The film “1-800-ON-HER-OWN” follows the fiercely independent artist as she tries a career first: writing a song with another artist.
Ani DiFranco’s approach to her music career has always had a stripped-down, D.I.Y. vibe. In fact, Dana Flor’s new documentary about the singer, “1-800-ON-HER-OWN” (in theaters) draws its name from the phone number for DiFranco’s Righteous Babe Records, the label she founded in 1990 so she wouldn’t have to work with a major company. It was an unusual thing for anyone to do back then, but especially for a 20-year-old female artist whose songs lay somewhere between folk and punk. That’s just her style.
The documentary mimics that handmade aesthetic, sometimes accidentally. The major arc follows DiFranco, now in her 50s and a mother of two, as she tries out collaboration as she never has before. Arriving as a guest of honor at a songwriting retreat held by Justin Vernon (a.k.a. the frontman of the band Bon Iver), she confesses that she’s never written a song with anyone else in her entire career. Yes, DiFranco has often worked with others — she toured with a band, and the label was run by a team — but her solo songwriting and a more recent solo tour have sometimes felt lonely.
DiFranco talks throughout the film about her career and her memories, often while sitting in a car. But while the film starts out conventionally, seeming as if it will focus, as she puts it, on finding “some other way to be home more and still be an artist,” it soon pivots. When the pandemic strikes, being home more is not a choice — it’s just life.
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