How Barbara Hall Crafted a New Portrait of Heart’s Ann Wilson in Documentary Film

Barbara Hall still sounds a little in disbelief when she talks about getting to tell the story of one of her longtime musical heroes.

In the new documentary “In My Voice,” focused on singer-songwriter Ann Wilson, Hall says the project grew out of a lifelong connection to the music.

“I mean that that voice that’s been a part of our soundtrack and our lives since we were teenagers. I’m just a huge fan. Have always been a huge fan,” Hall says. “And so for me to get to go from listening to those songs and having them be my soundtrack to actually being able to do a deep dive and tell her story, like that’s a dream can come true.”

The film traces Wilson’s career from her rise in rock music as lead singer and songwriter for the rock band Heart through decades of performing and reinvention, while also attempting to pull back the curtain on a performer Hall describes as deeply reserved in interviews.

“She is not a big open book. Her story comes out in her lyrics. That’s how she shares herself with the world,” Hall says. “So, when you sit down to talk with her and interview her and put a camera in front of her and you want to talk about her accomplishments and how she got there, she tells you, ‘Oh, so and so was so much was such a great singer.’ And so and so was such a great lyricist. And I want to say, ‘You know, you’re a great lyricist. Tell us about you!’ But she’s very humble. So, to be able to kind of pull that out of her and get through the layers, that was an interesting journey.”

Hall, who did not come to filmmaking through a traditional path, says her background shaped how she approached interviews and storytelling.

“Let me confess, I didn’t go to film school. I actually went to social work school and kind of fell into filmmaking,” she says. “One of the things they teach you at social work school is how to ask questions so that people do sort of start are comfortable revealing themselves. So, that was a kind of a unique set of skills that I had that I was able to put to work on this side of my career.”

One of the biggest challenges, Hall says, was shaping a lifetime of material into a 75-minute film.

“I could have done three hours of just archival footage from her collection where you could see and hear and feel what their lives were like throughout about that whole process. But we kind of had to pick and choose selectively so we could tell the whole span of her story.”

Hall has been traveling with Wilson on a 10-city North American tour tied to the documentary, where post-screening Q&As have often turned emotional.

“People line up and they want to tell Ann how much her music has meant to them through a difficult time in their life,” Hall says. “That is a theme that is it has been in in every at every screening so far.”

As the tour continues, Hall says she’s still adjusting to the surreal reality of it all.

“I’m on the road with a with a rock star!” she says. “I never dreamt that this would happen. So I am very excited and it’s a huge honor.”

The documentary will screen with a live Q&A featuring Hall and Wilson on Friday, May 29, at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts.

Bethel Woods is a financial supporter of Radio Catskill.

Image: Ann Wilson sings the national anthem before the the first round of the NFL football draft Thursday, April 29, 2021, in Cleveland. (Jeff Haynes/AP Images for Panini)