Janis: Little Girl Blue

The Crested Butte Film Festival Monthly Film Series presents Janis: Little Girl Blue. Janis Joplin is one of the most revered and iconic rock & roll singers of all time, a tragic and misunderstood figure who thrilled millions of listeners and blazed new creative trails before her death in 1971 at age 27. With Janis: Little Girl Blue, Oscar-nominated director Amy Berg (Deliver Us from Evil, West of Memphis) examines Joplin’s story for the first time on film, presenting an intimate and insightful portrait of a complicated, driven, often beleaguered artist. Joplin’s own words tell much of the film’s story, through a series of letters she wrote to her parents over the years, many of them made public here for the first time. This correspondence is only one element of the stunning, previously unseen material Berg discovered during the seven years she has spent working on Janis: Little Girl Blue. New audio and video of Joplin in concert and in the studio, and even footage from her emotional return to Port Arthur for her 10th high school reunion, add depth and texture to this remarkable story. Interviews with Joplin’s family, childhood friends, musical associates, and such noted colleagues as Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead and TV host Dick Cavett give a complete sense of someone who struggled to connect with both individuals and audiences, but rejoiced fully when she made those bonds.