Sofia Coppola doesn't need help from dad Francis Ford Coppola

December 4, 2010 - Sofia Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola and Stephen Dorff

Sofia Coppola no longer consults her father for advice.

The filmmaker only showed her director dad Francis Ford Coppola her latest movie 'Somewhere' when it was complete, a contrast to her earlier films when she regularly questioned him on her progress.

She said: "I showed the final cut to him - I didn't want to show the film to him before it was finished. I was happy that he really appreciated it. He told me that it felt like a movie that only I could have made. I used to show him rough cuts and get his advice. But now I have got more experience."

'Somewhere' sees Stephen Dorff play a movie star who lives in a Los Angeles hotel, enjoying a meaningless existence until he has to look after his 11-year-old daughter from a previous relationship.

Though she insists the film is not about her own relationship with her dad, Sofia admits some of her childhood experiences inspired parts of the movie.

She said: "The father relationship is an important relationship for girls and it figures in my work.

"I definitely put a lot of memories of being around that age - from kid to teenager - and travelling with my dad, being in hotels and being in this adult world. He took us to places that kids don't usually go. For example, when I was 16, we went to Cuba and met Fidel Castro. We went to Las Vegas and Reno. He usually wrote scripts in hotels there and I went with him. It's your first important relationship as a girl and it shapes you, growing up; I wanted to show the importance of that relationship."

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