THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES, the 2012 Sundance Film Festival sensation and box office hit that Entertainment Weekly touted as "a succulently entertaining movie," will make its television premiere tonight, April 29 at 9pm ET/PT on Bravo.
The critically lauded documentary about an abundantly wealthy family's attempt to build the largest home in America and their change in fortune as a result of the economic downturn of 2008 was directed by acclaimed documentary photographer/filmmaker, Lauren Greenfield. In addition to winning the Best Director prize at the 2012
Sundance Film Festival, the film also captured a Directors Guild of America nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement.
"The Queen of Versailles" traces the lives of billionaires Jackie and David Siegel who have Made their fortune from their Westgate Resorts time-share business in Florida. The film begins as they embark on the construction of what was to be the largest home in America - a 90,000 square foot dream home complete with 10 kitchens, a bowling alley, a 6,000-square-foot master suite, two tennis courts, a roller rink and more, modeled after France's palace of Versailles as the ultimate dream home for former model Jackie, her husband and their eight children. But the one thing that their blue prints did not plan for was the devastating financial crisis as their extravagant plans are put on hold as a result of the economic collapse. The film captures the strain on the Siegel's lifestyle, family life and marriage as Jackie tries to hold fast to their dreams while David's time-share empire confronts a massive credit crunch. While delivering big laughs and life lessons with Jackie's point of view and hilarious one-liners, this compelling and empathetic True Life story also provides a prism on the seismic aftermath of 2008's Great Recession.
Documentary photographer/filmmaker Greenfield is considered a preeminent chronicler of youth culture, gender and consumerism, as a result of her monographs "Girl Culture," "Fast Forward," "THIN" and other photographic works, which have been widely published, exhibited, and collected by leading museums around the world. Her documentary film, "The Queen of Versailles" was selected as the Opening Night film of
Sundance 2012 where it garnered critical acclaim and won the Best Director Award in the U.S. Documentary Competition. In addition to "The Queen of Versailles," Lauren has previously directed three award-winning documentary films - "THIN," "kids + money," and "Beauty CULTure." Her work was showcased in the Getty Museum's historical exhibition, "Engaged Observers: Documentary Photography Since the Sixties" (2010).
"The Queen of Versailles" is an Evergreen Pictures production. Its producers are Lauren Greenfield, Danielle Renfrew Behrens, Frank Evers and Dan Cogan. Magnolia Pictures bought the film immediately after its premiere at the
Sundance Film Festival and was released in theaters in summer 2012. The
Bravo deal was negotiated on behalf of the filmmakers by Josh Braun of Submarine.
Bravo is a program service of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, a division of NBCUniversal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience.
Bravo has been an NBCUniversal cable network since December 2002 and was the first television service dedicated to film and the performing arts when it launched in December 1980. For more information, visit www.BravoTV.com. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/BravoPR.
Photo by: Lauren Greenfield
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