Marley Morrison | Director

Marley Morrison | Director

Two key factors led Marley Morrison to choose her current profession: a deep-rooted love for cinema and a desire to see her own life experiences captured on film. She started out making music videos, which evolved into crowdfunded short films, and then, courtesy of selection for the Film London Microwave scheme, her first feature, Sweetheart (2021). At its core, this evocative film is a classic coming-of-age story, it’s just that the teen in question happens to be a lesbian. Marley recently completed work on three episodes of ITV2’s Tell Me Everything (2022).

In their own words:

“I trained as an actor, but I was always writing scripts, monologues, that sort of thing. So, I think I’ve always been a bit of a storyteller... I used to get dropped off at the cinema every Saturday for the kids early morning show in the ’90s. I became a bit obsessed with film... When I was making music videos, I was always looking for a narrative, to tell a story with the music...

“I was unhappy with the acting process. I always wanted to have control of the characters and story... Growing up not seeing yourself reflected onscreen was a massive part of that. I felt like if I didn’t tell stories about people who look like me or have similar experiences as me, then who’s going to?... The movies I watched in the ’90s and early 2000s, gay women (if they were even featured at all) were either fetishized through a male gaze, made fun of or suffering in some way. They were never celebrated... I felt like a lot of [queer cinema] was rooted in trauma and I felt I needed to show a more joyful experience about someone who just happens to be gay, without making that the central point of the story.

“BAFTA felt really far away from me and my work. When you’re a working class female director, it feels like it won’t ever be part of your journey... [But] I thought if there’s ever a time when I could use the help and support of BAFTA, it’s now... I just feel very lucky. It’s really wild.”

Marley’s Breakthrough credit is the film Sweetheart

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