“Ray’s and Saliers’ constant openness to personal self-assessment, including where they each fit on the queer spectrum, is fascinating and remarkable.”
“A revealing exploration and much-anticipated love letter to the massively beloved folk-rock duo Indigo Girls. From their serendipitous meeting at Emory University, where their innate musical styles collided, to their hardscrabble days as a popular bar band, to their explosion on the worldwide music scene with their eponymous album — this is the deep dive into their story that their intensely devoted fans have craved.
In Alexandria Bombach’s sensitively helmed ode, Emily Saliers and Amy Ray push aside their reluctance and unveil the stories behind the band’s decades of history and 15 million records sold, including their personal struggles, incessant dismissal by music critics, and devotion to LGBTQ+ and Indigenous rights. Through never-before-seen archival footage and frank conversation, It’s Only Life After All beautifully demonstrates how Ray and Saliers have persevered over 35 years while remaining authentic to their roots as artists, activists, and, above all else, friends.”
Blending 40 years of home movies, raw film archive, and intimate present-day verité, the film offers timely look into the obstacles, activism, and life lessons of two queer friends who never expected to make it big.
ALEXANDRIA BOMBACH (Director, Editor, Director of Photography) is an award-winning cinematographer, editor, and director from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her feature-length documentary, Frame by Frame (2015) premiered at SXSW and went on to win over 25 film festival awards. Her feature documentary On Her Shoulders, following Yazidi activist and Nobel laureate Nadia Murad, premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival — where Bombach won the U.S. Documentary Directing Award — and was nominated for two Independent Spirit Awards and shortlisted for an Academy Award.
»Sundance interview with Indigo Girls and director Alexandria Bombach
More Reviews
“The rare confessional rockumentary that envelops you like a soft blanket.”
—Robin Bahr, Hollywood Reporter
»Full review
“Singer-songwriters Amy Ray and Emily Saliers’ rapport, with both each other and the director, shines through a series of present-day interviews, concert footage, archival videos and recollections that foreground their music and their partnership over the last 40-plus years.”
—Aviva Dove-Viebahn, Ms. Magazine
»Full review
“Beyond the music, Ray’s and Saliers’ constant openness to personal self-assessment, including where they each fit on the queer spectrum, is fascinating and remarkable.”
—Chris Willman, Variety
»Full review