A Piece Of Work the winner of SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2010 U.S. DOCUMENTARY EDITING AWARD takes the audience on a year long ride with Joan Rivers in her 76th year of life; it peels away the mask of an iconic comedian,… laying bare both the struggle and thrill of living life as a groundbreaking female performer. Filmmakers Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg (THE DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK, THE TRIALS OF DARRYL HUNT) expose the private dramas of this irreverent, legendary comedian as she fights to keep her career thriving in a business driven by youth and beauty.
The Film opens in select theaters on June 11th, 2010
A Piece Of Work exposes the private dramas of irreverent, legendary comedian and pop icon Joan Rivers as she fights tooth and nail to keep her American dream alive. A unique look inside America’s obsession with fame and celebrity – Joan’s story is both an outrageously funny journey and a brutally honest look at the ruthless entertainment industry, the trappings of success and the ultimate vulnerability of the first queen of comedy.
With unprecedented, unguarded access, the film captures intimate scenes shot in Joan’s 76th year — Joan at home, during holidays, performing stand up and acting in a play she wrote, gossiping with her QVC fans, writing jokes and managing her career — interweaving them with home movies, stand up routines, book recordings, personal photographs and archival footage to create a lush visual landscape and cinematic backdrop for the narrative as it unfolds. Filmed as a cinema verite documentary, the film reveals a rare glimpse of the comedic process and the toxic mixture of self-doubt and anger that often fuels it.
Joan’s is the quintessential story of survival and of determination – a child of Russian immigrants – she is the female pioneer who cut paths and broke boundaries in the otherwise all-male world of comedy, opening the door for other women comedians to follow. Joan is the only woman to have ever held the position of host on a network late-night talk show. Her career has had dramatic highs and lows — a Tony nomination, an Emmy awarding winning talk show, a husband who committed suicide, a fraudulent business partner and a booming entrepreneurial business – forcing her to constantly reinvent herself. And while she achieved celebrity heights on the Johnny Carson show and in the Vegas comedy world, she remained the anti-celebrity celebrity, always considering herself an outsider.
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