Singer and peace activist Joan Baez premiered her documentary Joan Baez: I’m a noiseat the Berlin Festival, in which he looks back on his 60-year musical career as an icon of American folk.
At 82, the artist talks about his struggle with drugs, his childhood abuse and his close relationship with musician Bob Dylan.
Documentary co-directed by Karen O’Connor, Miri Navasky and Maeve O’Boyle weaves their latest concert tour Goodbye good 2018, with his rise to fame, fight against drugs and other dramatic moments in his life.
The film is very intimate as it includes home movies, private diaries, artwork, therapy tapes, and audio letters to his family.
Among those materials there is one, from 1965, during a tour in England with Bob Dylan when they were dating and of which he tells, without closing an eye, that he broke his heart when he ended his courtship and married a model. Those turbulent days have been recorded in the excellent documentary on Dylan, Do not look back.
like a book of memories
Baez assures that what prompted her to make the documentary that tells such intimate aspects of her life is because she has known the directors for a long time and this has inspired her confidence. “It probably wouldn’t have happened otherwise, e I look at it like it’s some kind of third memoir“, He says.
And he adds: “I wrote one about twenty years old and another about thirty years old. Probably the one about the documentary This is what would have happened if I had written a new memoir at this point in my life.“.
However, it was not an easy decision to expose such sensitive issues and, as Baez explains, to encourage “I just thought about closing my eyes, covering my nose and jumping.” And he assures that if he had to review all the material that went into making the film, he wouldn’t have done it.
“I was confident that something reliable and true and not sensational and brilliant would come out. And I think that’s what happened,” said the artist.
As revealed in the documentary, Joan and her sister Mimi were abused by their father during their childhood. And, the singer analyzes it now, from another perspective but without forgetting the pain of what happened.
“I love my father and I hate that part where he talks denying any abuse from him. Because his reality is what he was. I have no doubt he didn’t realize we remembered things. That’s why it’s very hard for me now “, points out.
The singer did not know exactly what and how the documentary would show. “So some things are amazing and some things aren’t. And some are downright painful.”
not all so happy
The directors had many previous talks with Baez and all agreed that this was the most appropriate time to bring that part of her story to light. In the documentary we see the Baez family, showing their affection, even in the worst moments.
And the singer expresses that, despite everything, she would have liked to take care of her father, as she did with her mother, in her last moments of life. “Despite all this, it’s a complicated story”summarizes.
On the other hand, Baez also admits that she was able to talk about this painful topic now because her mother and mother are no longer here. “I couldn’t have done it while they were still here, and they aren’t anymore,” he says.
Another of the important presences in the documentary is Bob Dylan, a fundamental person since both experienced a courtship for several years, in the 60s, a period in which they also shared many scenes.
But what happened to Dylan?
“We’re not in contact anymore, but it doesn’t really matter now. Any resentment I may have had during all those years was in the movie,” he says. And she tells how she managed to overcome the separation that, according to her, “broke my heart”.
“One day, I was doing his portrait in my art studio. And it was a portrait of him when he was very young. I put on his music, and all that resentment, all that bullshit, was gone, just gone. I wrote him a letter and told him. And so it was”Explain.
Joan describes: ‘I didn’t put a return address or anything, I just wanted him to know how much he meant to me. How much his music meant to me. I may never see him again, and that’s okay too.’
As for her musical future, Joan Baez believes she won’t be returning to the stage after her last tour and says: “I came home and never played the guitar again. I hung it on the wall, and sang under pressure a few times, but really got into other things. Now I draw and paint.”
Source: Clarin
