THE CALLERS
THE CALLERS combines intimate documentary testimony with imagined creative scenes to tell the anonymous stories of those who have called England's oldest LGBTQ+ phone helpline since it opened in 1974. Callers seek guidance on everything from where to find the nearest leather bar to how to come out, navigate an open relationship, impress a new lover or mend a broken heart. Together with the listening volunteers who answer the phones, they imagine the outcome they dream of.
LINDSEY DRYDEN (director, she/her) is an Emmy-winning filmmaker from the UK and based in Austin, TX. She directed the feature documentary LOST AND SOUND (2012, SXSW) which was nominated Best Female-Directed Film at Sheffield Doc/Fest, and the documentary shorts JACKIE KAY: ONE PERSON, TWO NAMES (2017, Tate Queer British Art), and CLOSE YOUR EYES AND LOOK AT ME (2009, True/False). Lindsey produced Sundance Special Jury Award-winning UNREST (2017, PBS/Netflix) and Emmy-winning TRANS IN AMERICA (2019, them), and Executive Produced AHEAD OF THE CURVE (2020, Starz/Netflix). She is a 2024 Concordia Fellow, a 2022 Sundance Institute Documentary Producers Lab Fellow, and has been mentored by BAFTAxBFI Flare and Andrew Haigh. Lindsey is a member of AMPAS, BAFTA and QueerDoc, and a proud co-founder of FWD-Doc (Filmmakers with Disabilities), advancing documentary filmmakers in the D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent community.
Produced by
Colleen Cassingham
Samantha Steele
Lindsey Dryden
Director of Photography
Beatriz Sastre
Production Designer
Tin Vlainić
Edited by
Viridiana Lieberman
César Martinez Barba
Composer
Jo Paterson
Costume Designer
Felippe Johann
Colorist
Esme Smith
Supervising Sound Editor / Re-recording Mixer
Filipe Messeder
1st AC
Catharina Scarpellini
2nd AC
Rebecca Richards
Additional Cinematography
Jen Fearnley
Owen Diplock
Sound Recordist
Felix Waverley-Hudson
Gaffer
Abi Hurcomb
Sparks
Klaudia Borbely
Meg Sharp
Production Design Assistant
Rimu Klok
Production Assistants
Morenike Besan
Oona Chanfi
