Premiering this week at the San Francisco International Film Festival, Newport & The Great Folk Dream unveils rare footage of Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Johnny Cash and more. A vibrant dive into the legend of American folk.
The biopic A Complete Unknown released in 2024 introduced an entire generation to the history of the Newport Folk Festival – but through the unique prism of Bob Dylan. By reconstructing the 1963, 1964 and 1965 editions, the film took certain liberties with historical truth.
The documentary Newport & The Great Folk Dream, directed by Robert Gordon, sets the record straight. Based on previously unpublished images shot between 1963 and 1966, it recreates the authentic spirit of the festival and gives voice to its major figures: Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Taj Mahal, Maria Muldaur, Noel “Paul” Stookey, Peter Yarrow, Joe Boyd and Jim Kweskin. The film will be screened this Friday at the San Francisco International Film Festival.
Many of the sequences come from the archives of filmmaker Murray Lerner, whose cult documentary Festival (1967) remains a reference. In 2007, Lerner had already produced The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival, focusing on the singer's performances.
This time, Newport & The Great Folk Dream takes a broader view: we see Judy Collins, John Lee Hooker, Peter, Paul & Mary, Dave Van Ronk, the Chambers Brothers, Elizabeth Botton and many others. “At the Newport Folk Festival, artists who should never have crossed paths were able to create connections,” says Gordon. It was the living folk tradition: the elders passed on their songs and their technique, while the young innovated and pushed the boundaries. »
The Newport Folk Festival was interrupted in 1969 before being reborn in 1985. The 2025 edition brought together an eclectic line-up: Geese, Goose, Jeff Tweedy, Jack Antonoff & Bleachers, Margo Price, Kenny Loggins, Public Enemy and Luke Combs. More than sixty years after its creation, the spirit of folk continues to breathe – free and timeless.
