Sophie Hyde is a director, producer, writer, and founding member of the film collective Closer Productions. She lives and works on the lands of the Kaurna people in South Australia. Her debut feature drama, “52 Tuesdays,” won the Directing Award at Sundance and the Crystal Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. Her work has won a BIFA for Best Debut Screenplay, Australian Academy Awards, Australian Directors Guild awards, and the Australian Writers Guild award for Best Series. Her documentaries have won the Australian Documentary Prize, premiered at Sundance and Hotdocs, and screened on PBS (USA), ABC (Australia), and ARTE (France and Germany).
“Good Luck To You, Leo Grande” is screening at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, which is running online from January 20-30. More information can be found on the fest’s website.
W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.
SH: A retired teacher, Nancy, hires a sex worker, Leo, in a bid to have good sex for the first time in her life. Over the course of a few meetings, they explore pleasure and sex as well as intimacy and connection.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
SH: The pairing of Emma Thompson and the idea was irresistible.
W&H: What do you want people to think about after they watch the film?
SH: How important pleasure is. How we have been taught to hate our bodies and how much we lose from that. How someone else’s perspective can open things for us that we haven’t previously thought about or understood. That we have great capacity for connection. That desire can lead us to wonderful things.
W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?
SH: We shot during COVID lockdowns in the UK. Along with DP and editor Bryan Mason I flew from Adelaide, Australia, a place that was virtually COVID free, to the middle of what at the time was a peak of infections. It felt scary in advance, but less so when we were there. There was a lot of remote working, even when we were there. I don’t mind remote working because I do it a fair bit, but some people, especially those used to being in the room with each other, really struggle to communicate in that way.
I felt that at times — that pressure of people not working the way they were used to working. There was a lot about the film that was wonderfully challenging but in the best ways. The biggest negative challenge and the only time I really disliked the remote thing was doing the color grade. That was not fun and I would avoid doing it that way in the future.
W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.
SH: I believe the film was financed through an equity financier with international sales in the mix. I have often been a producer on projects I direct but I wasn’t on this so I don’t have any more insight than that.
W&H: What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
SH: I always loved stories and I love working with other people to make something.
W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?
SH: Someone once told me not to have children if I wanted to be a director. That would have made my life smaller, personally speaking. There is no one answer to how we build our lives and so there shouldn’t be a kind of life you have to give up to tell stories, in fact, we should be seeking stories from people with a broad range of experience. That way we get the most interesting and varied stories, right?
W&H: What advice do you have for other women or non-binary directors?
SH: I identify as a woman because I was raised as one and it’s been a significant part of me and I identify as non-binary as well because I think the binary is ultimately unsatisfying and sometimes damaging. That’s maybe a contradiction in itself but one I’m happily exploring right now. My advice? We don’t have to live up to an image of what a director is — what they look like or how they lead or how they tell a story. We don’t have to pretend.
W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.
SH: I’m a big Lynne Ramsay fan and also Céline Sciamma. I was really taken with “The Lost Daughter,” so Maggie Gyllenhaal has really excited me.
W&H: How are you adjusting to life during the COVID-19 pandemic? Are you keeping creative, and if so, how?
SH: I feel very fortunate. 2020 was a year where I got to deep dive into the writing of some creative projects. Something shifted in me over that time and I now feel like jumping down into that space feels, not comfortable, but familiar. I also feel very grateful that I got to make this film over this time. All the post work was at home and I felt safe and very, very lucky.
Things feel slower and more uncertain — which is amazing because they already felt uncertain — but I also feel less distracted when it comes to work. I also feel very conscious writing this of where I am and how lucky I have been in this. I feel aware of those that have been disproportionately negatively impacted by everything that has happened. I really hope we can find a way to do this all better moving forward.
W&H: The film industry has a long history of underrepresenting people of color onscreen and behind the scenes and reinforcing — and creating — negative stereotypes. What actions do you think need to be taken to make it more inclusive?
SH: More films made by POC. I want that as part of an industry and I for sure want it as an audience. That means the way films are financed will probably need to change, gatekeepers will have to shift, talent may need to be discovered in new ways. But if it’s set as a genuine goal then all those things will need to follow.
