Ipswich-born director behind Grace Jones film returns home for Q&A
From documenting Grace Jones to Anselm Kiefer, Ipswich-born filmmaker Sophie Fiennes has built an international career, and on Sunday, 19 July, she returns to the town where she was born for a special Q&A at King Street Cinema.
Why it matters: Fiennes, who has collaborated with subjects ranging from philosopher Slavoj Žižek to her own brother, actor Ralph Fiennes, will discuss her career and the making of her latest documentary, ACTING, giving Suffolk audiences a rare chance to hear directly from one of Britain's most distinctive directors.
The details: The screening of ACTING begins at 18:30, with no adverts or trailers beforehand. The film has a running time of 145 minutes and will be followed by a 30-minute audience Q&A with Fiennes. Latecomers cannot be admitted. Tickets are available from kingstreetcinema.co.uk.
ACTING takes audiences inside the rehearsal room with theatre-makers Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod of Cheek By Jowl, following eight actors over eleven days as they explore scenes from Shakespeare's Macbeth. Fiennes filmed from within the ensemble herself. The film premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2024.
The bigger picture: Fiennes was born in Ipswich, the daughter of photographer Mark Fiennes and novelist and painter Jennifer "Jini" Fiennes, and is the sister of actors Ralph, Joseph and Magnus Fiennes, Martha Fiennes and Jacob Fiennes. Her films include Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami (2017), which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, and Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow (2010), which followed German artist Anselm Kiefer and premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.
She is also known for her collaborations with philosopher Slavoj Žižek, including The Pervert's Guide to Cinema (2006) and The Pervert's Guide to Ideology (2013), and for Four Quartets (2022), a film of her brother Ralph Fiennes' stage performance of T.S. Eliot's poem.
Her work has screened at festivals including Cannes, Toronto, Rotterdam, IDFA and Sundance, and has been shown in museums including MoMA in New York and the Reina Sofía in Madrid.
What they're saying: "There is something life-affirming about seeing the creative process unfold in real time," said Dan Champion, King Street Cinema programmer. "We're thrilled to welcome Sophie back to Suffolk and to give audiences the chance to hear first-hand about the making of this remarkable film."
The bottom line: Decades after leaving Suffolk to forge an international filmmaking career, Sophie Fiennes returns to Ipswich this month to share insights into her craft with the audience that first watched her grow up.
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