NEWS RELEASE
MARIPOSA ARTS THEATRE
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Mariposa Arts Theatre’s popular Film Nights will screen the powerful documentary, Joan Baez: I Am a Noise, on Wednesday, Jan. 31 at Orillia Galaxy Cinemas.
Doors open at 3 p.m. for ticket sales for both the 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. screenings, and again at 6 p.m. for the 7 p.m. show.
Joan Baez is a singer, songwriter, musician and activist. She has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more than 30 albums. She was one of the first to record the songs of Bob Dylan in the early 1960s; Baez was already an internationally celebrated artist and did much to popularize his early songwriting efforts. She has also recorded the music of a pantheon of musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries, from the Beatles to Leonard Cohen to Paul Simon and Bob Marley. She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.
In addition to singing and songwriting, Baez has displayed a lifelong commitment to political and social activism in the fields of nonviolence, civil rights, human rights and the environment. She was a friend of Martin Luther King and participated in many of the civil rights movement demonstrations he helped organize. Her protests against the Vietnam War led to her twice being arrested, and spending over a month in jail. Her activism on behalf of urban farmers, LGBTQ rights and other causes has continued into her eighth decade.
Absorbing purely as a chronicle of her remarkable career, Joan Baez: I Am a Noise is also moving as a depiction of one woman’s personal journey from pain to peace and forgiveness. The film shifts back and forth through time as it follows Joan on her final tour and delves into her extraordinary archive, including newly discovered home movies, diaries, artwork and audio recordings. This film is a compelling and deeply personal exploration of an iconic artist who has never told the full truth of her life until now.
Joan Baez fans, and music lovers in general, won’t want to miss this opportunity to see Joan Baez in Orillia. Although she did perform at Mariposa Folk Festival in July 1969, it was during the festival’s days on Toronto Island. True to her beliefs, she appeared for Mariposa’s nominal fee of $75 per day, and insisted that tickets cost no more than $2 so that “her people” could be up close and personal.
Tickets for Joan Baez: I Am a Noise cost $10 regular admission, $5 for students with a student card, payable by cash, debit or credit.
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