Cinematographers
Interviews - Cinematographers
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“Shoot Wide and Close!”: DP Jeremy Prusso on Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out
When high schooler Itsy (Emma Tremblay) moves to Pebble Falls with her family, she befriends the neighbor kid Calvin (Jacob Buster) who has a strange obsession with outer space. Soon, he reveals the true root of his fascination: Calvin believes that his parents have been abducted by aliens, and he desperate watches the skies for an opportunity to join them among the stars. Jake Van Wagoner weaves a tale of adolescent anxiety and adjustment in Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out. Cinematographer Jeremy Prusso discusses the process of shooting the film, which premiered in Sundance’s […]
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“Many Moments Are Raw and Shot on Intuition”: DP Iris Ng on Twice Colonized
Twice Colonized, the documentary from filmmaker Lin Alluna, focuses on the life and activism of Aaju Peter, a Greenlandic Inuit who advocates for the human rights of Arctic Indigenous people like herself. As a lawyer, she fights for accountability from Danish and Canadian colonizing forces, all while inspiring Westerners as a whole to confront their own colonial attitudes. As she’s preparing for an Indigenous forum at the European Union, she goes on a journey of personal healing and sudden loss when her youngest son tragically passes away. DP Iris Ng discusses how she came aboard the project, the third cinematographer […]
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“A Story That Plays With the Senses”: DP Lílis Soares on Mami Wata
A folkloric African water deity is the titular focus of Mami Wata, the Sundance-premiering film from writer-director C.J. “Fiery” Obasi. The revered Mama Efe (Rita Edochie) serves as the conduit between the inhabitants of the seaside village of Iyi and the sacred water spirit, but a brewing period of civil unrest threatens to throw the entire village into extended tumult. When a young boy dies of a virus, neither human nor spirit can intervene to stop more bloodshed. Cinematographer Lílis Soares discusses the influences and approaches she utilized while shooting the sumptuous black and white film. See all responses to […]
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“I Was Drawn to Harlem as a Character and How Gentrification Was Also an Antagonist”: DP Eric Yue on A Thousand and One
A.V. Rockwell’s feature debut A Thousand and One begins with Inez (Teyana Taylor) migrating between shelters during an intensely hot summer in ’90s-era New York City. Her 6-year-old son Terry is in foster care, and she makes the bold decision to kidnap him and discreetly live together again in Harlem. Years pass, and Terry (Josiah Cross) has grown into a shy but precocious teenager. However, the secret that the Inez has kept for a decade threatens to be revealed, meaning that the life she has built with her son could crumble at any moment. Cinematographer Eric Yue talks about how […]
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“From the Beginning I Knew This Film Was About Performance”: DP Frederic Van Zandycke on When It Melts
The feature film debut from actress Veerle Baetens, When It Melts follows Eva (Charlotte De Bruyne) as she returns to her hometown for a childhood friend’s funeral with an ice block stashed in the back of her car. As the bitter winter rages on (and the ice block slowly begins to shrink) Eva recalls via flashback a sweltering summer from her adolescence that forever altered her life and identity. Cinematographer Frederic Van Zandycke discusses his previous collaboration with Baetens, working with the young actors of When It Melts and the film’s most emotionally challenging scene to shoot. See all responses […]
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“Choosing the Perfect Lens for Us Was the Bigger Challenge”: DP André Jäger on The Persian Version
When Leila’s (Layla Mohammadi) Iranian-American family gathers in New York City for her father’s heart transplant surgery, a secret that she’s been keeping is unceremoniously spilled. What she wasn’t expecting, however, is learning how much her own life parallels that of her mother Shireen (Niousha Noor) decades ago, causing Leila to further appreciate the nuances of her dual identity. Set between two distinct countries and eras, Maryam Keshavarz’s sophomore film The Persian Version comes from a deeply personal place. Cinematographer André Jäger discusses how he got involved in the shoot and the difficulty he and Keshavarz faced when it came […]
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“The Textures, Colors and Feeling of Muscogee Nation Permeate the Screen”: DP Tyler Graim on Bad Press
When the Muscogee Nation begins censoring its free press, reporter Angel Ellis and her colleagues at Mvskoke Media engage in a dogged quest for transparency and government accountability on the behalf its readers and the community at large. This is the fight that unfolds in the documentary Bad Press, from co-directors Rebecca Landsberry-Baker and Joe Peeler, which follows the ramifications of the 2015 Free Press Act’s repeal. Cinematographer Tyler Graim discusses how he approached shooting a documentary full of twists and turns and the influence of “slow cinema” on the film’s visual style. See all responses to our annual Sundance […]
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“My Own Sweat Would Drip Onto the Camera”: DP Ants Tammik on Smoke Sauna Sisterhood
Women bear all in Smoke Sauna Sisterhood, the intimate documentary from Estonian filmmaker Anna Hints. While partaking in the ritualistic cleanse, a group of women divulge secrets, talk through past traumas and, above all, foster their feminine bond while sweating bullets in the nude. DP Ants Tammik tells Filmmaker about the complications of shooting in such a hot, stuffy environment with sensitive equipment —and a few injuries he sustained along the way. 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 […]
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“I Had To Shoot This Film as a One-Person Crew”: DP Luke Lorentzen on A Still Small Voice
An aspiring chaplain named Mati navigates tragedy, grief and her own bandwidth for handling the incalculable loss of the pandemic in A Still Small Voice, the latest from documentary filmmaker Luke Lorentzen. Finishing her yearlong residency at the spiritual care department in New York City’s Mount Sinai Hospital, Lorentzen captures Mati and her supervisor Rev. David’s fight to maintain hope and warmth between 2020 and 2021, two of the deadliest years in U.S. history. Lorentzen, who directed, shot and edited the film, discusses how his one-person shoot allowed him to blend into the doc’s setting—and gain the trust of subjects—more […]
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“Find Beauty and Magic in Everyday Life”: DP Carolina Costa on Fancy Dance
Since the disappearance of her sister, Jax (Lily Gladstone) has been taking care of her niece Roki (Isabel Deroy-Olson), both of them desperately hoping for her return. When she’s been officially declared “missing” for two weeks, CPS shows up at Jax’s door, leading to a dogged fight for her to keep caring for Rokii. The feature debut from writer-director Erica Tremblay, Fancy Dance explores womanhood and Indigenous identity through one family’s fractured ties. Cinematographer Carolina Costa talks about shooting the film, including a singular motto the team adopted during the shoot. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. […]
