Authors — Filmmaker Staff
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“Dreams Are Never Bound or Restricted by Austere Conditions”: DP Mahmoud Bashir on Captains of Zaatari
In his feature debut, Captains of Zaatari, Ali El Arabi turns his eye on the teenagers living in the world’s largest Syrian refugee camp. Unafraid to dream despite their bleak surroundings, Fawzi and Mahmoud hope to escape Zaatari and enter the world of professional soccer. DP Mahmoud Bashir discusses becoming friends with the boys at the center of the film and the importance of natural lighting. 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? Bashir: I did shoot more than […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 2, 2021 -
“Passion Projects That Are Suffering”: Director Mona Fastvold | The World to Come
How did events of 2020—any of them—change your film, either in the way you approached it, produced it, post-produced it, or are now thinking about it? The film’s post-production was affected by the pandemic, and the film was generally difficult to bring to life but considering the human toll this virus has taken on everyone around the world, it’s hard to drum up much of an anecdote… Movies, like small restaurants or shops, around the globe are passion projects that are suffering right now. (Check back daily during the festival — new answers are uploaded on the day of each […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 2, 2021 -
“Simulating the Flight of the Butterfly”: Alejandro Mejia on Son of Monarchs
Alexis Gambis’ Son of Monarchs moves between New York City and Michoacán, Mexico as biologist Mendel (Tenoch Mejía) returns to his hometown to attend his grandmother’s funeral. Michoacán is where Mendel first became obsessed with monarch butterflies, which he would later devote his life to studying, but is also where his and his older brother Simon’s parents died in a flood. DP Alejandro Mejia details how he bound the film’s two central locations through camerawork. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? Mejia: I entered this project because the director had talked to me […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 2, 2021 -
“Reverse the Imagery That We Normally Are Presented Within Adult Film”: DP Sophie Winqvist Loggins on Pleasure
Ninja Thyberg’s Pleasure is an unforgiving exploration of the adult entertainment industry in Los Angeles. After arriving to California from Sweden, young Bella Cherry (Sofia Kappel) has many expectations of what working in porn will be like. Pleasure pulls no punches in showing just how brutal of a world it can be. DP Sophie Winqvist Loggins discusses the importance of color in the movie, whether it be in lighting or how natural Bella’s skin looks. 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 […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 2, 2021 -
“Softness to Achieve an Ethereal Image”: DP André Chemetoff on The World to Come
Director Mona Fastvold’s second feature film The World to Come is an adaptation of a Jim Shepard short story of the same name. The film follows Abigail (Katherine Waterston), a well-read 19th century wife living in upstate New York who has grown frustrated with the humdrum of provincial life. She soon begins a love affair with her new neighbor Tallie (Vanessa Kirby). Cinematographer André Chemetoff discusses the unique challenge of portraying winter scenes in summer, ballerinas, and achieving ethereality on film. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 2, 2021 -
“The Overall Emotional Responsibility of the Film Was a Daunting Task at Times”: DP Adam Crosby on Violation
Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli’s domestic horror debut Violation follows Miriam (played by Sims-Fewer), a fraught woman on the verge of divorce, returns home to visit her sister and her husband at their lake home. The trip takes a dark turn when Dylan assaults Miriam, sending her on a violent arc of revenge. DP Adam Crosby tells us how he captured the film’s lurid takes and how they fostered an environment to explore sensitive topics. 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 […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 2, 2021 -
“It Was Just Me and the Characters in a Vacuum”: Editor Marion Hill on Ma Belle, My Beauty
Marion Hill tackles uncharted territory with her polyamorous drama Ma Belle, My Beauty. After moving to rural France, Bertie (Idella Johnson) runs into her ex Lane (Hannah Pepper-Cunningham) who she was previously in a three person relationship with alongside Bertie’s husband Fred (Lucien Guignard). Hill, also the editor of the film, reveals the personal journey that went into editing the film. 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? Hill: I am also the writer, director and one of three producers […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 2, 2021 -
“The Film Takes Place in Two Different Worlds”: DP Klemens Hufnagl on Human Factors
Ronny Trocker’s Human Factors follows a family whisked away to their seaside vacation home in an attempt to escape work. During their stay, burglars break into the house, which drives a wedge between parents Nina and Jan. DP Klemens Hufnagl explores differentiating the worlds of Hamburg and the Belgian coast. 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? Hufnagl: As Ronny Trocker’s first feature The Eremites was a co-production with Austria, he was looking for an Austrian DP. It was […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 2, 2021 -
“America’s Most Incarcerated City”: Directors Ted Passon, Yoni Brook and Nicole Salazar | Philly D.A.
How did events of 2020—any of them—change your film, either in the way you approached it, produced it, post-produced it, or are now thinking about it? When we began producing this docuseries in 2017, the national conversation around the role of systemic racism in the justice system was in a different place. Back then the city of Philadelphia, where we live, was immersed in a reckoning with its position as America’s most incarcerated big city. After a shocking election, Larry Krasner, an outsider committed to ending mass incarceration, took over the prosecutor’s office responsible for sending people to prison. We […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 2, 2021 -
“We Believed It Would Generate More Liveliness and Freedom”: DP Alex Bloom 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. DP Alex Bloom tells us why he felt it best to allow the actresses to move about unencumbered. 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? Bloom: Valon Bajgora introduced […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 1, 2021
