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Executive-produced by Wim Wenders and featuring adoring fans such as Nick Cave, Karen Dalton: In My Own Time is an engrossing profile of a little-known 60s blues and folk icon.
For a short time in the late 1960s, Karen Dalton was revered in the blues and folk scene centred in New York’s Greenwich Village. She only released two albums, yet her startling voice – described as haunting, sultry and plaintive – won her acclaim from the likes of Bob Dylan and, later, Nick Cave. But her determination to live life her own way, out of the spotlight, meant she soon vanished from the public consciousness.
Her name and influence have remained relatively obscured due to the dearth of evidence of her time in this world: recordings, writings and photos are few, and much of what did exist was lost in a fire – but thankfully not before being uncovered by directors Robert Yapkowitz and Richard Peete. Presenting it here alongside re-enactments and recollections from Dalton’s daughter, friends, contemporaries and admirers, as well as narration from Angel Olsen and music from Julia Holter, the filmmakers have stitched together an evocative and richly textured biography that does much to restore a unique legacy.
“As excavators and storytellers, the directors have done an admirable job, not just in finding archival gems where none were expected, but in honouring Dalton’s singular voice … In My Own Time is in tune with the haunting poetics of her work.” – Hollywood Reporter
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