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Olivia Colman and John Lithgow to star in new South Australian film Jimpa from director Sophie Hyde
08 May 2024
Production is underway on South Australian made feature film Jimpa from award-winning South Australian director Sophie Hyde, starring Academy Award winner Olivia Colman and Golden Globe winner John Lithgow, supported by the South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) and the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund.
Filming on the new drama began in Adelaide in March, with locations in the CBD and at the SAFC’s Adelaide Studios in Glenside, with more filming now underway in Amsterdam. Further filming will take place later this year in Adelaide and Helsinki. Post production will take place in Adelaide by Closer Productions and KOJO Studios.
Jimpa is the latest feature film from acclaimed South Australian writer/director Sophie Hyde (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande), who has written the script alongside South Australian writer and frequent collaborator Matthew Cormack (52 Tuesdays).
Colman (The Favourite, The Lost Daughter) and Lithgow (Killers of the Flower Moon, The Crown, The Old Man) are joined in the cast by co-lead Aud Mason-Hyde in their feature debut, as well as Daniel Henshall (The Royal Hotel), Kate Box (Erotic Stories), Eamon Farren (The Witcher), Cody Fern (American Horror Story), Tilda Cobham-Hervey (I Am Woman), Deborah Kennedy (The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart), Hans Kesting (Nr. 10), Zoë Love Smith (Skam NL), Romana Vrede (I Don’t Wanna Dance), Jean Janssens (Campus 12) and Frank Sanders (The Rozettes musical).
Jimpa tells of film director Hannah (Colman) and her non-binary teenager Frances (Mason-Hyde) who travel to Amsterdam to visit Frances’ beloved gay grandfather “Jim-pa” (Lithgow). When Frances yearns to stay with Jim for their final year of school, Hannah has to reconsider her beliefs about parenting and confront old stories about her relationship with her father.
Liam Heyen (Latecomers), Marleen Slot (Dirty God), South Australian Bryan Mason (52 Tuesdays) and Hyde serve as producers. An exciting team of South Australian key creatives have also assembled around the film including Editor Bryan Mason (Good Luck To You, Leo Grande), Costume Designer Renate Henschke (Animals) and Hair and Makeup Designer Jen Rossiter (The New Boy).
The SA State Government is supporting Jimpa through the SAFC’s Screen Production Fund and Post Production, Digital and Visual Effects (PDV) Rebate, and the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund.
SA Arts Minister Andrea Michaels said: “It is so exciting to have Jimpa being filmed here in South Australia and the Malinauskas Government is delighted to be supporting this incredible production. This is a remarkable story, written and directed by South Australia’s own Sophie Hyde, and it is wonderful to welcome her home both to shoot her film and for the post-production work. It speaks volumes about the remarkable skill and creativity of our screen sector, alongside the incredible locations we have on offer in South Australia, that we continue to see a pipeline of such high calibre productions being filmed here in South Australia with stars like Olivia Colman and John Lithgow involved.”
Sophie Hyde said: “It is a great privilege to make films, especially when you can do it with the people you love. I’ve had the good fortune to do post production on all my films in South Australia with a brilliant team who will return for this, but I haven’t shot a feature film on home ground since 52 Tuesdays in 2011, so it was such a pleasure to start production there before heading here to Amsterdam where we are currently filming with the wonderful John, Olivia and Aud and our superb cast and crew.”
SAFC CEO Kate Croser said: “The SAFC is delighted to support this wonderful film from acclaimed South Australian writer and director Sophie Hyde and writer Matthew Cormack, which will showcase new and established South Australian screen industry talent on an international stage, including South Australian Aud Mason-Hyde in their feature film debut. The SAFC has been proud to play a supporting role in Sophie’s inspiring rise to success over more than two decades through her early short films, series such as F***ing Adelaide and The Hunting and films like 52 Tuesdays and Animals, to her position as one of the state’s most prolific and acclaimed screen talents.”
Adelaide Film Festival CEO and Creative Director Mat Kesting said: “I laughed out loud and cried when reading the Jimpa script; it is a powerful and personal, affecting story that so will resonate with many. Adelaide Film Festival (AFF) is proud to support courageous storytelling and extraordinary talent, exemplified by South Australian director Sophie Hyde, and we are thrilled Jimpa will be presented as part of AFF 2025.”
Jimpa is a Closer Films, Mad Ones Films and Viking Film production. Major production investment from Screen Australia and Align with the support of Netherlands Film Fund and the Netherlands Film Production Incentive. Financed in association with The Finnish Impact Film Fund, Aurora Studios, Cinéart, The South Australian Film Corporation, Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund and Mind The Gap Film Finance. Further financing provided by Kojo, Closer Films and Mad Ones Films. ANZ distribution by Kismet and The Unquiet Collective, and Cinéart is distributing in the Benelux region. International sales by Protagonist Pictures and CAA for North America. Developed with assistance of Screen Australia and the South Australian Film Corporation.