Joan Baez: I Am a Noise
Director: Karen O'Connor, Maeve O'Boyle, Miri Navasky Run Time: 109 min. Rating: Not Rated Release Year: 2023
Starring: Bob Dylan, David Harris, Joan Baez, Mimi Fariña
In this biography that opens with her farewell tour, Baez takes stock in an unsparing fashion, confronting often painful memories and opening up about her history with mental illness, her family, drugs, aging and questions of guilt and forgiveness. For the first time on record, she speaks to her relationship with Bob Dylan, how she used her fame to launch his career, and the pain of their later estrangement. The film interweaves diary entries and Baez’s own illustrations with extensive conversations and backstage moments from the tour.
“This elaborate documentary navigates adroitly through the professional and the personal aspects of a very full life.”
– Todd McCarthy, Deadline
“Anyone with an interest in the key artists of the counterculture movement will find much to appreciate here.”
– David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter