Festivals & Events
Festivals & Events
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“There Was an Interesting Opportunity to Mix Formats”: DP Ethan Palmer on Plainclothes
The 2025 Sundance U.S. Dramatic Competition feature Plainclothes, the feature debut of writer-director Carmen Emmi, mixes a paranoid, anxious police thriller with a coming out narrative. It follows a police officer, Lucas (Tom Blyth), tasked with arresting gay men whose job gets complicated when he falls for one. Plainclothes mixes lo-fi surveillance footage with a contemporary digital aesthetic. The film’s cinematographer, Ethan Palmer (Ted K, Goat) discusses mixing formats and using cinematography to highlight the protagonist’s journey. 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 […]
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“The Intense, Emotional Journey of Navigating One’s Queerness”: Editor Erik Vogt-Nilsen on Plainclothes
Lucas is a young undercover police officer tasked with cracking down on gay communities whose job gets complicated when he falls in love with one of his targets in Plainclothes. The film is the feature debut of writer-director Carmen Emmi and is part of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. Dramatic Competition. Erik Vogt-Nilsen (Big Boys) served as the editor on Plainclothes. Below, he explains how his own coming out, as well as his background in both dance and commercials, helped him shape the narrative and striking a balance between observing Lucas and inhabiting his point of view. See all responses […]
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“It Might Yield Something Truly Beautiful” | Clint Bentley, Train Dreams
Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? I think it would have to be the first scene we shot. We were filming in a beautiful cabin we had built on location in eastern Washington, and Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones were just starting to bring their characters to life. What was scripted as a simple dialogue-free moment naturally grew into a […]
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“These Two Worlds Couldn’t Be More Opposite”: DP Tobias Schliessler on Kiss of the Spider Woman
In Kiss of the Spider Woman, director Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, Gods and Monsters) of the 1985 film of the same name amid Argentina’s Dirty War. Set partially in a prison as Molina (Tonatiuh) recounts his favorite Hollywood musical to his cellmate Valentin (Diego Luna), the film blends period realism with Technicolor glamor. Tobias Schliessler, who has also worked frequently with Peter Berg, served as director of photography on the production, his seventh time working with Condon. Below, he explains how he altered his lighting, equipment, and style to contrast the film’s 1981 prison scenes with its musical sequences, which seek […]
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“Moviemaking Goes Hand-in-Hand with Collaboration” | Sophie Brooks, Oh, Hi!
Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? The magic of moviemaking goes hand-in-hand with collaboration. It takes a village to make a film, and every step and person along the way feels vital, but nothing can exist without that initial spark. When I search in my mind over the last four-and-a half-years it took to make this film, the day that […]
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“That Call Was Almost as Exciting as the Good News Call from Sundance” | Sierra Falconer, Sunfish (& Other Stories on Green Lake)
Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? We shot Sunfish on location in rural Northern Michigan. Our basecamp and primary shooting location—a cottage on Green Lake belonging to my grandmother—was chosen for story over logistics. Getting our crew, cast and gear to location was a logistical nightmare that included planes, buses and shuttles (and my dad, who graciously drove to Chicago […]
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“I Wanted to Always be Receptive to Inspiration on the Day”: DP Conor Murphy on Oh, Hi!
Screening in the 2025 Sundance Film Festival’s Premieres section, Oh, Hi! is director Sophie Brooks’ romantic comedy about the unraveling and attempted reconciliation of the relationship between Iris (Molly Gordon) and Isaac (Logan Lerman). Much of Oh, Hi! takes place in a single bedroom. Below, cinematographer Conor Murphy explains the importance of finding creative ways to shoot the same space and also recounts the challenges of the film’s showstopping long take. 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 […]
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“Feedback Screenings Are Essential to the Process”: Editor Kayla Emter on Oh, Hi!
Director Sophie Brooks’ Oh, Hi! takes place over one weekend as it tracks the disintegration and attempted reconciliation of Iris and Isaac’s relationship (played by Molly Gordon and Logan Lerman, respectively). The film will premiere as part of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival’s Premieres section. Kayla Emter (Hustlers, Am I Ok?) served as the film’s editor. Below, she talks about the importance of staying true to the story and characters of the film and how she worked around a major continuity issue in a scene set to a beloved Bee Gees-penned classic. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor interviews here. Filmmaker: […]
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“Narration is a Double-Edged Sword”: Editor Parker Laramie on Train Dreams
Denis Johnson’s novella Train Dreams follows Robert Granier, a railroad builder, as he participates in America’s expansion to the West and finds love. Director Clint Bentley (Jockey) has adapted the Johnson’s attempt to contextualize the role of an individual within the immensity of history. Bentley’s Train Dreams screens as part of the Premieres section at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Below, editor Parker Laramie (Sing Sing, Unfriended) explains some of the differences between the film and the novel and why scenes were rearranged in the edit. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being […]
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“The Best Collaborations Always Leave Me with Something New”: Editor Victoria Chalk on Third Act
In Third Act, director Tadashi Nakamura trains his camera on his father, Robert A. Nakamura, “the godfather of Asian American media,” after the latter’s Parkinson’s diagnosis. The film, part of the U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, weaves this present-day storyline with archival footage dating back to the director’s childhood. Veteran documentary editor Victoria Chalk was brought in as an editor for Third Act. Below, Chalk discusses how she balanced filmmaker and subject in the edit and the joys of having so much archival footage to work with. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being […]
