Interviews
Interviews
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“Each Set of Rushes Presents a Unique Puzzle”: Editor George Cragg on The Thing with Feathers
In The Thing with Feathers, a widower and father of two suspects he is being stalked by a crow-like figure. The adaptation of Max Porter’s book of the same name stars Benedict Cumberbatch and is the fiction feature debut of director Dylan Southern (Shut Up and Play the Hits, Meet Me in the Bathroom). The versatile George Cragg (Collective, I Am Not a Witch, Earth Mama) served as the film’s editor in his first collaboration with Southern. He talks about how he made his way up in the industry and how he and Southern restructured the film below. See all responses to our […]
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“All the Delicate Layers Gently Rose to the Surface”: DP Daisy Zhou on Bunnylovr
In Bunnylovr, a Chinese American cam girl tries to reconnect with her father while managing a deteriorating relationship with one of her clients. The film, part of the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, is director Katarina Zhu directorial feature debut. Handling cinematographer duties is Daisy Zhou (The African Desperate, Suicide by Sunlight). Below, she rattles off a number of influences and goes into detail about her camera selection and approach to lighting. 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 […]
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“It Was Always Fun, But Not Necessarily Easy”: DP Pete Ohs on OBEX
In OBEX, the secluded Conor finds his life take a turn for the worse when a state-of-the-art computer game begins to intrude into his reality. The film, directed by Albert Birney (The Strawberry Mansion), will premiere as part of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival’s NEXT section. Multi-hyphenate Pete Ohs was a co-writer as well as the director of photography for OBEX. He speaks in his capacity as cinematographer below, describing the goals and influences for the film’s look and explaining how his close friendship with Birney informed the film. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and […]
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“A Feeling of Magical Imperfection that Film Brings”: DP Sara Mishara on Two Women
Two Women is retelling of the 1970 cult classic Two Women in Gold with a feminist spin, directed by Chloé Robichaud (Sarah Prefers to Run). In the film, a pair of struggling women decide to let loose and fulfill their unmet desires. Sara Mishara (Tu Dors Nicole, My Salinger Year) shot the film on 35mm. Below, she explains that choice and how the film’s cinematography offers thematic answers to its source material. 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 […]
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“We Wanted To Play with This Line Between Artifice and Reality”: DP Eric Yue on Atropia
Atropia takes place at a military role-playing facility when the real emotions between an actress and a soldier role-playing an insurgent begin to complicate the establishment’s purpose. The film, premiering as part of the U.S. Dramatic Competition, is the feature debut of director Hailey Gates after playing in front of the camera in Twin Peaks: The Return, Challengers and Uncut Gems, among others. Eric Yue (I Saw the TV Glow, A Thousand and One) served as Atropia‘s cinematographer. Below, Yue discusses navigating the film’s separate levels of reality through lighting and camera technique. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: What were […]
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“A Way to Capture the Spirit of the Times”: DP Pavel Talankin, Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Pavel Talankin, a teacher at a small town in the Ural Mountains, found himself in an extraordinary situation when Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine led to the militarization of his school. He began filming his life and the changes around him, and that footage became the basis for Mr. Nobody Against Putin. Mr. Nobody Against Putin will premiere as part of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival’s World Cinema Documentary Competition. Talankin, the film’s co-director and cinematographer, sheds some light on what spurred him to begin filming below. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you […]
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“You Have to Give It the Love It Needs”: Editor Matthieu Bouchard on Two Women
In Two Women, an adaptation of Claude Fournier’s Two Women in Gold (1970), two women, one struggling with depression and the other on a difficult maternity leave, find that misadventure and taboo make their lives a bit more invigorating. The World Cinema Dramatic Competition entry is directed by Chloé Robichaud (Days of Happiness, Sarah Prefers to Run). Matthieu Bouchard, a veteran of TV comedy, took his first turn as a feature film editor on Two Women. He reflects on achieving that dream and helping Robichaud realize her vision below. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did […]
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“Editorially It Was Similar to Quilt-Making”: Brittany Shyne on her Sundance-Debuting Seeds
While “stunning directorial debut” is an overused description that seldom lives up to the Sundance hype, in the case of Brittany Shyne’s Seeds it’s also quite precise. The lush, B&W-shot doc is a gorgeous portrait of what may very well be the last in a long line of generational Black farmers in rural Georgia, one in which Shyne’s camera serves as both portal and means of preservation. By quietly and patiently embedding with two extended families in the small town of Thomasville, Shyne is able to capture everything from the languid rhythm of daily work, from harvesting cotton to repairing […]
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“An Entertaining Film About a Very Pressing and Complicated Topic”: Editor Nicolaj Monberg on Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Pasha is a nonconformist and a teacher in a small town in the Ural Mountains who finds his world turned upside down when Russia launches its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Director David Borenstein’s documentary, Mr. Nobody Against Putin, follows Pasha, himself the cinematographer and credited co-director, as he watches his institution transform into a militarized indoctrination center for nationalist ideology. Mr. Nobody Against Putin screens as part of Sundance’s World Cinema Documentary Competition. Below, editor Nicolaj Monberg explains how he balanced the desire for an entertaining film about contemporary Russian politics with the gravity of its subject matter. See […]
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“I Filmed It, and I Posted It. Now, Watch”: David Borenstein on His Sundance-Debuting Mr. Nobody Against Putin
David Borenstein’s Sundance-premiering Mr. Nobody Against Putin stars Pavel “Pasha” Talankin (also credited as co-director), an “unlikely hero” in an even more unlikely collaboration. A jokey primary school teacher in his Ural Mountains hometown of Karabash (which has the dubious distinction of being one of the most polluted cities on the planet), Pasha spends many days mentoring the kids who use the thirty-something’s open door office as a hangout/safe haven. That is, when he’s not documenting their young lives as the school’s videographer. Which is why things get rather complicated for this pro-democracy, but non-activist, educator. For once Putin decides […]
