Cinematographers
Interviews - Cinematographers
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“At Times Calm, at Times Violent”: DPs Salomé Jashi and Goga Devdariani on Taming the Garden
Trees represent so much in Salomé Jashi’s scintillating documentary Taming the Garden. On the surface its an exploration of a former Georgian prime minister’s obsession with uprooting ancient trees and transporting them to his estate across the Black Sea. Digging deeper, it explores the immense class disparity and infringements of small communities and their local histories. Jashi and her co-cinematographer Goga Devdariani walk us through how they framed trees as the “protagonist” of their film and the multilayered impact of their subjects as images. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the […]
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“The DNA of the Film Becomes Second Nature”: DP Frank Barrera on Together Together
Nikole Beckwith’s surprising romantic comedy Together Together lacks an actual romance. Matt (Ed Helms) decides to have a child despite being single, so he seeks the help of gestational surrogate Anna (Patti Harrison). The two strike up an unlikely friendship, a purely platonic relationship between two self-described loners who gradually learn a thing or two about love. DP Frank Barrera details how his team made difficult seems look effortless and how to film realistic drama. 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 […]
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“The Maltese Sun Was My First Lighting Tool”: DP Léo Lefèvre on Luzzu
Alex Camilleri’s Luzzu touts itself as one of the first 100% Maltese films. Starring fisherman Camilleri met during his time in Malta, the movie features non-actors in what could be mistaken for a documentary on Malta’s fishing industry and the ecological concerns therein. DP Léo Lefèvre tells us about his approach to filming inexperienced actors and what it was like filming on the water. 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? Lefèvre: First, I was approached by the […]
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“There Is an Appropriate Numbness and Bareness to It”: DP Lauren Guiteras on Ma Belle, My Beauty
Marion Hill tackles uncharted territory with their 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). DP Lauren Guiteras walks us through how she captured naturalistic sensuality, the beauty of imperfect lighting, and how she grounded Ma Belle, My Beauty in the tangible world. 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? Guiteras: I had […]
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“Maintaining a Respectful Distance”: DPs Sushmit Ghosh and Karan Thapliyal on Writing With Fire
Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh’s feature debut Writing With Fire painstakingly follows Khabar Lahariya, India’s only all-female news network, as they transition from print to digital and challenge the caste system every step of the way. Ghosh acts as co-DP alongside Karan Thlapliyal on the film. The two discuss maintaining a respectul distance from their subjects and the inclement climate conditions of their filming. 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? Ghosh: When my codirector Rintu and I decided […]
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“Online Dating Operates Through a Skein of Lenses”: DPs Martin DiCicco and Daniel Claridge on Searchers
Dating’s complicated arc during the pandemic has been lovingly captured in Pacho Velez’s documentary Searchers. Whether on Grindr, Tinder, or any other app, the question “what are you looking for?” varies from person to person amid the chaos of mid-COVID New York City. DPs Martin DiCicco and Daniel Claridge tell us how they framed Velez as one of the film’s most vital subjects as well as the parallels between film and dating profiles. 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 […]
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“Our Goal Was to Show Precisely His Changing Emotional States”: Editor Jarosław Kamiński 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. Editor Jarosław Kamiński walks us through the chaos of Prime Time’s editing and how best to portray a shifting protagonist’s emotional states. 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? Kamiński: Jakub Piątek, the director of Prime […]
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“I Wanted to Romanticize a Bit and Be Nostalgic”: DP Eunsoo Cho on I Was a Simple Man
Set in the countryside of O’Ahu, Hawai’i, Director Christopher Makoto Yogi’s second feature film I Was a Simple Man is a surreal portrait of an elderly man’s final days. Told in chapters, the film follows Masao (Steve Iwamoto) as he’s visited by ghosts of his past, including his wife Grace (Constance Wu). DP Eunsoo Cho clues us in on how to capture the majesty of Hawai’i’s landscape, as well as how to portray a movie that eschews time and space. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that […]
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“The Ceilings were Only 8 1/2 Feet High”: DP Tami Reiker on Shooting One Night in Miami with Jibs and Finishing Production after COVID
In February of 1964, Cassius Clay defeated Sonny Liston at the Miami Beach Convention Hall to become the heavyweight champion of the world at the age of 22. He spent the night celebrating with Malcolm X, Jim Brown and Sam Cooke. Within two weeks of the fight, Clay announced his membership in the Nation of Islam and changed his name. Within a year, both Cooke and Malcolm X were shot dead. By the summer of 1966, Brown had retired from football at the age of 30. Based on the 2013 play by Kemp Powers, One Night in Miami offers a fictitious […]
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“IMAX Cameras are Sewing Machines—They are So Loud”: DP Matthew Jensen on Wonder Woman 1984
“You still can’t beat reality,” says Matthew Jensen. That may seem like an incongruous proclamation from the cinematographer of a $200 million superhero spectacle that concludes with a flying goddess facing off against a half human/half cheetah. But instead of simply shooting the film’s opening Amazon Olympics flashback in a greenscreen wonderland, Jensen headed to Spain’s Canary Islands and put 10-year-old actress Lilly Aspell (as a young Diana Prince) on horseback on an IMAX-rigged process trailer. Instead of digitally returning a gutted Virginia mall to all its 1980s glory, the Wonder Woman team rebuilt more than 60 period stores. And for […]
