Sophie Hyde dives beneath the surface for next film
The creator of film Jimpa is exploring oyster reefs for her next film and shares a snippet ahead of this year’s Nature Festival.
A renowned filmmaker is drawing inspiration from South Australia’s oyster reefs and marine environment heavily impacted by the algal bloom for a new fictional feature.
Adelaide-based film director and writer Sophie Hyde says she is exploring South Australia’s oyster reefs as part of this year’s Nature Festival after feeling the impact of dying fish and marine life.
Her project, “Stories from a Changing Sea”, will be presented by the City of Adelaide, ART POD, Nature Festival and Closer Productions.
She describes the experience as a “creative residency” and a chance to develop a fictional film using real-world elements. Hyde is renowned for other films including Jimpa starring Olivia Colman and John Lithgow.
“We’re looking at underwater footage; we’re thinking about how we use that in a film; we’re thinking about characters, and we’re bringing our scientists in to work with us there,” she said.
“For me, the immersion of the cinema, being able to think about the world and how we look after each other… just feels like the right space for that.”
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The creative process was gradual and partially inspired by the devastation of the algal bloom.
“Seeing the fish and marine life just washing up, and people coughing, and how bad it was, it felt so significant to me,” she said.
But why the specific focus on South Australia’s oyster reefs?
To Hyde, these structures have become a symbol of humanity’s “interdependence with the natural world” and of the damage it has caused.
“What I discovered is that, in South Australia, there used to be a whole lot of our coastline that was full of oyster reefs, and that has been dredged over the years that we have been here since colonisation,” she said.
“We ate a lot of oysters, and we also used a lot of the shells in our buildings. We no longer have any reefs in South Australia that are native, and that’s a huge thing, considering they are something that cleans the ocean and… supports and sustains biodiverse marine life.”
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Hyde said the project explores the damage done to the natural world, while also considering how it can be regenerated.
As part of Nature Festival 2026, a free-to-visit ART POD installation on Pirie Street will showcase the research through film, sound and visual experiments.
On October 11, Hyde will speak on “Stories from a Changing Sea” at the Paul Kelly Lane Meeting Hall.
She will be joined by 40 Under 40 alumni Manny Katz and Tiahni Adamson.
Katz is a Marine Restoration Practitioner & Director, Eyrelab and Adamson is a First Nations Wildlife Conservation Biologist. They will also be joined by marine biologist and filmmaker Stefan Andrews from the Great Southern Reef Foundation and Adelaide University’s Marine Ecologist and Future Making Fellow Dr Dominic McAfee.
“This is like a strange version of my process where I like talking publicly about it before I’ve made anything. Usually, that happens at the end,” Hyde said.
Hyde is currently writing the script but hopes the project will ultimately inspire people to consider their own role in regeneration.
“I think the main thing I’d want people to think about after visiting the ART POD is just to sort of get interested in what the guys are doing with regeneration and the rebuilding,” Hyde said.
“It requires a community response rather than individual scientists doing it, but you can become part of building an oyster reef. You can look after things in a kind of singular small way, and it’s all part of the solution.”
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