Joyce Chopra
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|---|---|
| Born | Joyce Kalina (1936-10-27) October 27, 1936 (age 87) |
| Education | Brandeis University |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, producer |
| Spouse(s) |
Amarjit Chopra
(m. 1963, divorced)Tom Cole (1969-2009; his death) |
Joyce Chopra (née Kalina; born October 27, 1936)[citation needed] is an American director.
She was married to American stage and screenwriter Tom Cole until his death on February 23, 2009.
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Chopra was one of three siblings born in New York City to Abraham, a lawyer and judge, and Tillie (née Ornstein) Kalina, and raised in the Coney Island and Brighton Beach neighborhoods.[1][2]
Chopra graduated from Brandeis UniversityinWaltham, Massachusetts. A few months after her graduation, she and a partner (her first husband Amarjit Chopra, an Indian whom she married in 1963)[3] opened a European-style coffee house near Harvard Square at 47 Mt. Auburn Street, quickly turning it into a music club (Club 47) where everyone from Joan BaeztoBob Dylan performed. The club was the subject of the 2012 film For the Love of the Music, shown at the Boston International Film Festival.[citation needed]
Her own film career began with documentary filmmaking in 1963 and gained much recognition by feminist film scholars with her autobiographical documentary Joyce at 34 (released 1974).[4] The film stars Chopra and examines the effect her pregnancy had on her filmmaking career; it also followed Chopra's labour with her daughter Sarah, as she became the first person to give birth live on television.[5] The documentary received the American Film Festival Blue Ribbon award. The film explores the issues surrounding women when pursuing the creation of a family while also creating a professional career.[citation needed]
Her next documentary project was a trilogy of short films. Matina Horner: Portrait of a Person (1973) focused on the titular professor and president of Radcliffe College, Girls at 12 (1975) examined the transition of young girls into teenagers, and Clorae and Albie (1976) examines the lives of two young black women in Boston who have been best friends since childhood but are starting to drift apart on different paths.[6]
Chopra transitioned into fiction film making around the mid-1980s after meeting and working with Tom Cole. One of their first collaborations was a PBS American Playhouse production Medal of Honor Rag[7] in 1982.
Her first narrative feature-length film, Smooth Talk (1985), was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Director and won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1985 Sundance Film Festival. The film is an adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates' 1966 short story, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?", and was adapted by Tom Cole.[4]
Her second feature-length film, The Lemon Sisters, was made in conjunction with producer and star Diane Keaton. The film explores the long-term female friendships between Eloise (Keaton), Franki (Carol Kane) and Nola (Kathryn Grody). After The Lemon Sisters, Chopra turned to directing television, ranging from television dramas to made-for-TV movies.
In addition to directing her own films, Chopra is part of BYKids, a nonprofit pairing filmmakers with youth from around the world to create short documentaries. My Beautiful Nicaragua, a 24-minute documentary about the devastating effects of climate change on coffee production in Nicaragua.[citation needed]
Much of Chopra's work treats the themes of sexuality and sensuality of women. These films often focus on the transitional periods in women's lives.[4] Girls at 12 and Smooth Talk are concerned with puberty; Joyce at 34 focuses on pregnancy; and The Lemon Sisters centers around new loves, lifestyles, and new career choices. Her other works — mostly documentaries — focus on youth.[10]
Fiction:
Documentary:
Made-for-TV movies:
TV series:
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Films directed by Joyce Chopra
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