Benedetta Ciavarro

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Benedetta Ciavarro

The Women of Sofia Coppola

This book is about the life and work of director Sofia Coppola, with a focus on her female characters, her visuals, her work with costumes, and her hyperfeminine cinematic style. The majority of Coppola’s movies explore female characters through delicate yet powerful narratives. This book is thus a hymn to Coppola’s movies but also a reflection on her cinematic representation of women. It will provide an accessible overview of Coppola’s work and offers expert reflections on the movie industry.

The first American woman to win the Golden Lion in Venice, and one of only two women to ever win the Best Director award at Cannes, Coppola is setting milestones for women in the industry. She has recently announced her forthcoming project, a biopic on Priscilla Presley based on her 1985 memoir Elvis and Me. This book will therefore be published close to the movie’s release date.

The book will include material and photographs from Coppola’s decennial archive – including behind-the-stage bits, interviews of collaborators and actors, and production insights. The author is Stephanie Goodman, the New York Times film editor, an expert that will trace the stages of Sofia Coppola’s filmmaking. Many contributions will help us get an insight into Coppola’s creative process; senior lecturer in Sussex’s Department of Gender and Media Studies Zola Boomal will explore the female representation in Coppola’s storytelling, while successful costume designer Edith Redon will analyze the director’s stylistic choices for her characters.

AUTHOR AND CONTRIBUTORS:

Stephanie Goodman, NYT Film Editor. 

Zola Boomal, Senior Lecturer in Gender and Media Studies at the University of Sussex.

Edith Redon, costume designer.

PUBLISHER: 

Phaidon.

MARKET:

  • Movies’ fans
  • Director’s fans
  • Film students/scholars
  • Media and Feminism students/scholars
  • Costume industry fans
  • Costume industry experts
  • Art fans
  • Book collectors

COMPETITORS:

  • Sofia Coppola Forever Young –  Hannah Strong – 2022 – Abrams – Hardback: £35.00 – 288 pages.
    • An illustrated critical survey of Academy Award-winning writer and director Sofia Coppola’s career, covering everything from her groundbreaking music videos to her latest films.
  • Sofia Coppola A cinema of Girlhood – Fiona Handyside – 2017 – Bloomsbury Publishing – Paperback: £19.99/ Hardback: £85.00 – 224 pages.
    • Fiona Handyside here considers the careful counter-balance of vulnerability with the possibilities and pleasures of being female in Coppola’s films – albeit for the white and the privileged – through their recurrent themes of girlhood, fame, power, sex, and celebrity.
  • Sofia Coppola: The Politics of Visual Pleasure  – Anna Rogers – 2018 – Berghahn Books – Paperback: £11.74/ Hardback: £96 – 200 pages.
    • A feminist study of the mood, texture, tone, and multifaceted meaning of director Sofia Coppola’s aesthetic through her most influential and well-known films.

FORMAT AND PRICE:

  • Flexibound
  • 234mm x 156mm
  • Pages: 250
  • Price:  £35

UNIQUE SELLING POINTS:

Insightful perspective on one of the most successful and appreciated contemporary female director’s cinematography.

Release close to the date of Sofia Coppola’s new movie (thus, more opportunity for marketing).

A feminist approach to women’s representation in movies.

A beautifully illustrated collectible that can be displayed as a coffee table book.