TIFF 2015 – Rock The Box – Film Review – Sept 10, 2015

By: Kat Harlton

Director: Katherine Monk

Photo Credit: Shirley Vercruyssa

http://tiff.net/festivals/festival15/shortcuts/rock-the-box

Rock The Box, presented by The National Film Board as part of the TIFF Short Cuts Programme 7,  is an insightful look into Rhiannon Rozier‘s struggle and eventual success at breaking into the male dominated world of EDM. As is the case for many women in male dominated careers, the Vancouver-raised DJ ran into a glass ceiling.  Unwilling to let her talent go unrecognized, DJ Rhiannon decided to do something she never thought she would do:  she posed for Playboy.

What I loved most about this documentary was it’s perspective on the ownership of the female body. As is the case in much of today’s entertainment industry, women are continually ‘sold out’ and sexualized in order to sell their product, often with no consideration of it’s effects on the artist or society.  However, in this case, we see DJ Rhiannon, an intelligent, university educated feminist take control.

She is in complete control of her body and her image, and how that image is sold and branded. This in turn gives her the power and advantage to climb to the top in the EDM world and beat the music industry at it’s own game. It forces the audience to question themselves, their beliefs, the industry, the labels society gives them, and even their own work ethic.

Directed by Katherine Monk, a Vancouver based film critic and writer, who is a regular contributor to various high profile media outlets and has lectured and taught film at various institutions, Rock The Box is a perfect example of the struggle that women in the entertainment industry and, in general, face everyday, seen through the eyes of two women who have managed to break through that glass ceiling and continue to push for and shine light on gender equality.

Rock The Box screenings:
September 14 at 6:45pm at TIFF Bell Lightbox
September 19 at 3:45pm at Scotiabank Theatre

For more information visit: http://tiff.net/festivals/festival15/shortcuts/rock-the-box