Film Forum

JOAN BAEZ is a musical force of nature whose commitment to social activism has never wavered. Starting with her early 1960s recordings, her performances of traditional ballads exerted a powerful attraction on a generation and songs like “House of the Rising Sun” and “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” found their way into the rock vernacular. She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 and honored by the Kennedy Center in 2021 among countless other accolades. At the same time, Baez’s role in the human rights and anti-war movements around the world has earned her place in history, alongside friends and allies, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Cesar Chavez, the Irish Peace People, Nelson Mandela, Vaclav Havel, and others. Since retiring from active performing in 2019, Baez has focused her formidable talents on painting and drawing. Today, the life and times of Joan Baez are reflected in her “Mischief Makers” series of paintings that immortalize risk-taking visionaries, ranging from Dr. King and Bob Dylan to the Dalai Lama and Patti Smith. Additionally, her book of drawings, AM I PRETTY WHEN I FLY? An Album of Upside Down Drawings, was recently published on Godine.

KAREN O’CONNOR (Co-Director / Producer) is an award-winning filmmaker. Her films, produced, written, and directed with Miri Navasky, include THE KILLER AT THURSON HIGH, an investigation of a school shooting that won a Banff Award; THE SUICIDE PLAN, an Emmy-nominated film that delves into the hidden world of assisted suicide; the Emmy-nominated THE NEW ASYLUMS, a wrenching portrait of mentally ill prisoners, which won the Robert F. Kennedy Grand Prize Journalism Award; the Emmy award-winning THE UNDERTAKING, a moving exploration of mortality and grief told through the perspective of renowned poet undertaker Thomas Lynch; and the Emmy-nominated GROWING UP TRANS, a powerful and personal exploration of the struggles and choices facing transgender children, and their parents, which was shortlisted for a Peabody Award and won a DuPont Columbia Award.

MIRI NAVASKY (Co-Director / Producer) is an award-winning filmmaker who co-founded Mead Street Films with Karen O’Connor more than two decades ago. Her films include, THE KILLER AT THURSON HIGH, an investigation of a school shooting that won a Banff Award; the Emmy-nominated THE NEW ASYLUMS, a wrenching portrait of mentally ill prisoners that won the Robert F. Kennedy Grand Prize Journalism Award; THE UNDERTAKING, an Emmy award-winning film that follows poet-undertaker Thomas Lynch as he explores mortality and grief in a small Michigan town; THE SUICIDE PLAN, an Emmy-nominated film that delves into the hidden world of assisted suicide; and GROWING UP TRANS, an intimate exploration of the struggles and choices facing transgender children and their parents that was nominated for an Emmy, short-listed for a Peabody, and won a DuPont Columbia award.

MAEVE O’BOYLE (Co-Director / Editor) is an Emmy-award winning filmmaker. She edited THE EDUCATION OF MOHAMMAD HUSSEIN, (HBO) which was shortlisted for an Academy Award. She coproduced and edited the Emmy-award-winning and 2014 IRE Award winning, FIRESTONE AND THE WARLORD (PBS). She also edited and co-produced GROWING UP TRANS (PBS) with O’Connor and Navasky, which won a duPont Columbia award. She co-wrote and edited 112 WEDDINGS for Doug Block, which premiered at Full Frame, Hot Docs and Sheffield Doc/Fest and aired on HBO and BBC Storyville, and DO I SOUND GAY? for David Thorpe, which had its world premiere at TIFF and was awarded the runner up for People’s Choice Award. Other work includes LEFT OF THE DIAL (HBO), HEAT (PBS), CARRIER (PBS) and THE KIDS GROW UP (HBO), which premiered at IDFA and Full Frame and was awarded a special Jury prize at AFI Docs. In 2020, she directed, produced and edited THE 8TH which was critically acclaimed in the UK and Ireland and nominated for an IFTA for Best Documentary. She is currently editing a feature documentary THE ANIMATED MIND OF OLIVER SACKS.

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