Cinematographers
Interviews - Cinematographers
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“All the Delicate Layers Gently Rose to the Surface”: DP Daisy Zhou on Bunnylovr
In Bunnylovr, a Chinese American cam girl tries to reconnect with her father while managing a deteriorating relationship with one of her clients. The film, part of the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, is director Katarina Zhu directorial feature debut. Handling cinematographer duties is Daisy Zhou (The African Desperate, Suicide by Sunlight). Below, she rattles off a number of influences and goes into detail about her camera selection and approach to lighting. 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 […]
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“It Was Always Fun, But Not Necessarily Easy”: DP Pete Ohs on OBEX
In OBEX, the secluded Conor finds his life take a turn for the worse when a state-of-the-art computer game begins to intrude into his reality. The film, directed by Albert Birney (The Strawberry Mansion), will premiere as part of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival’s NEXT section. Multi-hyphenate Pete Ohs was a co-writer as well as the director of photography for OBEX. He speaks in his capacity as cinematographer below, describing the goals and influences for the film’s look and explaining how his close friendship with Birney informed the film. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and […]
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“A Feeling of Magical Imperfection that Film Brings”: DP Sara Mishara on Two Women
Two Women is retelling of the 1970 cult classic Two Women in Gold with a feminist spin, directed by Chloé Robichaud (Sarah Prefers to Run). In the film, a pair of struggling women decide to let loose and fulfill their unmet desires. Sara Mishara (Tu Dors Nicole, My Salinger Year) shot the film on 35mm. Below, she explains that choice and how the film’s cinematography offers thematic answers to its source material. 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 […]
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“We Wanted To Play with This Line Between Artifice and Reality”: DP Eric Yue on Atropia
Atropia takes place at a military role-playing facility when the real emotions between an actress and a soldier role-playing an insurgent begin to complicate the establishment’s purpose. The film, premiering as part of the U.S. Dramatic Competition, is the feature debut of director Hailey Gates after playing in front of the camera in Twin Peaks: The Return, Challengers and Uncut Gems, among others. Eric Yue (I Saw the TV Glow, A Thousand and One) served as Atropia‘s cinematographer. Below, Yue discusses navigating the film’s separate levels of reality through lighting and camera technique. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: What were […]
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“A Way to Capture the Spirit of the Times”: DP Pavel Talankin, Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Pavel Talankin, a teacher at a small town in the Ural Mountains, found himself in an extraordinary situation when Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine led to the militarization of his school. He began filming his life and the changes around him, and that footage became the basis for Mr. Nobody Against Putin. Mr. Nobody Against Putin will premiere as part of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival’s World Cinema Documentary Competition. Talankin, the film’s co-director and cinematographer, sheds some light on what spurred him to begin filming below. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you […]
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“Shooting Vérité Means Embracing the Coincidences”: DP Lars Erlend Tubaas Øymo on Folktales
In the northern extremes of Norway, along the Russian border, is a folk high school that teaches teenagers self-reliance and survival. That school is the subject of Folktales, directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, who also co-directed Jesus Camp and Endangered, among others, together. Most remarkable about Folktales is its remote location. Below, cinematographer Lars Erlend Tubaas Øymo (Songs of Earth) discusses the challenges of working in the Arctic and walks us through the equipment that made shooting a film at temperatures significantly below freezing possible. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did […]
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“I Love Diving Into the Unexpected”: DP Amine Berrada on Sukkwan Island
Sukkwan Island marks Vladimir de Fontenay’s follow-up to Mobile Homes, his 2017 Directors Fortnight entry. The film, which stars Swann Arlaud (Anatomy of a Fall) and newcomer Woody Norman, tracks the conflict between Tom and his 13-year-old son Roy when they move to remote northern Norway. Amine Berrada (Hounds, Banel & Adama) served as director of photography on the Arctic shoot. Below, he gets into the nitty gritty discussing lighting, explaining how the film’s different timeframes necessitated unique approaches to lighting both to serve the story and to adjust to the drastic seasonal differences in northern Norway. See all responses […]
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“We All Have a Desire to Make Our Lives Make Sense”: DP Brandon Somerhalder on Come See Me in the Good Light
Come See Me in the Good Light follows Andrea, a poet in Colorado, as they face a cancer diagnosis. The film is an intimate verité documentary and marks director Ryan White’s return to Sundance after Assassins and Ask Dr. Ruth. Brandon Somerhalder (A Concerto is a Conversation, Live to 100) served as the film’s DP. Below, he explains why a verité approach was right for the project and the difficulties of maintaining that at a live poetry reading without jeopardizing the comfort of his ailing subject. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being […]
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“I Sometimes Felt Like the Worst Partner in the World”: DP Clarke Gayford on Prime Minister
Prime Minister, premiering in the 2025 Sundance Film Festival’s World Cinema Documentary Competition, is co-director Lindsay Utz and Michelle Walshe’s behind-the-scenes look at Jacinda Ardern’s’s five years as the Prime Minister of New Zealand. Clarke Gayford, Ardern’s’s husband and a radio and TV broadcaster, also served as one of the film’s cinematographers. Below, he talks about the challenges of pulling double duty as both a DP and a supportive husband to a prime minister. 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 […]
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“Horror Films Have a Unique Ability to Tap into Deep Emotions”: DP Andreas Johannessen on Rabbit Trap
In Rabbit Trap, a musician and her husband find their outsider status in a remote Wales town amplified when their music brings to the door an unnamed child who will stop at nothing to weasel into their lives. Shot on 35mm, debut English-language feature by director Bryn Chainey will play as part of the Midnights section at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Andreas Johannessen, who served as camera operator on The Worst Person in the World and has acted as cinematographer on music videos by Jenny Hval, among others, also makes his feature debut as DP. Below, he goes into detail about […]
