Authors — Filmmaker Staff
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“The Whole Story Through the Protagonist’s Eyes”: Enis Saraçi on Hive
Blerta Basholli’s Hive explores macro gender dynamics in her home country of Kosovo. Among a league of women awaiting news of their husbands, fathers and sons’ fates in the Kosovo War, Fahrije practices self-reliance and encourages other women to seek independence despite the violent patriarchal expectations of their community. Editor Enis Saraçi tells us why the film is shot primarily through Fahrije’s perspective. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Saraçi: Yll and Valon, producers of Hive, were both […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 3, 2021 -
“The Film Is Quite Literally Magic and Realism”: Editor Cyndi Trissel on Marvelous and the Black Hole
Kate Tsang’s debut film Marvelous and the Black Hole follows thirteen-year-old Sammy Ko (Miya Cech), who struggles with delinquency shortly after the death of her mother. After meeting Margot (Rhea Perlman), a magician dead set on taking Sammy as her assistant, Sammy reluctantly begins a friendship with her and learns to heal through the expressive art of sleight of hand. Editor Cyndi Trissel tells us how they captured actual magic in the film’s final cut. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 3, 2021 -
“It’s a Conflict of Ideas”: DP Michał Łuka on Prime Time
Jakub Piątek’s feature debut Prime Time is a thriller set in the deadly world of broadcast television. In 1999, a youth named Sebastian (Bartosz Bielenia) hijacks a TV studio, taking two hostages along the way. His reasons for doing this slowly unravel, including to himself. DP Michał Łuka tells us how they captured the youthful rebelliousness of the ’90s in shooting. 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 hired for this job? Łuka: I think every time it’s a whole spectrum of both […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 3, 2021 -
“My World Outside the Cutting Room Is Richer”: Editor Géraud Brisson on CODA
Siân Heder’s CODA is the tender story of Ruby (Emilia Jones), the sole hearing member of her deaf family. After joining her high school choir, she finds herself torn between pursuing her passion for singing and helping her family with their fishing business. Editor Géraud Brisson tells us why his team decided to leave some scenes in that may feel “awkward” for hearing audiences. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Brisson: I met Siân Heder, the director of […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 3, 2021 -
“We Like the Poetic, Dreamy Quality”: DP Edu Grau on Passing
Rebecca Hall’s Passing is an adaptation of the Harlem Renaissance era novel by Nella Larsen of the same name. Starring Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga as two mixed race women who “pass” for white in the 1920s, the film explores their acquaintanceship as one “pretends” to be white while the other lives life as a black woman. DP Edu Grau shares why they opted to film the Passing with a more vintage style. 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 hired for this job? Grau: […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 3, 2021 -
“This Film Needed to Embody a Feminist Perspective”: Editor Kevin Klauber on Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided Go For It
Rita Moreno stands as one of the few entertainers to attain EGOT status. Mariem Pérez Riera intimate documentary on the West Side Story star the racism Moreno faced as a Puerto Rican immigrant with aplomb, featuring interviews other iconic entertainers such as Gloria Estefan, Whoopi Goldberg and Eva Longoria. Editor Kevin Klauber shares the importance of recontextualizing Moreno’s story through a feminist lens. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Klauber: I was contacted by Brent Miller after being recommended […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 3, 2021 -
“The Lighting Started from a Real Place of Honesty”: DP Mia Cioffi Henry on Superior
Having lensed several notable works that have been released in the last couple of years (Jeremy Hersh’s The Surrogate, Ja’Tovia Gary’s The Giverny Document, and the shorts In Sudden Darkness and Dominant Species, among others), New York-based DP Mia Cioffi Henry arrives at Sundance with Erin Vassilopolous’s stylish psychodrama, Superior, based on the director’s 2015 short, which Henry also shot. Below, Henry discusses her own journey back to this material following the short, how references find their way into finished works, and being open to the truth of practical locations. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 2, 2021 -
“This Room had Even Scared Off Another DP”: DP Ryan Jackson-Healy on Mass
Fran Kranz’s Mass is the rare film that explores the aftermath of a tragedy rather than the tragedy itself. Some years after the events of a school shooting, the parents of a victim (Jason Isaacs and Martha Plimpton) plan to meet the parents of the perpetrator (Reed Birney and Ann Dowd). DP Ryan Jackson-Healy speaks to not being scared of shooting primarily in a white room, switching lenses tied to emotional cues and creating a subtextual lighting arc. 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 Feb 2, 2021 -
“The Complexities of Being a Hearing Child in a Deaf Family”: DP Paula Huidobro on CODA
Sold for a reported $25 million-plus, CODA (the title is an acronym for Children Of Deaf Adults) stars Emilia Jones as the hearing child of a deaf fishing family. DP Paula Huidobro discusses the process of coordinating with deaf actors onset, learning about fishing and her ongoing collaboration with director Sian Heder. 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 hired for this job? Huidobro: I first met Sian at the DWW program at AFI and we have continued to work since then in two […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 2, 2021 -
“The Resiliency of Youth Is Inspiring”: Editor Kristina Motwani on Homeroom
Homeroom, the final entry in Peter Nicks’ Oakland trilogy, couldn’t have come at a more bizarre time. Amid the early days of the pandemic and movements to defund the police, Oakland High School’s class of 2020 prepares to graduate into an unforgiving world fighting for justice. Kristina Motwani, one of the film’s co-editors, shares how the film’s arc changed but their goals remained the same as the world around them changed more and more. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 2, 2021
