote, lobbying against Congress, backing liberal politicians and protesting wars. 

Later, she began the Righteous Babe Foundation, which has supported causes ranging from LGBTQ+ visibility and abortion rights, to environmental consciousness and raising money for public schools.

The documentary, which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in June, begins a weeklong run at the Eugene Art House Nov. 15. It details the singer’s current life as a mother, partner, artist and activist in a world before and during COVID. 

Eugene Weekly sat down with Flor and DiFranco herself over Zoom to talk about their experience filming the documentary.

First of all, Dana, what inspired your idea of making a documentary on DiFranco?

Flor: A lot of fans say about Ani that she wrote the soundtrack to their lives, and I had that very distinct feeling. But I also think that what she’s been able to do in her relatively short life is extraordinary, and I think her work as a feminist icon is especially notable. 

And I don’t think I had a master plan that we’d be talking about this right after we almost elected our first woman president, but it’s also been very timely. Ani’s North Star throughout her life has been as a feminist, fighting for women’s reproductive rights and against the patriarchy.

And how did you two meet?

DiFranco: We hung out by a pond in Woodstock, New York. Dana came to one of my shows to see what my thing was about, and we just had an instant connection with each other. [We connected] about being women, trying to balance career and family and all the things, and also about our careers involving politically and socially conscious art. 

I was resistant to the idea of a documentary, but just feeling kindred with Dana right away made me think, “Oh, why the hell not? Let’s just trust this woman. She’s obviously a woman on a mission of her own, and I respect that, and so I’m just not going to worry about it.” You know, just go for it.

What reasons made you feel resistant?

DiFranco: Well, you know, I’ve showed a lot of myself and my life and my heart and my thoughts and my mistakes and my struggles in my songs, but to have somebody with a camera get on the bus and go into my home and live with me for a year or two is just a whole other level of exposure. Putting myself out there is not something I enjoy or relish or feel comfortable with, but I’ve brought myself to do it because I have other motivations in my work. And so it was, but it was just a whole other level of giving over. 

Flor: I mean, I felt really fortunate to have someone like Ani who trusted me so completely, and also someone who is so uncensored and so vulnerable and articulate about things. This is what her career has been based on, largely being able to put words to what people don’t seem to be able to articulate. It’s a rare and beautiful skill that she has, and she’s very uncensored and very vulnerable in the way she expresses herself in a personal sense, but I think also in a political sense. So I think that’s what makes for an incredible story.

And this documentary focuses mostly on DiFranco’s activism rather than her music, correct?

Flor: I didn’t really want to do a music documentary, per se. It wasn’t a concert film that I was interested in doing. I was always interested about the deeper story behind who Ani is, and her music and what that represents. 

I think that what has been a large impetus throughout her life and her work and her music and her art has been her identity as a woman and as a feminist. She’s had a large career and has written hundreds of songs and been involved with hundreds of causes. But I decided to focus on that because I felt like it was something that was a throughline throughout her life.

DiFranco: Dana is absolutely right about the throughline. I have dedicated myself to a lot of different kinds of political work and spoke to a lot of things in my songs, but I really deeply believe that reproductive freedom is actually a prerequisite for solving any and all social and political diseases, that unless we start with a world full of free women who can be actively and equally engaged in the social and political design. 

We will never be OK. We can’t get to peace on earth through patriarchy. So I see combating patriarchy as a sort of global mission that is also doing the work of combating climate change and racism and classism and heterosexism and all those things.

Dana, was there anything you learned about Ani while filming, and Ani was there anything you learned about yourself while watching it back?

Flor: Many things. One is that she’s one of the most disciplined people I’ve ever met. It’s amazing how much she works and how much she’s able to put out.

DiFranco: No, I mean, there’s one thing that I know very concretely about myself, and that’s watching myself on a screen, or even really listening to the sound of my own recordings or anything I’ve ever made or done is not fun for me. I have, unfortunately, a fraught relationship with myself and my work.

So why perform? Why put yourself out there if it’s so difficult? 

DiFranco: I guess, just a strong sense of purpose, or a strong will which so many people have in their own ways, in their own sphere. Rock climbing a mountain is very terrifying, but you push through your fear and you do it. I’m not speaking from experience. To sign up for the political arena, to run for office as an idealistic public servant is an incredibly brave act. You put yourself in all kinds of uncomfortable positions of attack and scrutiny and judgment, and yet you do it because you believe in something very deeply.

Switching to a different note, where does the title, 1-800-ON-HER-OWN come from?

DiFranco: Dana came up with that, and I thought it was jaunty and cool. It’s actually the phone number for Righteous Babe records.It’s been around for many, many years. We’ve had this 800 number, and it speaks, in a lot of ways. It actually has one extra digit in there, though. Did you notice that? So the actual number for the insiders, it’s 1-800-ON-HER-OX.

1-800-ON-HER-OWN will be screened at Eugene Art House Friday, Nov. 15 through Thursday, Nov. 21. Adult tickets are $11. EugeneArtHouse.Ccom