Australian director Gracie Otto explores the enduring charms of Paris

The trick with Paris, according to director Gracie Otto, is to look beyond the occasional riot.

The French capital, she insists, remains wonderfully liveable. People still talk to one another. They engage. They have opinions. There is, apparently, life beyond the barricades.

As a former resident and regular visitor, the appeal of Paris is as much about human connection as the architecture, the cafes and the cinematic business of simply being there.

“It’s a city I feel alive — where I feel at home.”Otto — yes, she’s of the famed Australian acting family — has built a career moving between documentary, fashion, film and television, directing everything from Heartbreak High and Deadloch to The Artful Dodger and The Clearing. Her 2024 doco, Otto By Otto proved a powerful exploration of her father Barry’s life and battle with Alzheimer’s disease and won an AACTA Award for best documentary in 2025.

Years have been strung together via work and occasional travel — “though it was always for work”. Last year Otto took a well-deserved break — a three-month stint to slow and explore the likes of Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Rome and beyond.

“Copenhagen — I just felt like everyone looked like me and I felt like a 4 out of 10, so I didn’t really vibe with it,” Otto tells ROAM with a laugh. “Amsterdam I didn’t love the food so much, but then I loved (Greek Island) Hydra where I went on my own. I also loved Panarea, this tiny Aeolian Island that’s untouched and they’ve got golf carts there to get around in. And it’s really like, cheap.”

Otto’s latest project — between completing directing duties on a new season of Wentworth — informs Contiki’s bold new rebrand.

“It was a dream job, we went to Costa Rica . . . It’s basically these short films that play in a vertical series. For me it was using all my formats in one, like an ad, but it was also like a fashion film and a TV series. We had an actual writer’s room like you do in TV, and with actual character arcs and hopefully a second season. It was so fun.”

For all, it remains Paris that continues to stir Otto — a city of characters, a little chaos, plenty of theatre and, crucially, people who still seem to know how to live. Riots notwithstanding.

“I was lucky to spend that time in Europe last year and at the end of it I kind of went, ‘yeah, Paris is still my favourite place’. “I eat well there, I dress well there and I find the art scene great. And I also find you talk there. You’re constantly having conversations with people and talking things out. You sit down to eat together and have a coffee and a chat. In Australia and LA and places like that, we’re always going to the gym or everyone works from home and we all get Uber Eats. Also, they’re not as social media driven or having to pop 12 meetings in a day like they do in New York or LA or Sydney . . . It’s very like face-to-face and personal in Paris.

“When I was making the film on Dad I really noticed it — they wanted to sit and talk out an issue, to know your opinion and what and why you think what you do. You can have a conversation about something for hours and I find that quite inspiring as a city, I really do.

“I like that you can get anywhere on the Metro and that the Metro is always within a five-minute walk, you know, you walk everywhere. And that means you’re constantly living in town.

“I used to live on Rue Charlot and I do still like it, but I also think the Marais has become a bit too touristy. I love Saint-Germain, the riverside.

“There’s a bistro in the 2nd called Aux Crus De Bourgogne and I also like Paul Bert for steak. Le Voltaire is another I go to.

“I’ve stayed a few places and if I’m being honest I actually prefer an Airbnb. But most recently I was at the Experimental — a cool and vibey hotel. I also like Hotel National des Arts et Metiers, another cool boutique stay.

“You can go to Paris and be there during fashion week and do the Hotel Costes thing and go to all the fancy places, but I also love just going to the laundromat by myself and getting a cheap coffee. I mean, you can eat well anywhere there and buy really good produce and there’s just always something going on in the city.

“There’s this little sandwich shop called Cosi in the 6th — I used to work there. They do this sandwich with Turkish bread that they fire, like a panini. And it’s still my favourite place to go because you can go there by yourself and grab a seat. There’s also Red Sauce, this Italian joint that’s good and cheap.

“I grab a coffee anywhere, because I’m an iced coffee drinker and you can imagine how well that goes down in Paris.

“I always go to White Cube (gallery) and Item Editions in Montparnasse is where David Lynch did all his artworks, all his lithographs. When I got my first documentary film poster made there and when I went to pick it up, David Lynch was standing there painting and he’s like, ‘I’m minding all your posters for you’. Oh. My. God. I don’t really own much art, but I have a David Lynch that he signed.

“To be honest I’m not very good at walking into shops, so I find I like to just go and see everything all at once and to do that at Le Bon Marche. “I’m turning 40 next year — Paris might just be the place I end up.”