Joyce Chopra

Directing

Joyce Chopra

Born 1936-10-27 · New York City, New York, USA

Joyce Chopra is an American director and writer of feature films and television. Chopra graduated from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. Chopra was married to American stage and screenwriter Tom Cole until he died on February 23, 2009. Her first narrative feature-length film, Smooth Talk (1985), won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Director and 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 her husband, Tom Cole.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

Rip Girls poster
6.3

A teen-age girl and her father come to an island on Hawaii, they find a closer relationship to each other and think about changing the island. During her adventures, Sydney finds friends, a new hobby with her fantastic photography, and the truth about her mother.

Rip Girls

2000

Murder in New Hampshire: The Pamela Wojas Smart Story poster
5.1

Pamela Smart knows exactly what she wants and is willing to do anything to get it. She is fed up with teaching, and her marriage offers little excitement. Looking for a way out she applies for a job at a local TV station. When her dreams of fame are dashed by rejection, she seduces 15-year-old Billy, one of her students. Pam challenges Billy to prove his love for her by getting rid of her husband. The stakes heat up with a huge insurance policy on her husband's life.

Murder in New Hampshire: The Pamela Wojas Smart Story

1991

Smooth Talk poster
6.2

Connie, the fifteen-year-old black sheep of her family, finds her summertime idyll of beach trips, mall hangouts, and innocent flirtations shattered by an encounter with a mysterious stranger.

Smooth Talk

1985

Hollywood Wives: The New Generation poster
5.5

A Hollywood star (Fawcett), fed up with her husband's cheating, hires a private investigator to tail him. Emotional support is offered by her two friends - a soul singer (Givens) and a famous director's wife (Gilbert)

Hollywood Wives: The New Generation

2003

Baby Snatcher poster
6.7

A woman is delighted to have given birth to a baby girl but her life is turned into a nightmare when she goes missing. The police mount a frantic search but to the woman's horror she finds out that it's herself who is the main suspect.

Baby Snatcher

1992

The Lemon Sisters poster
5.1

Three life-long friends work the bars in 1980s Atlantic City performing the songs of the 1960s girl groups.

The Lemon Sisters

1989

Deadline for Murder: From the Files of Edna Buchanan poster
7.0

Inspired by the the life of Pulitzer Prize-winning, Miami-based journalist, Edna Buchanan, who investigates the murder of a man with ties to the Miami mafia.

Deadline for Murder: From the Files of Edna Buchanan

1995

Replacing Dad poster
6.4

Linda and George live in a small town. He is the school principal. They are about to celebrate their 16th anniversary. She catches him with her daughter's young teacher, and has to deal with the kids, the town and her love to him.

Replacing Dad

1999

L.A. Johns poster
5.3

Liz dreams of buying a house and starts working as a call girl. She then becomes emotionally involved with a young man.

L.A. Johns

1997

Murder in a Small Town poster
6.1

A widowed theatre director moves to a small Connecticut town where he gets involved in solving the murder of a millionaire, who was the most despised man in town.

Murder in a Small Town

1999

The Disappearance of Nora poster
5.8

A beautiful woman is found stranded in the desert with no recollection of who she is or how she got there, so a casino boss makes it his mission to help her.

The Disappearance of Nora

1993

Marathon poster
NR

Started as a class project in what was likely the first filmmaking course ever taught at Harvard, Marathon documents the running of the 1964 Boston Marathon.

Marathon

1965

The Last Cowboy poster
6.2

John William 'Will' Cooper is a modern-day rancher, maintaining his ranch in hard times along with his friend and foreman Amos Russell. When Will's estranged daughter Jake returns to the ranch for her grandfather's funeral, father and daughter clash over how to run the ranch and over the death years before of Jake's mother, which she blames on Will. Crisis comes in the form of insurmountable debt, and it is only by working together that Will and Jake have any chance of saving their home and their family.

The Last Cowboy

2003

The Danger of Love: The Carolyn Warmus Story poster
3.9

Michael Carlin, a teacher, has been having an affair with a much younger fellow teacher Carolyn Warmus. When his wife is murdered, the police suspect him due to inconsistencies in his alibi, and no evidence points to anyone else.

The Danger of Love: The Carolyn Warmus Story

1992

Convictions poster
6.7

It has been nine years since Bancroft's character shot Brown's son. She goes to the prison to vent her rage at him over what he did, and discovers he's not the monster she thought he was.

Convictions

1997

The Corpse Had a Familiar Face poster
4.7

The Corpse had a Familiar Face is a 1994 American TV-Movie with Elizabeth Montgomery, playing Edna Buchanan, a Miami's criminal journalist.

The Corpse Had a Familiar Face

1994

My Very Best Friend poster
7.0

Dana Griffin is what some call a gold digger and has a habit of getting what she wants anyway possible. She is to wed wealthy Ted but her deceit is exposed. To build her life back she targets her friend Barbara and begins to take over her life.

My Very Best Friend

1996

The Lady in Question poster
6.0

In 1938, Jewish-rights activist Emma Sachs is targeted by the Nazis. When she dies, foul play is suspected. But was it the Nazis, or was it someone else? Det. Tony Rossini investigates, along with Larry "Cash" Carter, a theatre director connected to Mrs. Sachs and her family.

The Lady in Question

1999

Molly: An American Girl on the Home Front poster
7.1

Molly is a girl living in the year 1944 and WWII has brought many changes to Molly's life. An English girl comes to live with Molly's family to escape the bombings. They slowly become good friends.

Molly: An American Girl on the Home Front

2006

A Happy Mother's Day poster
5.9

A cinéma vérité documentary observing the Fischer family of Aberdeen, South Dakota, following the 1963 birth of the first surviving American quintuplets. Filmed shortly after the event, the film contrasts civic promotion, media attention, and commercial interest with the private fatigue and quiet suffering of Mrs. Fischer, revealing the tensions between spectacle and family life.

A Happy Mother's Day

1963

Joyce at 34 poster
6.4

After giving birth, Joyce attempts to regain her position as a filmmaker while also caring for her new baby. The changes to both her and her husband’s professional lives are remarkable and frustrating. The new parents love the baby but must recognize the limitations she puts on their careers.

Joyce at 34

1972

Joyce at 34 poster
6.4

After giving birth, Joyce attempts to regain her position as a filmmaker while also caring for her new baby. The changes to both her and her husband’s professional lives are remarkable and frustrating. The new parents love the baby but must recognize the limitations she puts on their careers.

Joyce at 34

1972

No artwork available
NR

A 1973 short film about the noted educator and president of Radcliffe College.

Matina Horner: Portrait of a Person

1973

No artwork available
NR

A 1978 documentary about healthcare services in five locations in Nigeria.

That Our Children Would Not Die

1978