Joyce Chopra (; born October 27, 1936) is an American

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

. She was married to American stage and screenwriter

Tom Cole Thomas Jeffery Cole (born April 28, 1949) is the U.S. representative for , serving since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party and serves as the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Before serving in the House of Representati ...

until his death on February 23, 2009.

Life and career

Chopra was one of three siblings born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to Abraham, a lawyer and judge, and Tillie ( Ornstein) Kalina, and raised in the

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

and

Brighton Beach Brighton Beach is a List of Brooklyn neighborhoods, neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, within the greater Coney Island area along the Atlantic Ocean coastline. Brighton Beach ...

neighborhoods. Chopra graduated from

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

Waltham, Massachusetts Waltham ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the Technological and industrial history of the United States, American Industrial Revoluti ...

. A few months after her graduation, she and a partner (her first husband Amarjit Chopra, an

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n whom she married in 1963) opened a European-style coffee house near Harvard Square at 47 Mt. Auburn Street, quickly turning it into a music club (

Club 47 Club Passim is an American folk music club in the Harvard Square area of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was opened by Joyce Kalina (now Chopra) and Paula Kelley in 1958, when it was known as Club 47 (based on its then address, 47 Mount Auburn Stre ...

) where everyone from

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (, ; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing mo ...

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

performed. The club was the subject of the 2012 film ''For the Love of the Music'', shown at the Boston International Film Festival. Her own film career began with documentary filmmaking in 1963 and gained much recognition by

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

film scholars with her autobiographical documentary ''Joyce at 34'' (released 1974). 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. 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. 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 Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...

, ''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. Chopra transitioned into fiction film making around the mid-1980s after meeting and working with

. One of their first collaborations was a

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

American Playhouse ''American Playhouse'' is an American anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). It premiered on January 12, 1982, with ''The Shady Hill Kidnapping'', written and narrated by John Cheever and direc ...

production ''Medal of Honor Rag'' in 1982. Her first narrative feature-length film, ''

Smooth Talk ''Smooth Talk'' is a 1985 film directed by Joyce Chopra, loosely based on Joyce Carol Oates' short story " Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" (1966), which was in turn inspired by the Tucson murders committed by Charles Schmid. The p ...

'' (1985), was nominated for the

Independent Spirit Award The Independent Spirit Awards, originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards, and later as the Film Independent Spirit Awards, are awards presented annually in Santa Monica, California, to independent filmmakers. Founded in ...

for Best Director and won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1985

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

. The film is an adaptation of

Joyce Carol Oates Joyce Carol Oates (born June 16, 1938) is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. Her novels ''Black ...

' 1966 short story, " Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?", and was adapted by

. Her second feature-length film, '' The Lemon Sisters'', was made in conjunction with producer and star

Diane Keaton Diane Keaton (née Hall; born January 5, 1946) is an American actress. She has received List of awards and nominations received by Diane Keaton, various accolades throughout her career spanning over five decades, including an Academy Award, a Bri ...

. The film explores the long-term female friendships between Eloise (Keaton), Franki (

Carol Kane Carolyn Laurie Kane (born June 18, 1952) is an American actress. She gained recognition for her role in '' Hester Street'' (1975), for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. She became known in the 1970s and 1980s in ...

) 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 Effects of climate change are well documented and growing for Earth's natural environment and human societies. Changes to the climate system include an Instrumental temperature record, overall warming trend, Effects of climate change on the ...

on coffee production in Nicaragua.

Awards

* ''

'': Grand Jury Prize at Sundance for Best Dramatic Feature (1985) * ''Molly: An American Girl on the Homefront'': Humanities Award *''That Our Children Will Not Die'': American Film Festival Blue Ribbon Award * ''Joyce at 34'': American Film Festival Blue Ribbon Award * ''Martha Clarke Light & Dark: A Dancer's Journal'': American Film Festival Blue Ribbon Award * ''Girls at Twelve'': American Film Festival Blue Ribbon Award

Nominations

* ''

'' - Independent Spirit Award for Best Director (1985), Independent Spirit Award for Best Picture (1985) * '' Molly: An American Girl on the Home Front'' - DGA nomination for Best Director

Themes

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. ''Girls at 12'' and ''

'' 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.

Filmography

Fiction: * ''

'' (1985) * '' The Lemon Sisters'' (1990) Documentary: * ''A Happy Mother's Day'' (1963) co-directed with

Richard Leacock Richard Leacock (18 July 192123 March 2011)
The Telegraph (Lon ...

* ''Joyce at 34'' (1974) * ''Girls at 12'' (1975) * ''Clorae & Albie'' (1976) * ''That Our Children Will Not Die'' (1978) * ''Martha Clarke, Light and Dark'' (1981) * ''Music Lessons'' (1981) * ''Gramercy stories'' (2008) * ''Fire in Our Hearts'' (2012) Made-for-TV movies: * '' Murder in New Hampshire: The Pamela Wojas Smart Story'' (1991) * '' Baby Snatcher'' (1992) * ''The Danger of Love: The Carolyn Warmus Story'' (1992) * '' The Disappearance of Nora'' (1993) * ''

Angel Falls Angel Falls (; Pemon: ''Kerepakupai Merú'' or ''Parakupá Vená'') is a waterfall in Venezuela. It is the world's tallest uninterrupted waterfall, with a height of , and a plunge of . The waterfall drops over the edge of the Auyán-tepui m ...

'' (1993) TV Series * '' The Corpse Had a Familiar Face'' (1994) * ''Deadline for Murder: From the Files of Edna Buchanan'' (1995) * ''My Very Best Friend'' (1996) * ''L.A. Johns'' (1997) * ''Convictions'' (1997) * '' Murder in a Small Town'' (1999) * '' Replacing Dad'' (1999) * ''

The Lady in Question ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' (1999) * '' Rip Girls'' (2000) * ''

Blonde Blond () or blonde (), also referred to as fair hair, is a human hair color characterized by low levels of eumelanin, the dark pigment. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some yellowish color. The color can be ...

'' (2001) * '' Hollywood Wives: The New Generation'' (2003) * ''The Last Cowboy'' (2003) * '' Molly: An American Girl on the Home Front'' (2006) TV series: * ''PBS American Playhouse Medal of Honor, Rag'' (1982) * ''

Everwood ''Everwood'' is an American drama television series created by Greg Berlanti. Berlanti, Mickey Liddell, Rina Mimoun, Andrew A. Ackerman and Michael Green served as executive producers. The series aired on the WB from September 16, 2002, to Jun ...

'' * ''

Crossing Jordan ''Crossing Jordan'' is an American crime drama television series created by Tim Kring, that aired on NBC from September 24, 2001, to May 16, 2007. It stars Jill Hennessy as Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh, a crime-solving forensic pathologist employed ...

'' * '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' * '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''

Publications

* ''Lady Director: Adventures in Hollywood, Television and Beyond'', published by City Lights Books. 11/08/2022. .

References

External links

*
Gramercy Stories

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...

. Archived fro
the original
on 2012-01-19.
Official website
for "For The Love of the Music", a documentary film about Club 47 {{DEFAULTSORT:Chopra, Joyce 1936 births Film directors from New York City American television directors American women film directors American women television directors Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Brandeis University alumni Sundance Film Festival award winners 21st-century American memoirists American women memoirists