This year marks a five-decade anniversary of “At Seventeen”: the hit which made Janis Ian an international star. Only the American songstress began her fascinating journey much earlier, and that piece could be found on her seventh album, “Between The Lines” – one whose echoes are discernible even on the veteran’s latest longplay, “The Light At The End Of The Line” from 2022. This journey is the focus of the “Breaking Silence” documentary set for release on March 28th but has already won a few festival accolades.
Breaking Silence
Directed by Varda Bar-Kar, the film whose working title was “Janis Ian and the Art of Song” follows its protagonist’s adventures as master of social commentary wrapped in mellifluous tune, as her early classic “Society’s Child” demonstrated in style, as a friend of her namesake Janis and Bruce Springsteen, as an LGBTQ+ advocate, and of course, as a composer and a poet. Not a lot of writers saw the fruits of their talent covered by Nina Simone and Cher – but Janis did, because her “Star” was too resonant to go unnoticed.
Still sharp and full of life, still possessed with a great sense of humor, Ian is a star of the new movie, and not only on archival footage, as she easily overshadows other interviewees, including Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie, Tom Paxton and Lily Tomlin. “Breaking Silence” promises to be revelatory and become one of the cinematographic highlights of 2025.
