Shooting has now entered its third week on the Screen Australia-supported JIMPA, the new film from acclaimed Australian writer/director Sophie Hyde (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande) starring Academy-Award Winner Olivia Colman (The Favourite, The Lost Daughter) and Golden Globe Winner John Lithgow (Killers Of The Flower Moon, The Crown, The Old Man). Following filming in Amsterdam, further filming will take place in the coming months in Adelaide, Australia and Helsinki, Finland.
JIMPA is a heartfelt and uplifting multi-generational family story. Hannah (Colman) takes her trans non-binary teenager Frances (Aud Mason-Hyde) to Amsterdam, to visit their gay grandfather “Jimpa” (Lithgow). But Frances’ desire to stay with Jimpa for a year abroad means Hannah is forced to reconsider her beliefs about parenting.
Colman and Lithgow 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).
Protagonist Pictures will be launching the international sales in Cannes, and CAA Media Finance, which helped arrange financing for the film, will be repping North American rights. JIMPA has received major production investment from Screen Australia and Align.
Screen Australia CEO Deirdre Brennan said, “Screen Australia is excited to support this new Australian feature film from Sophie Hyde. Sophie is a masterful storyteller and has assembled an exceptional creative team to bring this story to life. With Olivia Colman and John Lithgow leading an impressive cast, JIMPA is set to inspire audiences at home and worldwide.”
Protagonist Pictures’ CEO Dave Bishop said,”Time and time again we see when a special filmmaker with a unique vision crafts a film that can truly breakthrough and connect with audiences, just like Sophie achieved with Good Luck To You Leo Grande. Having Olivia and John rounding out such a talented cast, we know she will do the same with JIMPA”.
Writer/director Sophie Hyde said, “I feel privileged to be able to make this film and to be working again with so many collaborators I know and trust, while creating wonderful new relationships with a superb cast and crew including Olivia, John and Aud. I am thrilled to have them by my side. This story is a very personal one, and making it is filled with some sadness and a lot of joy. I’m particularly treasuring that I get to work with my child Aud in their feature film debut. The stories we tell help us work out who we want to be, and this one is filled with warmth, humour, love and joy. I’m delighted to be making it.”
Producer Liam Heyen said, “For a long time I have admired Sophie’s directorial ability to tell intimate stories with scale and audience appeal, so it’s an immense privilege to be working alongside her to bring JIMPA to life. I strive to produce work that portrays members of the LBGTQI+ community as real, flawed and worthy people and explore the contradiction that our lives have both everything and nothing to do with our gender identity or sexuality. Matt and Sophie have crafted such a script with charming, complex characters and I can’t wait for audiences around the world to meet them.”
Adrian Politowski of Align said, “Following the wonderful collaboration we had on Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, we couldn’t be more thrilled to be coming together again with Sophie Hyde to bring JIMPA to life. Our continued partnership with Sophie further emboldens our belief here at Align that finding strong partners with important stories to tell is so paramount to enticing audiences around the world.”
Troy Lum from Kismet, who are distributing in Australia and New Zealand said, “We are thrilled to be involved in JIMPA. We fell in love with the script which is filled with pathos, heartbreak and joy. We know that Sophie will do an amazing job and we look forward to bringing JIMPA to the cinema.”
An exciting team of Australian key creatives have assembled around the film including DOP Matthew Chuang ACS (Of An Age), Production Designer Bethany Ryan (You Won’t Be Alone), Editor Bryan Mason (Good Luck To You, Leo Grande), Costume Designer Renate Henschke (Animals) and Hair and Makeup Designer Jen Rossiter (The New Boy). Casting is by renowned Casting Director Nikki Barrett CGA of Barrett Casting (The Power Of The Dog), with Dutch casting by Susanne Groen of Groen Casting.
Production credit: 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.
