‘Sisters with Transistors’ reveal the untold stories of electronic music’s female pioneers

The misfortune of treating the history of influential females is on the decline, and it goes without saying, that it’s about time.

‘Sisters with Transistors’ is a new documentary that focuses on the remarkable and mostly untold story of electronic music’s female protagonists and pioneers. French-American film maker Lisa Rovner unravels rare archives and celebrates their contributions, a lot of which have been forgotten once the concept and technologies of electronic music reached the public sphere.

The timing of the film couldn’t be more fitting as it brings to light issues that have also only recently surfaced, such as gender and ethnic equality in the music world. Laurie Spiegel, the American electronic composer who is responsible for algorithmic composition software Music Mouse, explains, “We women were especially drawn to electronic music when the possibility of a woman composing was in itself controversial. Electronics let us make music that could be heard by others without having to be taken seriously by the male-dominated establishment”.

Rovner’s research and work for this documentary has been supported by the British Film Institute (BFI), and this will be the first time that the stories of Clara Rockmore, Daphne Oram, Pauline Oliveros, Delia Derbyshire, Bebe Barron and other female pioneers are indepthly portrayed — Rockmore, for example, is a Lithuanian violinist who was also a master of the theremin.

‘Sisters with Transistors’ was first debuted at SXSW, and consequently picked up the Next WaveSpecial Mention award at CPH:DOX in Copenhagen.

The film will have its European Premiere at The Showroom Cinema as part of Sheffield Doc/Fest on 31 October and its London Premiere on 14 November at The Barbican Theatre as part of Doc’n Roll’s seventh annual film festival.

Check out the trailer for ‘Sisters with Transistors’ below.