Sofya Gollan – March 3 2019

World Hearing Day – March 3

Sofya is an award-winning director and writer of documentary and drama films. She holds a degree in Performing Arts (Acting) from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), a Masters in Directing from the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS) and a Diploma in Producing Multi-Platform Narrative Drama from MetroScreen. Sofya, who is chronically deaf, began her acting career at age 17, spending three years with the Australian Theatre of the Deaf followed by a shorter period with the American equivalent. She is known to many as one of the longest serving guest actors on Play School, where she presents in Auslan. As a playwright, Sofya has written The Cat Lady of Bexley and Last Atoms of Love, which she developed during her residency at Griffin’s Playwrights Studio. Her career in filmmaking has included being the Associate Director of the Other Film Festival and programmer of the Sydney Film Festival’s Screenability Strand. Her television and film works include the short documentary, Dressing Dad; short films Chlorine Dreams, Not the Usual Victim, and Swallowing; as well as the feature films Melt, The Bunyip of Berkley’s Creek, and The Grateful Hypochondriac. Sofya is currently Sector Investment Manager (Screen) at Screen NSW.

Gimpsey (writer/director)
2016; Film/TV; 10 minutes
It’s hard to love a cripple – at least that’s what Gemma believes. Her best friend Jaze calls her ‘Gimpsey’ an in-joke that was once funny but is now wearing thin. As Gemma tries to get out from Jaze’s toxic grasp, she meets Charlie, the boy Jaze has a crush on, but Charlie doesn’t like Jaze; he likes Gemma. Gimpsey is a story about a girl with a mobility disability, who on the surface appears to be well-adjusted and cool with it. But the fact that her closest friend is someone who thinks nothing of using a derogatory name speaks volumes about what Gimpsey thinks she deserves. Hanging with Jaze, a popular and pretty girl, Gimpsey gets to go to parties with the in-crowd that she knows she wouldn’t get invited to on her own. So it’s a friendship that has its perks, but now Gimpsey’s wondering if it’s worth the little death she feels every time she hears that name.

Preservation (writer/director)
Chilling Pictures, 2003; Film/TV; 1 hour
After ten award-winning shorts, Sofya’s first feature film, Preservation premiered at the 2003 Melbourne International Film Festival and went on to screen on SBS and internationally. A Gothic love triangle set in the 1890s, Preservation has been described by Sofya as ‘[i]n some ways … a very traditional love story. Lonely woman meets an equally lonely man and they fall in love, despite the rather revolting circumstances that surround them. I was attracted to the themes of damaged people and how their secrets can cause them to become blind to opportunities to connect with other people, and thus find potential happiness. I’ve always thought that friends were the most important possession you could have, and these are two people who have none due to their circumstances. So despite the themes of death and decay being present strongly in the film, it has a happy ending in that they do find each other. It’s a bleak film with a happy ending.’ – Screen Australia, AFC Archive