Joan Baez I Am A Noise

Since her debut at the age of 18, musician, civil rights campaigner and activist Joan Baez has been on stage for over 60 years. For the now 82-year-old, the personal has always been political, and her friendship with Martin Luther King and her pacifism have shaped her commitment. In this biography that opens with her farewell tour, Baez takes stock in an unsparing fashion and confronts sometimes painful memories. She not only shares her successes but also speaks openly about long-standing psychological problems and therapies, about family, drugs, ageing and questions of guilt and forgiveness. She makes it clear that, during her relationship with the very young Bob Dylan, she used her celebrity to launch his career. Her disappointment at her later estrangement from him becomes palpable.
Thanks to a long-term friendship with one of the film’s directors, Karen O’Connor, Baez granted the directing trio access to the “inner demons” that have plagued her since youth. Their film interweaves diary entries and a wealth of partly previously unseen archive material with extensive conversations with Baez, as well as backstage moments from the tour. An intimate portrait that will not only be of interest to her fans.
by Karen O’Connor, Miri Navasky, Maeve O’Boyle
with Joan Baez, Mimi Farina, Bob Dylan, David Harris
USA 2023 English 113’ Colour & Black/White Documentary Form

With

  • Joan Baez
  • Mimi Farina
  • Bob Dylan
  • David Harris

Crew

Directors Karen O’Connor, Miri Navasky, Maeve O’Boyle
Cinematography Wolfgang Held, Ben McCoy, Tim Grucza
Editing Maeve O'Boyle
Music Sarah Lynch
Sound Design Ron Bochar
Sound Jason Pawlak, Steve Roseboom, Dean Murray
Producers Karen O’Connor, Miri Navasky
Executive Producers Greg Sarris, Patti Smith, Josh Braun, Ben Braun, Terry Press

World sales

Produced by

Mead Street Films

Karen O’Connor

The films this award-winning filmmaker has produced, written and directed with Miri Navasky include the Emmy-nominated The New Asylums, a portrait of mentally ill prisoners, which won the Robert F. Kennedy Grand Prize Journalism Award; the Emmy-winning The Undertaking, an exploration of mortality and grief; and the Emmy-nominated Growing Up Trans, about the struggles and choices faced by transgender children and their parents, which won a duPont-Columbia Award in 2016.

Filmography (documentaries)

2002 A Crime of Insanity; co-director: Miri Navasky 2005 The New Asylums; co-director: Miri Navasky 2006 Living Old; co-director: Miri Navasky 2007 The Undertaking; co-director: Miri Navasky 2009 The Released; co-director: Miri Navasky 2010 Facing Death; co-director: Miri Navasky 2012 The Suicide Plan; co-director: Miri Navasky 2015 Growing Up Trans; co-director: Miri Navasky 2023 Joan Baez I Am A Noise; co-directors: Maeve O’Boyle, Miri Navasky

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2023

Miri Navasky

The award-winning filmmaker co-founded Mead Street Films with Karen O’Connor over twenty years ago. Their immersive and compelling documentaries address social issues and take audiences into rarely-seen worlds. They include the Banff-award-winning The Killer at Thurston High about a school shooting, and the Emmy-nominated The Suicide Plan about assisted dying.

Filmography (documentaries)

2000 The Killer at Thurston High 2002 A Crime of Insanity; co-director: Karen O’Connor 2005 The New Asylums; co-director: Karen O’Connor 2006 Living Old; co-director: Karen O’Connor 2007 The Undertaking; co-director: Karen O’Connor 2009 The Released; co-director: Karen O’Connor 2010 Facing Death; co-director: Karen O’Connor 2012 The Suicide Plan; co-director: Karen O’Connor 2015 Growing Up Trans; co-director: Karen O’Connor 2023 Joan Baez I Am A Noise; co-directors: Karen O’Connor, Maeve O’Boyle

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2023

Maeve O’Boyle

The filmmaker has worked in various positions on numerous projects including as editor of the documentary The Education of Mohammad Hussein which was shortlisted for an Oscar. She co-produced and edited Firestone and the Warlord which won an Emmy and an IRE Award. In 2020, she directed, produced and edited the documentary The 8th.

Filmography (documentaries)

2012 The Education of Mohammad Hussein; short documentary, editor 2014 112 Weddings; editor/co-writer · Firestone and the Warlord; editor/co-producer · Do I Sound Gay?; editor/co-writer 2015 Growing Up Trans; editor/co-producer 2016 Sacred; editor 2018 Reality Baby; short documentary, editor 2020 The 8th 2023 Joan Baez I Am A Noise; co-directors: Karen O’Connor, Miri Navasky

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2023