Join us for a screening of Joyce Carol Oates: A Body In The Service Of Mind (dir. Stig Björkman; Sweden & USA, 2023)!
Joyce Carol Oates has long been an intensely private person — until now. In Swedish director Stig Björkman’s groundbreaking new documentary, Björkman takes us inside Joyce’s life story, from her working-class childhood in upstate New York to her university years in Syracuse. Get up-close and personal with America’s foremost woman of letters as she reflects on the historical events that left their indelible mark on her work: the 1960s riots in Detroit, the tragic Chappaquiddick incident and the celebrity of Marilyn Monroe. Featuring narration from Oscar-winning actress Laura Dern.
“An affectionate, delicately composed portrait of one of America’s most fascinating, impactful writers” (The Chicago Reader)
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Swedish director and film critic Stig Björkman is best known for Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words (2015), which received the Golden Eye Special Mention at the Cannes Film Festival that year. He is also known for his films on Ingmar Bergman: …But Film is My Mistress (2010) and Images from the Playground (2009). Björkman has directed seven feature films including Georgia, Georgia (1972) with a screenplay by Maya Angelou and starring Diana Sands. He was editor-in-chief for the Swedish film magazine Chaplin from 1964 to 1972 and has been published widely in Swedish daily papers and in foreign film magazines like Cahiers du Cinéma and Sight and Sound. He has published several books about iconic filmmakers including Bergman on Bergman (1973), Trier on von Trier (2002), and a portrait book on Michelangelo Antonioni.