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Sofia Coppola (born May 14, 1971 in New York CitySofia Coppola is the first American female to be nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Director catagory and is an Academy Award winning writer. She is the daughter of Italian American director Francis Ford Coppola and Eleanor Coppola, who is of Irish and English descent. She was married to director Spike Jonze on June 26, 1999 but on December 5, 2003 amid rumors of her infidelity during long stints of living on her own in New York City, Coppola filed for divorce citing "irreconcilable differences". She is niece to Oscar-nominated actress Talia Shire and cousin to Nicolas Cage and Jason Schwartzman.

She attended Mills College and CalArts.

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Coppola's career in film began early, as she appeared as an infant or a child extra in several of her father's films. The best known of these roles is her appearance in (1987) performed that was not associated with her father. However, her best known role is Mary Corleone in (1990), a role into which she was cast at the last minute after Winona Ryder fell ill. This heavily criticized performance effectively ended her acting career, except for an appearance in the independent film (1999).

Coppola is now better known as a successful film director. She has directed three films: (2003). The latter won the Academy Award for original screenplay and three Golden Globe awards including Best Picture. With her Oscar nomination for Best Director (for ), Coppola became only the third woman (and the first American woman) to receive an Oscar nomination for film direction. She lost to Peter Jackson (director of the trilogy).

Coppola's forthcoming film is a biopic of Marie Antoinette adapted from the biography by British historian Lady Antonia Fraser. Kirsten Dunst is set to play the lead role, and Coppola has controversially cast her cousin Jason Schwartzman as Marie-Antoinette's husband, King Louis XVI.

The most common criticism of Coppola is that her career has only been possible due to the nepotism of her father. In addition to her much-derided performance in the final film, some critics have called her directorial skills over-rated, and argue that without her father's connections she would never have achieved her current fame. Her supporters respond that the general critical acclaim that greeted her two major films indicates she has talent regardless of how the films were produced.