A new film about legendary folk singer Joan Baez tells her remarkable story, an intimate portrayal of her “public, private and secret life.” Joan Baez, I am a Noise, directed by Karen O’Connor, Miri Navasky, and Maeve O’Boyle, is playing at the Jane Pickens Film and Events Center October 13-16. Advance tickets are available here.
One of the better music biopics in recent years, the film looks at the 82-year-old folk singer, activist, and cultural icon, following her on her final tour in 2019. Breaking the mold of the traditional rock biopic, the film digs into Baez’s archives, flashing back to her childhood and early points in her career, on stage and in interviews. Part biography, part therapy session, her relationships with friends, lovers, fellow travelers, and international fame are explored.
The documentary brings viewers back to an early essay, What I Believe, which Baez wrote at age 13. She credits her parents with her interest in social causes – her father, an academic, made sure the family traveled frequently, and Baez and her two sisters would sing songs and harmonize on family drives. Growing up in California, she discovered folk music after seeing Pete Seeger in 1955 and got her first guitar while in high school a couple of years later.
As a Mexican American, she faced comments and discrimination from white classmates but found her identity through music. She recalls suffering from panic attacks and anxiety from a young age, a topic explored in the film, which includes actual tape recordings of her therapy sessions. The film draws you into Baez’s home, her storage closet, and her consciousness.
Baez spent her formative artistic years in Boston, playing her first gig at Club 47 (now Passim) in Cambridge, MA in 1958. She quickly gained a loyal following, which led to her appearance at the 1959 Newport Folk Festival, where she was introduced to a larger audience. “A Star is Born at Newport” noted Time magazine about the 18-year-old rising star.
Dealing with fame at a young age was a challenge for Baez and from the beginning she was “aware that there were sorrows way greater than mine. I know that I was happy to have the attention, and I think that bothered me,” she says in the film. “I didn’t want to be privileged when there were so many people who had no privileges. It was a huge conflict from the start.”
In the early 1960s, she engaged in the growing Civil Rights Movement – singing at the March on Washington and witnessing the “I Have a Dream” speech, a moment that still moves her. “I stepped into the Civil Rights Movement, and I kind of stayed there; nonviolent action was what I was born for, I knew that I belonged there. I realized that I had this amazing good fortune to be with King.”
Later, she had a much-trumpeted relationship with Bob Dylan, whom she introduced to the Newport Folk audience. “We changed each other’s lives and outlooks, music and careers,” she says of Dylan. “I was just stoned on that talent.” Although they were only together for a short time, Baez arguably influenced Dylan during his most creative period, helping to launch his career.
Later, she became a leader in the anti-war movements and established the Institute for the Study of Nonviolence. “Someday I intend to be like Ghandi,” she once wrote. The film also explores her drug addiction in the 1980s, her continued political activism, and the challenging family dynamics she navigated. “I’m not very good with one-on-one relationships,” she notes. “I’m good with one-on-two-thousand relationships.” In the end, she reconciles with her son (and drummer) Gabriel Harris.
The film includes a good deal of rare historical footage, including childhood photos and video from the Newport Folk Festival… and some classic songs, of course. Don’t miss this one!