Lucy Cohen | Writer/Director

Lucy Cohen | Writer/Director

Not many directors have to sneak out of their film premiere to feed their little boy just four days after giving birth, but Lucy was determined to support both her babies – her son, Joseph, and her BAFTA-nominated breakthrough film, Kingdom of Us! Looking back now, she blames the naivety of a first-time mum thinking she was free on a Saturday night…

Lucy always knew she wanted to tell people’s stories, and originally she thought that might be as a foreign correspondent or print journalist. Then she started working as a researcher on documentaries, moving onto producing, and she realised how invested she was in visual storytelling. Soon she was working for programmes like C4’s Dispatches, directing thought-provoking one-off films.

When Lucy met the family at the heart of Kingdom of Us, their warmth, energy and way of understanding the world felt truly unique. The documentary, which is set against the backdrop of a father’s suicide, took four years to make. Lucy admits she wasn’t really sure where the film would end up at first, but felt compelled to tell the story of this inspiring family dealing with their traumatic past.

Lucy is now looking forward to expanding into narrative fiction and has her first script in development with BBC Films.