Joan Baez Shares Wisdom at HamptonsFilm SummerDocs Closer

Folk icon and activist Joan Baez is ready for her close-up.

At a Hamptons Film Festival’s SummerDocs screening in East Hampton Sunday night, August 13, she was joined by fellow music legend Laurie Anderson and director Karen O’Conner for a packed A-list screening and conversation about Joan Baez I Am A Noise (co-directed by Miri Navasky and Maeve O’Boyle).

The documentary chronicles her rise and contribution to the ’60s movement and the impact of her music. The 82-year-old singer of “Diamonds and Rust” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” was upbeat but didn’t mince words.

“Protest music is very important,” Baez said.

Can it still effect change today?

“If we work behind it, if we stay with it. Music alone is not enough.”

And then, without protest, she walked into the screening.

Sunday’s screening concludes the 15th annual SummerDocs series, but the big show — the Hamptons International Film Festival — returns this fall, from October 5–12. Visit hamptonsfilmfest.org for more info.