‘Not many kids had gay dads who died of Aids’: Andrew Durham and Sofia Coppola on movie memoir Fairyland

The Guardian Culture Thursday 28 May 2026, 04:00 UTC By Ryan Gilbey 1 min read

Key Points

Fairyland is a bittersweet film about a girl brought up by her gay father in a blizzard of glitter and feather boas in 1970s San Francisco. Its makers discuss its resonance, its tragedies – and their own boho childhoodsWhen Sofia Coppola logs on to our video call, her friend and fellow film-maker Andrew Durham – whose directorial debut, Fairyland, she has produced – is telling me about being nine or 10 years old, and accidentally outing his father as gay. “Have you heard this story, Sofia?”

When Sofia Coppola logs on to our video call, her friend and fellow film-maker Andrew Durham – whose directorial debut, Fairyland, she has produced – is telling me about being nine or 10 years old, and accidentally outing his father as gay.

“Have you heard this story, Sofia?” he asks breezily from Los Angeles. “About Pietro? The Italian guy that my dad was maybe having an affair with when we lived in England?” At home in New York, Coppola furrows her brow. “Uh, yeah. A long time ago, I think. I forgot …”

Andrew Durham (PERSON) Sofia Coppola (PERSON) Fairyland Fairyland (PERSON) San Francisco (LOCATION) Fairyland (PERSON) Sofia (LOCATION) Los Angeles (LOCATION) Pietro (PERSON) Italian (ORG) England (LOCATION) New York (LOCATION) Coppola (PERSON)

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‘Not many kids had gay dads who died of Aids’: Andrew Durham and Sofia Coppola on movie memoir Fairyland

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