Filmmaking
Filmmaking
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“At Present, Many of Us are Living in the Conditions of My Speculative Fiction…”: Alison Nguyen on Her Isolated, Computer-Simulated Character, “Andra8”
In April, as we began to put together the Summer, 2020 issue of Filmmaker, we asked directors, cinematographers, editors and other film workers to send us their thoughts on the quarantine and their own creative lives. The responses printed here were collected from April through mid-June — personal statements that speak variously to individual filmmaking practices, films halted mid-production, politics, art and life. Read all the responses here. — Editor In 2019, I began making a video work about a computer-generated woman living and working in isolation in a virtual void. From the apartment where she’s been placed, this simulacral subaltern, […]
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“Preparing for a Future that is Hard to Recognize Yet…”: DP Sean Price Williams Enters Time Capsules of Cinema
Clouds have finally arrived after almost three months of the most uncharacteristic bout of sunshine here in London. What brought them? I have been asking for some of that rain and gloom to give me comfort in closing myself off into the bedroom cave that I turn into our private cinema and do nothing but watch movies. I abandoned the fantasy that I could just watch movies all day and night during quarantine. It turns out movies are best enjoyed with a side of life. But, we can’t have too much living for now, as we are strapped down awaiting […]
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“I Miss 35mm Films the Most:” Gabo Arora on Not Watching Movies
In April, as we began to put together the Summer, 2020 issue of Filmmaker, we asked directors, cinematographers, editors and other film workers to send us their thoughts on the quarantine and their own creative lives. The responses printed here were collected from April through mid-June — personal statements that speak variously to individual filmmaking practices, films halted mid-production, politics, art and life. Read all the responses here. — Editor I miss 35mm films the most. Especially as my new wife and I have a strict no-streaming policy at home that we had in place pre-COVID. We didn’t want to turn […]
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“Being a Filmmaker Sometimes is a Privilege”: Linghua (Lily) Qi on a Documentarian’s Responsibility
In April, as we began to put together the Summer, 2020 issue of Filmmaker, we asked directors, cinematographers, editors and other film workers to send us their thoughts on the quarantine and their own creative lives. The responses printed here were collected from April through mid-June — personal statements that speak variously to individual filmmaking practices, films halted mid-production, politics, art and life. Read all the responses here. — Editor In many ways, I feel the responsibility of documenting the world more than ever because we’re living the history, and I hope there’s a way I can tell the history or […]
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“Projects Don’t Happen, Things Don’t Happen, You Have to Wait for Something Else”: Toby Oliver on Freelance Shooting
In April, as we began to put together the Summer, 2020 issue of Filmmaker, we asked directors, cinematographers, editors and other film workers to send us their thoughts on the quarantine and their own creative lives. The responses printed here were collected from April through mid-June — personal statements that speak variously to individual filmmaking practices, films halted mid-production, politics, art and life. Read all the responses here. — Editor In early March, I went up to Washington state to do three days of pickup on a documentary an Australian friend was making. I hadn’t worked on the documentary before—I was […]
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“We Were Living at Such an Accelerated Pace…”: Karim Ainouz on Dreaming of a Different Future
In April, as we began to put together the Summer, 2020 issue of Filmmaker, we asked directors, cinematographers, editors and other film workers to send us their thoughts on the quarantine and their own creative lives. The responses printed here were collected from April through mid-June — personal statements that speak variously to individual filmmaking practices, films halted mid-production, politics, art and life. Read all the responses here. — Editor My experience during this quarantine has been quite ambiguous. I will explain. Germany, where I am based, was one of the first countries to report cases of COVID-19. I remember that […]
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“I Sneak Out One Evening…”: Joachim Trier on the City as Empty Soundstage
In April, as we began to put together the Summer, 2020 issue of Filmmaker, we asked directors, cinematographers, editors and other film workers to send us their thoughts on the quarantine and their own creative lives. The responses printed here were collected from April through mid-June — personal statements that speak variously to individual filmmaking practices, films halted mid-production, politics, art and life. Read all the responses here. — Editor I sneaked out one evening, walking around my city, Oslo, where I was supposed to start filming in April. Passing through the empty streets of my actual locations, it felt like […]
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“Every Civilization Has Had Its Time”: DP Ed Lachman on Quarantine Viewing and the World Outside
In April, as we began to put together the Summer, 2020 issue of Filmmaker, we asked directors, cinematographers, editors and other film workers to send us their thoughts on the quarantine and their own creative lives. The responses printed here were collected from April through mid-June — personal statements that speak variously to individual filmmaking practices, films halted mid-production, politics, art and life. Read all the responses here. — Editor I’m in self-isolation with my thoughts of how the world and our images have changed… but will we? I’m rereading Paul Schrader’s Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer, a brilliant […]
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“Post-Production in a Post-Apocalyptic New York”: Amalia Ulman on Distance, Hard Drives and an Invisible Threat
In April, as we began to put together the Summer, 2020 issue of Filmmaker, we asked directors, cinematographers, editors and other film workers to send us their thoughts on the quarantine and their own creative lives. The responses printed here were collected from April through mid-June — personal statements that speak variously to individual filmmaking practices, films halted mid-production, politics, art and life. Read all the responses here. — Editor Now, I find myself in the middle of post-production in a post-apocalyptic New York. I lift my eyes to the calendar behind my computer and sigh at the sight of the […]
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“How Does Anyone Make Plans in This World Anymore?”: Penny Lane on Pandemics and Production Offices
In April, as we began to put together the Summer, 2020 issue of Filmmaker, we asked directors, cinematographers, editors and other film workers to send us their thoughts on the quarantine and their own creative lives. The responses printed here were collected from April through mid-June — personal statements that speak variously to individual filmmaking practices, films halted mid-production, politics, art and life. Read all the responses here. — Editor When coronavirus hit New York, I had just moved into a new office along with my producer Gabriel and associate producer Nick. This move represented a big step for us, almost […]
