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? Just past the far end zone of the high school football field in my hometown of Ardsley, NY there’s a short but steep fenced-off decline down a hill towards a second, smaller field: a baseball diamond with a big outfield of grass […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 18, 2024Suburban teen loner Owen (Justice Smith) is introduced to a late-night TV show shrouded in mystery by a fellow classmate (Brigette Lundy-Paine) in I Saw the TV Glow, the latest genre offering from writer-director Jane Schoenbrun. Dubbed an “emo horror” flick by Sundance programmers, Schoenbrun’s sophomore feature is having its world premiere in Park City this year, where the filmmaker’s buzzy feature debut, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, similarly premiered in 2021. Editor Sofi Marshall discusses how she became involved in Schoenbrun’s latest project, how the “independent” section of her local Blockbuster catalyzed her filmic career path and […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 18, 2024Filmmaking team Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine follow-up their 2020 documentary Boys State, naturally, with Girls State, making its Sundance debut in the festival’s Premieres category. Much like their previous film, Girls State follows a diverse group of teenage girls across the state of Missouri who engage in a week-long immersive project that requires them to collectively construct a government from the ground up, which this time includes building a judicial branch on both local and state levels. With the project unfolding as Roe v. Wade threatens to be overturned, the girls also ruminate on how real-world legislature could infringe […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 18, 2024Films 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? How to Have Sex is set in European party town. Teenagers from all over the UK flock to various Mediterranean towns. It’s funny that we recreate our culture somewhere hot. Pints and full English breakfasts. These towns are all fairly similar. They […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 18, 2024Kneecap, the Belfast-based, Irish-language rap trio that became a symbol of a civil rights struggle to save the Irish tongue. The three members play themselves in Kneecap, a Sundance 2024 Next selection and Rich Peppiatt’s take on the band’s story. Serving as editor is Julian Ulrichs, who also cut the music-heavy Sing Street. Below, he talks about what drew him to the film and how he balanced the film’s humor with its heart. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor questionnaire here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 18, 2024Each year, Filmmaker sends all Sundance feature film or series cinematographers a questionnaire to complete ahead of their film’s festival screening. We also send out a single question for feature directors to answer as well as questionnaires for editors and first-time Sundance feature producers. Below, find links to individual cinematographer responses, which will be updated daily during the festival. “I Feel Like We Made an Image That I Have Never Seen Before”: DP Eric Yue on I Saw the TV Glow “Creating a Mood and Tone Is the Most Impactful Element of Cinematography”: David Bolen on Thelma “Each Day Was a White-Knuckle […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 18, 2024Each year, Filmmaker sends all Sundance feature film or series editors a questionnaire to complete ahead of their film’s festival screening. We also send out a single question for feature directors to answer as well as questionnaires for cinematographers and first-time Sundance feature producers. Below, find links to individual editor responses, which will be updated daily during the festival. “Anyone That Watched the Early Cuts Had the Same Reaction”: Editors Dashya Broadway and Jon Higgins on Your Monster “I Approached Each Edit as I Would an Onion”: Editor Julian Ulrichs on Kneecap “We Realized During the Edit That There Were Several Options […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 18, 2024This year, Filmmaker sent all first-time Sundance feature film producers a questionnaire to complete ahead of their film’s festival screening. We also sent out a single question for feature directors to answer as well as questionnaires for editors and cinematographers. Below, find links to individual first-time Sundance feature producer responses, which will be updated daily during the festival. “Treat People Well and They’ll Treat You Well”: Producer Chris Kaye on Thelma “Trying To Fit Someone’s Dream Into a Confined Budget Is Not Easy”: Producer Sam Intili on I Saw the TV Glow “Stay True to Your Gut”: Producer Mari Bakke […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 18, 2024How to Have Sex, the breakout debut feature of Molly Manning Walker that played at Cannes in 2023, will screen at Sundance this year as part of the Spotlight section. The film chronicles the rite-of-passage holiday of three British teens as they navigate the complexities of sex and self-discovery. Below, cinematographer Nicolas Canniccioni (Gerontophilia) exalts the value of abundant prep work and details the film’s varied 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 factors and attributes that led […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 18, 2024Jane Schoenbrun’s follow-up to the 2021 Sundance hit We’re All Going to the World’s Fair is I Saw the TV Glow, about a teenager whose friend introduces him to a late-night TV show that grants access to a supernatural world. The film will play as part of the Midnight section at the 2024 Sundance. Eric Yue, who shot one of last year’s breakout Sundance hits (A Thousand and One) serves as DP on I Saw the TV Glow. Below, he shares the film’s eclectic reference points and explains how he and Schoenbrun found a visual aesthetic befitting the film’s strangeness. See all […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 18, 2024