Drummer Girl Synopsis
Renee Kelly is a prodigious rock drummer, who’s also completely blind. Moving between past reflections and future dreams, Renee’s story reveals a passionate and determined artist, set to a bold musical score.
About Drummer Girl’s Filmmaker
Sophie Hexter is a writer and director. Launching her career in media at Harper’s Bazaar Australia and The Age, she transitioned into filmmaking in 2014.
A deeply sensitive storyteller with a highly stylized aesthetic, Sophie possesses a strong and unique sensibility. Her debut documentary short, The Battle, was screened at over 30 international film festivals, including Cannes and Aesthetica.
Her dramatic short, Hitch, premiered at Santa Barbara International Film Festival in the US and the St Kilda Film Festival in Australia, and won the Audience Choice Award at Flickerfest. Her most recent short, Drummer Girl, funded by Create NSW, was nominated for Best Documentary Short at Big Sky Film Festival in Montana, and will screen widely in 2018.
Sophie is currently developing her feature film debut, W.SMITH, with Executive Producer, Aquarius Films (Lion, The Berlin Syndrome). A 2017 Varuna Fellow, and 2018 Stowe Story Lab Fellow, Sophie has a BA from Monash University and an MA in Creative Writing from Oxford University.
More from Drummer Girl’s Filmmaker
We are interested in profiling underrepresented individuals with extraordinary skills and talents, who have overcome adversity to allow their talents to shine. We first came across Renee’s story a few years ago, and we knew instantly we wanted to tell her story in a short-film format.
An exceptionally gifted, humble and determined musician who’s been playing the drums since age three, Renee is also profoundly blind, with no access to image or light.
