The Florence Foster Jenkins Story

Story

Documentary/Hybrid Her singing reduced opera buffs to tears. Of laughter. The American Florence Foster Jenkins was the “Queen of Discord” and is still rated the worst soprano in history. Armed with a hefty inheritance, the eccentric society queen of the 1920s declared herself to be a prima donna and went on to shriek and squeak her way through the great arias of operatic history. The paradox was that it was precisely the fact that she was unencumbered by talent that made her a star. In archive recordings, interviews with experts and reports from eye and ear witnesses, the film portrays the eccentric singer and brings her to life in dramatized sequences, where she is played by the real opera singer Joyce diDonato.

Director

Ralf Pleger (*1967) made a name for himself with music videos and portraits of artists. His documentary Wagnerwahn (2013) was nominated for an International Emmy.