Overview

"An intimate account of a seminal filmmaker's development-as a creator and as a woman-both in art and in life. ""Joyce Chopra, what a gift of an extraordinary filmmaker you are, and one of our great pioneers who forged a very difficult path. And for female filmmakers everywhere, we are so blessed to have you as a storyteller to forge the way to make it easier for others.""-Laura Dern, actor Hailed by the New Yorker as ""a crucial forebear of generations,"" awardwinning director Joyce Chopra came of age in the 1950s, prior to the dawn of feminism, and long before the #MeToo movement. As a young woman, it seemed impossible that she might one day realize her dream of becoming a film director-she couldn't name a single woman in that role. But with her desire fueled by a stay in Paris during the heady beginnings of the French New Wave, she was determined to find a way. Chopra got her start making documentary films with the legendary D.A. Pennebaker. From her ground-breaking autobiographical short, Joyce at 34 (which was acquired for NY MoMA'S permanent collection), to her rousingly successful first feature, Smooth Talk (winner of the Best Director and Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 1985), to a series of increasingly cruel moves by Hollywood producers unwilling to accept a woman in the director's role, Chopra's career trajectory was never easy or straightforward. In this engaging, candid memoir, Chopra describes how she learned to navigate the deeply embedded sexism of the film industry, helping to pave the way for a generation of women filmmakers who would come after her. She shares stories of her bruising encounters with Harvey Weinstein and Sydney Pollack, her experience directing Diane Keaton, Treat Williams, and a host of other actors, as well as her deep friendships with Gene Wilder, Arthur Miller, and Laura Dern. Along with the successes and failures of her career, she provides an intimate view of a woman's struggle to balance the responsibilities and rewards of motherhood and marriage with a steadfast commitment to personal creative achievement. During a career spanning six decades, Joyce Chopra has worked through monumental shifts in her craft and in the culture at large, and the span of her life story offers a view into the implacable momentum of the push for all womens' liberation. ""Joyce Chopra has written a devastatingly frank, candid, and unsparing memoir of her life as a film director-a 'woman director' in a field notoriously dominated by men. The reader is astonished on her behalf, at times infuriated, moved to laughter, and then to tears. Lady Director: Adventures in Hollywood, Television, and Beyond is one of its kind-highly recommended."" -Joyce Carol Oates, author of ""Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"""

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Reviews

Praise for Joyce Chopra's Lady Director: Through the lens of an extraordinary, determined and adventurous career, Lady Director reminds us that present day female Oscar nominees for Best Director stand on the shoulders of women like Joyce Chopra. This surprising often shocking book is destined to become a classic. -Honor Moore, author of Our Revolution, a Mother and Daughter at MidcenturyPraise for Joyce Chopra's Smooth Talk : Chopra strikes an astoundingly tactile, intimate vision of Connie's terror together with the burdens of self-doubt and silence that she endures-and that predators foster. The film's power is enormous throughout; spare means (long-held closeups, a four-minute take of sisterly confessions) evoke a drama that seems to have been filmed holding its breath. -Richard Brody, The New Yorker Chopra patiently observes the rituals by which the young attempt to forge an identity to present to both the world and themselves. -Jake Cole, Slant Magazine Smooth Talk, Joyce Chopra's electrifying 1985 adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates's short story 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?,' remains one of the most insightful and harrowing examinations of American adolescence ever put on film. -Peter Sobczynski, eFilmCritic Chopra has a precise eye for the vagaries of young adulthood. -Dan Schindel, Hyperallergic Good work never truly vanishes, and 30-plus years later, Smooth Talk finds its receptive era. -Michael J. Casey, Boulder Weekly

Joyce Chopra, what a gift of an extraordinary filmmaker you are. If we had made the movie two years ago, you would be the most sought after filmmaker in the business. You are one of our great pioneers who forged a very difficult path as a female filmmaker. For female filmmakers everywhere, we are so blessed to have you as a storyteller to forge the way to make it easier for others. --Laura Dern at the New York Film Festival Revivals Screening of Smooth Talk, 2020 Chopra strikes an astoundingly tactile, intimate vision of Connie's terror together with the burdens of self-doubt and silence that she endures--and that predators foster. The film's power is enormous throughout; spare means (long-held closeups, a four-minute take of sisterly confessions) evoke a drama that seems to have been filmed holding its breath. --Richard Brody, The New Yorker Chopra patiently observes the rituals by which the young attempt to forge an identity to present to both the world and themselves. --Jake Cole, Slant Magazine Smooth Talk, Joyce Chopra's electrifying 1985 adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates's short story 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?, ' remains one of the most insightful and harrowing examinations of American adolescence ever put on film. --Peter Sobczynski, eFilmCritic Chopra has a precise eye for the vagaries of young adulthood. --Dan Schindel, Hyperallergic Good work never truly vanishes, and 30-plus years later, Smooth Talk finds its receptive era. --Michael J. Casey, Boulder Weekly

Author Information

Joyce Chopra has produced and directed a wide range of award-winning films, ranging fromSmooth Talk, winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Dramatic Feature at the Sundance Film Festival, to the A&E thrillerThe Lady in Question with Gene Wilder. She has received American Film Festival Blue Ribbon and Cine Golden Eagle Awards for her numerous documentaries, including That Our Children Will Not Die, about primary health care in Nigeria, and the autobiographicalJoyce at 34She lives in Charlottesville, VA.

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