A companion to her 2020 film A Thousand Cuts, Filipino-American documentary filmmaker Ramona S. Díaz returns to Sundance with And So It Begins, which chronicles recent Filipino elections following the end of right-wing president Rodrigo Duterte’s term, which could either bring about the restoration of democracy or an increased shift toward nationalist leaders. Cinematographer Bruce Sakai reveals how he was hired to shoot the project due to increased COVID restrictions, as well as the decision to employ a “very verité approach.” See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being […]
Each summer, the sisters at the center of Alessandra Lacorazza’s Sundance 2024 premiere In the Summers visit their father in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The film spans several formative years of the sisters’ lives, and their father sometimes struggles to keep pace. Below, cinematographer Alejandro Mejia, whose recent credits include Stolen Youth, discusses shooting the film, including how his love of photography books helped inform the film’s look. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being […]
Pedro Freire’s feature debut, Malu is a multigenerational family drama about an actress whose relationship with both mother and daughter are strained. Set in Rio de Janeiro, the film depicts the frayed familial fabric that sees the women at once caring for and offending one another. Mauro Pinheiro Jr. (Reaching for the Moon, Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures) served as the film’s cinematographer. Below, he explains how he fended off problems posed by inclement weather and why he favored a sparse setup that allowed the film’s performers maximum freedom. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why […]
Jesse Eisenberg returns to Sundance with A Real Pain, the actor’s second directorial effort following his 2021 debut When You Finish Saving the World. Eisenberg acts alongside Succession sensation Kieran Culkin, embodying cousins who travel to Poland in order to honor the legacy of their deceased grandmother. Below, cinematographer Michał Dymek describes how he was brought on board the project, the influences he and Eisenberg referenced and the emotional weight of shooting at the Majdanek Concentration Camp. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your […]
23-year-old Dakota (Kota Johan) finds herself unmoored in South Brooklyn after her boyfriend returns to Ukraine in order to tend to his ailing father in Tendaberry, the feature debut from writer-director Haley Elizabeth Anderson. As she navigates the city over the course of an entire year, she finds moments of tenderness and trouble, all while wondering when her lover will return to join her on the shores of Brighton Beach. Cinematographer Matthew Ballard discusses how he collaborated with Anderson to capture her vision on 16mm for Tendaberry, also Ballard’s first feature-length project. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer […]
Francia Márquez is the current Vice President of Colombia, and Juan Mejía Botero was fortunate to have documented the campaign exclusively and from the beginning. That footage, alongside archival footage of a younger Márquez, makes up the Sundance 2024 documentary Igualada. Ahead of the film’s premiere, cinematographer Gómez Karen Gómez (Sous le silence et la terre) talked about what it was like documenting a campaign that was constantly in motion. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you end up being the director of photography for your film? What were the factors and attributes […]
On a trip to the Catskills, 17-year-old Sam’s father is so preoccupied looking out for his oldest friend that she begins to feel suffocated. Such is the premise of Good One, the debut feature by the Los-Angeles based India Donaldson. Also debuting on Good One is cinematographer Wilson Cameron (Glass Note). Below, Cameron discusses the film’s natural development toward longer takes, the fun and difficulty of shooting in the woods and the various films that served as reference. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your […]
In Sebastian, Finnish-British writer-director Mikko Mäkelä’s follow-up to 2017’s A Moment in the Reeds, 25-year-old Max enters the world of sex work as research for his debut novel. These experiences alter Max’s sense of self as Max moves from hesitant to exhilarated as he throws himself deeper into his “double life.” Cinematographer Iikka Salminen, who also worked with Mäkelä on A Moment in the Reeds, discusses how he complemented the observational nature of the film by shooting it like a “moving portrait.” See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the […]
The advent of AI now offers the bereaved an opportunity to connect with deceased loved ones via avatars, a creation that captured the interest of filmmakers Hans Block and Moritz Riesewieck. Their documentary Eternally You investigates the benefits and dangers of digital immortality. Cinematographers Tom Bergmann and Konrad Waldmann reveal how they collaborated on this project, which required equal parts empathy and adhering to a specific artistic vision. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? Bergmann: Georg Tschurtschenthaler, producer extraordinaire, reached out to me […]
While attending a boarding school nestled in the Himalayan mountains, Mira (Preeti Panigrahi) finds herself confronted with newfound desires that she desperately wants to explore, a notion that horrifies her mother (Kani Kusruti), whose dedication to old-fashioned standards are likely a result of her own stunted coming-of-age. Cinematographer Jih-E Peng, who previously collaborated with first-time feature filmmaker Shuchi Talati on her short film A Period Piece, discusses his approach to tackling this project, which included browsing the New York Public Library’s Picture Collection. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind […]