The Queen of Versailles

The Queen of Versailles

Meet Jackie and David Siegel, along with their eight children; Jackie, a former beauty queen, and David, the billionaire “Time-Share King” of the world, are building their dream home – the USA’s largest single domestic home – modelled on the Palace of Versailles in France. And then the economic crisis strikes. This is the story of how, in the face of the worst economic downturn in 100 years, Jackie, David, their children, maids, dogs, employees and business associates struggle to keep the time-share business afloat and finish their dream-home: Versailles, Florida. The camera not only interviews but captures private moments in the Siegels’ lives, as Lauren Greenfield constructs metaphors to create portraits of family, friends, colleagues, nannies and children while their rarefied world is turned upside down. The result is a hypnotic film of a family and the demise of the American Dream.
Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.
Direction: Lauren Greenfield
Cinematography: Tom Hurwitz
Editing: Victor Livingston
Music: Jeff Beal
Production: Evergreen Pictures
Producers: Lauren Greenfield, Danielle Renfrew Behrens
Co-production: Plus Pictures, DR: Danish Broadcasting Corporation, VPRO
Co-producers: Rebecca Horn Black
Executive producer: Frank Evers, Dan Cogan
Format: DCP
Color: Color
Production Country: USA
Production Year: 2012
Duration: 100'
Contact: Magnify
Awards/Distinctions: Best Documentary Directing Award – Sundance FF 2012, Grand Jury Award – deadCenter FF 2012, Cine Sparks Jury Award – Brisbane IFF 2012, Best Director of a Feature Film – RiverRun IFF 2012, Best Documentary – Florida Film Critics Circle Awards 2012, Best Documentary – Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards 2012, Best Documentary by or About Women – Women Film Critics Circle Awards 2012

Lauren Greenfield

For 25 years, Emmy Award-winning photographer and filmmaker Lauren Greenfield has traveled the world, documenting the excesses of wealth and celebrity that have come to define our culture. Named by the New York Times as “America’s foremost visual chronicler of the plutocracy,” Greenfield has produced groundbreaking work on consumerism, youth culture, and gender, provoking international dialogue about some of the most important issues of our time. The Queen of Versailles was the opening night film of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Best Documentary Director Award and was named by Vogue as one of the top documentaries of all time. Her record-breaking, Super Bowl ad #LikeAGirl (250+ million views) earned her 14 Cannes Lions and the Most Awarded Director by Ad Age, making her the first woman to top this list.

Filmography

2006 Thin
2008 Kids + Money (short)
2010 Fashion Show (short)
2011 Beauty CULTure (short)
2012 Best Night Ever (short)
2012 The Queen of Versailles
2015 Magic City (short)
2018 Generation Wealth
2019 The Kingmaker
2024 Social Studies (TV series)