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Joan Micklin Silver

Highest Rated: 94% Between the Lines (1977)

Lowest Rated: 50% Loverboy (1989)

Birthday: May 24, 1935

Birthplace: Omaha, Nebraska, USA

A consistently effective director, Joan Micklin Silver created films that have been noted for their emotional depth, fine acting (often by unknown performers) and deftly drawn characters. Born and raised in the Midwest, Silver graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and soon married. In 1967, she and her family moved from Ohio to NYC where she began her career writing educational films. Producer Linda Gottlieb hired Silver to work on the script about the wives of prisoners-of-war during the Vietnam era. The result "Limbo" (1972) was a modest feature, one of the first to confront repercussions of an unpopular war, but its overt melodrama undercut its intensity. Attempting to move behind the camera, Silver ran up against rejection; it was virtually unheard of a female working as a Hollywood director in the early 1970s. With her husband Raphael, Silver formed Midwest Film Productions. Her maiden effort behind the camera was the keenly observed immigrant tale, "Hester Street" (1975). Made for under $400,000 and rejected by distributors, the black-and-white feature was eventually released by Raphael Silver and earned $5 million as well as a Best Actress Oscar nomination for Carol Kane.

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Highest rated movies

94% 52% Between the Lines
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90% 92% Head Over Heels
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80% 77% Crossing Delancey
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80% 68% Hester Street
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50% 56% Loverboy
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27% Invisible Child
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The Frontier Experience
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44% Hunger Point
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33% In the Presence of Mine Enemies
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61% Big Girls Don't Cry... They Get Even
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Filmography

Movies

Credit
No Score Yet 44% Hunger Point Director - 2003
No Score Yet 79% Charms for the Easy Life Director - 2002
No Score Yet 27% Invisible Child Director - 1999
No Score Yet 54% A Fish in the Bathtub Director $1.2K 1999
No Score Yet 33% In the Presence of Mine Enemies Director - 1997
No Score Yet 61% Big Girls Don't Cry... They Get Even Director $270.4K 1992
No Score Yet 44% A Private Matter Director - 1992
No Score Yet No Score Yet Prison Stories: Women on the Inside Director - 1991
50% 56% Loverboy Director $3.9M 1989
80% 77% Crossing Delancey Director $15.8M 1988
No Score Yet 80% Finnegan Begin Again Director - 1985
No Score Yet 67% On the Yard Producer - 1979
90% 92% Head Over Heels Director,
Screenwriter
- 1979
94% 52% Between the Lines Director - 1977
80% 68% Hester Street Director,
Writer
- 1975
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Frontier Experience Screenwriter - 1975
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Fur Coat Club Director,
Writer
- 1973
No Score Yet No Score Yet Women in Limbo Screenwriter - 1972