Schepisi's strength in dynamic roles

Andy Burns, The Herald Sun, reports

ALEXANDRA Schepisi is a woman with great foresight.

After spending some time in the Eye of the Storm, her latest movie role next to Geoffrey Rush and Judy Davis, the actress, writer, director, activist - you name it - has turned her hand to short film and locked in one of Australia's hottest exports to play the lead.

Lois, an eight-minute project written and directed by Schepisi, stars Jackie Weaver as the title character, a coup for the indie filmmaker. Weaver was secured before she received the Academy Award nomination for her role as a twisted matriarch in the wildly successful Animal Kingdom.

"She's a trouper. Since her Academy nomination, her life has just exploded. I suppose she could have dropped the project, but she wanted to do the film, so that is good," Schepisi says of Weaver.

Schepisi has film pedigree as the daughter of acclaimed director Fred Schepisi, but stumbled on to directing and writing after noticing a serious lack of strong female roles to play.

"I'm interested in making dynamic roles for women." she says.

Schepisi admires the "sexy and dangerous" direction of Andrea Arnold, who made Fish Tank, and wants to make cinema with female strength. "Andrea is amazing. She makes films that are unique, original and very strong," Schepisi says.

Schepisi expects to wrap the production early next year and enter it in the short film festival circuit.

She is presenting at today's AACTA (formerly AFI awards) nomination ceremony in Sydney, but says she has no clue which films will take out the top gong.