Sophie Austin is a filmmaker and activist focused on telling female-driven narratives and stories which highlight inequalities and provoke audiences to consider their own prejudices and choices. Sophie originally trained as a theatre director at Rose Bruford College and founded Teatro Vivo, a critically acclaimed site-specific and immersive theatre company which she ran for fifteen years staging theatre all over the UK from supermarkets, parks and people’s homes to museums and high streets. In 2015 she set up SHH Productions, a film production company telling international stories with women at the heart of the narratives. Her short film JUST GONE (2016), about a mother searching for her missing son in the Moroccan mountains, won the Prix de Jury at Agadir’s International Festival of Cinema and Migration. Sophie’s latest film CLIMATE CRIMINALS? (2024) Is a short documentary exploring non-violent direct action and gives Climate Activists the opportunity to share their reasons for doing what they do. This is the third film Sophie has made in response to the climate crises. RISE UP (2021), about a group of young people finding their voice and activism as they emerge from the chaos of 2020, is currently. being screened in schools across the UK and at festivals across the world. AWAKE! (2023) documents a community in England coming together for a mid-winter ritual in which they give thanks to the land. Through all these films Sophie hopes to invite audiences to meet the grief and seek out the joy of living in these turbulent times.