• 9827 Sun, 17 Aug 2025 11:00:00 @ The Wheeler Centre

An unmissable hour with Charlotte Wells (Aftersun, MIFF 2022) and Sophie Hyde (Jimpa), as they discuss their celebrated work, influences and approaches to filmmaking.

Join visiting New York–based filmmaker Charlotte Wells – currently attending the festival as Bright Horizons Jury President – as she sits down with prodigious Australian director and producer Sophie Hyde for an extended conversation about their creative processes. Having first attended MIFF as part of the inaugural Bright Horizons cohort in 2022, Wells is best known for her Cannes-premiering debut feature Aftersun, one of the most influential and beloved films of the last decade, which garnered a BAFTA, three British Independent Film Awards and an Academy Award nomination, among others. Wells will speak about her experiences with Hyde, whose extensive, distinguished work within the screen industry both in Australia and internationally spans from writing, directing and producing to social impact projects. Hyde’s features – including her most recent, the Sundance-premiering Jimpa, as well as Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, Animals (MIFF 2019) and 52 Tuesdays (MIFF 2014) – have been recognised with major award wins at the Berlinale, Sundance and the British Independent Film Awards.

Charlotte Wells is a Scottish filmmaker. Her debut feature film, Aftersun (MIFF 2022), starring Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio, premiered in Critics’ Week at Cannes and was Academy Award nominated for Best Actor. Previously, she wrote and directed three short films as a student in the MBA/MFA dual-degree program at NYU. She is based in New York.

Sophie Hyde is a writer, director and producer, and the founding member of Closer Productions and social impact company The Unquiet Collective. Her most recent film, Jimpa, starring Olivia Colman and John Lithgow, premiered at Sundance in 2025 and will release later this year. Sophie’s previous films include the BAFTA- and Golden Globe–nominated Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, starring Emma Thompson; the BIFA-winning feature comedy Animals (MIFF 2019), featuring Holliday Grainger and Alia Shawkat; and her feature drama debut, 52 Tuesdays (MIFF 2014), which launched the career of Tilda Cobham-Hervey (Alphabet Lane, MIFF 2025) and won the Berlinale Crystal Bear and the Directing Award at Sundance. Other credits include the episodic series The Hunting (2019) and the award-winning documentary Life in Movement (MIFF 2011), which Sophie co-directed and produced.