Chloe Fairweather | Director

Chloe Fairweather | Director

After completing an 18-month BBC Production Training Scheme director Chloe Fairweather decided her future lay in documentaries, and in particular observational and character-focused documentaries. A trip to Turkey on a separate project led to her introduction to Arzu and Ipek and their rally cry against femicide and domestic abuse, which became the cornerstone of Chloe’s directorial debut feature, Dying to Divorce (2021). This impactful film has won multiple awards and was the UK’s entry to the Oscars, with Chloe recently winning a BAFTA Wales award for Breakthrough and being nominated for a Grierson Award.

In her own words:

“I always wanted to do something creative with storytelling. Documentaries appealed in particular because you get to do it all. I could learn the skills and get out there and make something. That was really exciting...

“I enjoy meeting people and hearing their stories. People can express such poetry when you talk to them about something that is unique to them, that only they know about. I love the idea that everyone is an expert in their own experience and in my films I’m always looking to put a character’s unique point of view at the centre...

“I’ve always been interested in drama, and I want to bring that interest to documentary, to tell stories in a really immersive, unfolding way that is character focused but also entirely real... I want to work on unique, important and innovative projects and I’m excited about using new mediums like animation and drama to tell true stories. I think [my work] will always be derived from a real story. The licence for it to then be absolutely extraordinary is so much more because it really did happen.”

Chloe’s Breakthrough credit is the film Dying to Divorce

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