health
‘Not many people had gay dads who died of Aids’: Andrew Durham and Sofia Coppola on movie memoir Fairyland
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 childhoods
TL;DR
- Sofia Coppola produced Andrew Durham's directorial debut, 'Fairyland,' adapted from Alysia Abbott's memoir about her gay father.
- Both Durham and Abbott experienced childhoods in the 1970s Bay Area with gay fathers who later died of AIDS.
- Coppola and Durham have a long-standing professional relationship, with Durham having previously worked on Coppola's early projects.
- The film explores themes of unconventional families, parental loss, and the societal prejudice surrounding queerness.
- Durham drew heavily on his personal experiences of caring for his father during his illness, including details about memory loss and the early HIV medication AZT.
- Both creators express surprise and disappointment that issues of LGBTQ+ acceptance are still debated in 2026, emphasizing the importance of depicting diverse family structures.