Authors — Filmmaker Staff
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“My Imagination Was Intimately Connected to the Countryside of My Birth” | Christopher Jenkins, 10 Lives
Films are made of and from places: the locations they are filmed in, the settings they are meant to evoke, the geographies where they are imagined and worked on. What place tells its own story about your film, whether a particularly challenging location that required production ingenuity or a map reference that inspired you personally, politically or creatively? I’m from the U.K., but have lived in the States for 30-something years. And while I’m thoroughly glued into my life in Los Angeles, I’ve yet to go completely native. Still, to this day when writing, I unconsciously lean into the values I […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 20, 2024 -
“We’re There To Solve Logistical Problems All Day Every Day”: DP Steve Yedlin on Winner
Based on the real-life whistleblower who leaked an intelligence report exposing Russian interference in the 2016 election, director Susanna Fogel’s Winner depicts the events leading up to Texas native Reality Winner’s eventual arrest and sentencing. Cinematographer Steve Yedlin describes his approach to shooting Fogel’s film, which included not getting caught up with references and “not being a slave to superstition” when it came to choosing a camera. 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 […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 20, 2024 -
“The Biggest Challenge on a Verité Production is Time”: DP Christopher LaMarca on Sugarcane
Sugarcane, co-directed by journalists Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, is an investigation into the abuse and missing persons cases at an indigenous residential school and the associated tumult on the nearby Reserve. It is the debut film by NoiseCat, a former policy with personal ties to the community, and the second, after A Girl Named C, for Kassie. Christopher LaMarca served as cinematographer, his second such credit, after Ry Russo-Young’s Nuclear Family. Below, he discusses some of the challenges peculiar to shooting verité films. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 20, 2024 -
“Adapt and Let the Film Show You What It Wants to Show You”: DP Kristen Correll on My Old Ass
In My Old Ass, an incoming college freshman encounters an older version of herself during a mushroom trip, spurring a journey of self-discovery. The film is director Megan Park’s follow-up the 2021 SXSW premiere The Fallout and stars Maisy Stella (Nashville) alongside Aubrey Plaza (Emily the Criminal). Kristen Correll (The Fallout, Parachute) served as director of photography. Below, she talks about going with the flow during shooting, the film’s nostalgic tone, and the ’90s favorites that provided influence. 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 […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 20, 2024 -
“I Attribute Our Ingenuity to Collective Organizing Principles” | Jazmin Jones, Seeking Mavis Beacon
Films are made of and from places: the locations they are filmed in, the settings they are meant to evoke, the geographies where they are imagined and worked on. What place tells its own story about your film, whether a particularly challenging location that required production ingenuity or a map reference that inspired you personally, politically or creatively? Given the investigative nature of Seeking Mavis Beacon, I knew I wanted to play with elements of noir and true crime. It’s worth mentioning that I have a contentious relationship with these film genres but, aesthetically speaking, they’re rife with visual motifs that […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 20, 2024 -
“The Gravestones Appear Almost Like Signs” | Hans Block and Moritz Riesewieck, Eternal You
Films are made of and from places: the locations they are filmed in, the settings they are meant to evoke, the geographies where they are imagined and worked on. What place tells its own story about your film, whether a particularly challenging location that required production ingenuity or a map reference that inspired you personally, politically or creatively? For our film we were interested in contrasting the world of digital afterlife with traditional forms of remembrance and commemoration. There is one scene in which the camera floats at some height, almost vertically above the graves of a large cemetery in western […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 20, 2024 -
“The Audience Must Be Transported Here to Feel What It’s Like”: DP Andrey Stefanov on Porcelain War
Although artists by trade, Ukrainians Slava Leontyev, Anya Stasenko and Andrey Stefanov opted to help their countries fight off the Russian invasion. Their lives, their continued passion for their art and their country are now the subject of Porcelain War, co-directed by Leontyev and Brendan Bellomo, the latter of whom is based in the United States. Below, Stefanov, who also served as the film’s cinematographer, discusses making a film about war-torn Ukraine and the place of the filmmakers within it and how they managed to do it across two continents. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 20, 2024 -
“The Biggest Inspiration for Me Making This Film at All Was Maria’s Blog” | Silje Evensmo Jacobsen, A New Kind of Wilderness
Films are made of and from places: the locations they are filmed in, the settings they are meant to evoke, the geographies where they are imagined and worked on. What place tells its own story about your film, whether a particularly challenging location that required production ingenuity or a map reference that inspired you personally, politically or creatively? The biggest inspiration for me making this film at all was Maria’s blog, where she was telling the story of her family’s journey towards being wild and free. She inspired me so much both when it comes to storytelling, and visually with […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 19, 2024 -
“Me Being There by Myself Led to More Authentic and Intimate Situations”: DP Silje Evensmo Jacobsen on A New Kind of Wilderness
Director Silje Evensmo Jacobsen also served as the primary cinematographer on her documentary A New Kind of Wilderness, premiering at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in the World Documentary Competition. The film follows the Payne family, who’ve been happily residing in a remote Norwegian forest until a death in the family forces them to move back into populated society. Below, Evensmo Jacobsen describes her approach to shooting A New Kind of Wilderness, which she did alongside directing in order to foster a more genuine intimacy with the film’s subjects. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 19, 2024 -
“Stay True to Your Gut”: Producer Mari Bakke Riise on A New Kind of Wilderness
When the Payne family experiences a personal tragedy, they must leave the home they love in the remote Norwegian wilderness and enmesh themselves in the society they once felt so strongly opposed to in A New Kind of Wilderness, the latest documentary from filmmaker Silje Evensmo Jacobsen. First-time producer Mari Bakke Riise, who also served as the film’s editor, discusses how her long-time collaboration with Evensmo Jacobsen led to her multi-pronged involvement on this project. See all responses to our questionnaire for first-time Sundance producers here. Filmmaker: Tell us about the professional path that led you to produce this film, your […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 19, 2024
