Olivia Colman and John Lithgow head the cast of “Jimpa,” a multi-generational family tale involving a nonbinary teenager and her mother who take a trip to see their gay grandfather. The Australia- and Europe-set film is directed by Sophie Hyde, whose most recent film was the breakout “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande.”
The film is now in its third week of production in Amsterdam and will later shoot in Adelaide, Australia and Helsinki, Finland.
Rights to the film are being handled by Protagonist Pictures in much of the world and by CAA Media Finance in North America, with sales kicking off at the Cannes Market next week. The film has already locked in Cineart as distributor in the Benelux region and Kismet and The Unquiet Collective for Australia and New Zealand.
Oscar winner Colman’s recent credits include “The Favourite,” “The Lost Daughter” and the hit Netflix series “The Crown.” Golden Globe winner Lithgow is fresh off “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “The Crown.” Hyde’s child, Aud Mason-Hyde, is making their feature acting debut as the film’s co-lead.
Popular on Variety
“Hannah (Colman) takes her trans nonbinary 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 and finally confront old stories about the past,” reads a synopsis provided by the producers. The screenplay was written by Hyde and Matthew Cormack.
Producers are Liam Heyen, Marleen Slot, Sophie Hyde and Bryan Mason with co-producer Cyna Strachan. Executive producers are Sue Maslin, Aud Mason-Hyde, Troy Lum, Ester Harding and Michael Agar.
“Jimpa” is a Closer Films, Mad Ones Films and Viking Film production. Major production investment came from Screen Australia and Align, with the support of Netherlands Film Fund and the Netherlands Film Production Incentive. It was also 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 was provided by Kojo, Closer Films and Mad Ones Films.
Other confirmed cast include: 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).
“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’,” said Protagonist Pictures’ CEO Dave Bishop in a prepared statement. “Having Olivia and John rounding out such a talented cast, we know she will do the same with ‘Jimpa’.”
Hyde said, “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, humor, love and joy.”
“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,” said producer Liam Heyen. “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.”
