Painful mansplaining of Karen Dalton which I could barely get through. "I'm going to frame this one" of her poems says the man exploiting the proximity that he had to such a bright star. What a tragedy for those who could not see her and nurture her and welcome her to a world accessible and equitable. Personally, I am prescribed "speed" for my add-adhd. As an autistic person, I just can't with capitalism and bad art. I stsnd with the giant voices of folks who see and hear differently, the first peoples, the indigenous mutrd/morpjed voices/expressions to say - no more. Only giving two stars because by virtue if this unfortunate "portrait" more will known her name.

I searched out Karen Dalton while reading Bob Dylan's autobiography, and his comment that she could sing like Billie Holiday and play guitar like Jimmy Reed. I became obsessed with this voice that sounded as if it could crack and fall apart from pain in one moment, and then soar the next.

But try finding video of Dalton.

Thankfully filmmakers Peete and Yapkowitz do that for us. What we have here is a truly stunning documentary that somehow, with no Karen Dalton to interview, gives us a very complete portrait of a complex and brilliant artist.

Using singer Angel Olsen to bring Dalton's poetry to life is a stroke of genius. The people in her life who tell her story, are honest and caring. The look of the film, as if it were found in some old box that had been sitting on a closet shelf for 5 decades perfectly matches the tone, the subject. And the live performances of Dalton that they have managed to find will take your breath away.

As someone who has made 5 (going on 6) music documentaries, I tend to be very hard on them. But IN MY OWN TIME was very easy to fall in love with. Like it's subject's voice, it is damn near perfect.

(Saw this at DOC NYC 2020 film festival.)