In pictures: Sofia Coppola opens up her personal archive

Sofia Coppola, one of the most influential directors of our time, is releasing her first book. Available to pre-order now, it will be published in September by MACK books.

Sofia Coppola Archive: 1999-2023 draws from archival material accumulated throughout the filmmaker’s career, from The Virgin Suicides (1999) through to her upcoming biopic of Priscilla Presley. While making her films, Coppola would collect photographs, notes, scripts and references, before filing them away in boxes to gather dust. It wasn’t until the COVID lockdown that she finally found the time to sift through her archives, and decided to compile them together. Speaking to Vogue, she said that she wanted the project to feel “more like a scrapbook than a coffee table book”.

The result is a treasure trove of alluring pictures, both staged and candid, and behind-the-scenes ephemera. It features fashion photographer Corrine Day’s on-set shoot for The Virgin Suicides; countless letters, objects, script drafts, set dressings, magazine covers, notes and illustrations, and the visual references which she compiled before shooting each film. Taken altogether, it shows a meticulous commitment to style, mood and aesthetics.

From the sun-drenched, pastel-coloured haze of The Virgin Suicides to the baroque maximalism of Marie Antoinette, Coppola’s work continues to inspire successive generations. With the possible exception of Wes Anderson, no other director has influenced contemporary digital culture more – from Tumblr to Pinterest to TikTok, she has been a mood-board mainstay, and her cult status shows no sign of diminishing. This book provides a fascinating glimpse into how she created the dream worlds which continue to enthral so many of us.