Inspired by true experiences of grief, girlhood, and growing up, Jessie Barr’s SOPHIE JONES provides a stirring portrait of a sixteen-year-old. Stunned by the untimely death of her mother and struggling with the myriad challenges of teendom, Sophie (played with striking immediacy by the director’s cousin Jessica Barr) tries everything she can to feel something again, while holding herself together, in this sensitive, acutely realized, and utterly relatable coming-of-age story.
Jessie Barr is a writer-director, Sundance fellow, and Half Initiative directing fellow with a background in independent film and theater. Her critically acclaimed, award-winning feature debut, Sophie Jones premiered in competition at the 2020 Deauville Film Festival and was released by Oscilloscope Laboratories in 2021. The film holds a 100% rating on RottenTomatoes and is streaming on Showtime. Jessie was a 2021 Sundance Episodic Lab fellow and the series she co-created went on to be developed with Warner Brothers Television and Tall Baby Productions. As a writer, director, and actor, her work has been lauded at film festivals worldwide, including Tribeca, Mar Del Plata, and Berlinale. She is developing several new projects as a writer-director for film and TV. Her music video debut garnered over 40k views in 7 days and features rising star and genre-bending afro-futurist, King Isis. JessieBarr.com @barrjessie
