Cinematographers
Interviews - Cinematographers
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“Initially it Seemed Impossible”: DP Greta Zozula on Never Goin’ Back
Actor and filmmaker Augustine Frizzell made her debut as a feature director at Sundance this year with Never Goin’ Back, the shaggy-dog story of two teenage friends played by Maia Mitchell and Camila Morrone. Frizzell has appeared as an actor in the films of David Lowery (her husband) in addition to Krisha and a number of shorts. She tapped DP Greta Zozula to shoot the script, which she also wrote. Filmmaker spoke with Zozula ahead of the film’s premiere in the Midnight lineup about the perils of shifting daylight, the influence of Paul Thomas Anderson and the film’s strategic use of handheld camerawork. Filmmaker: […]
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“Any Good Script Deserves its Own Visual Identity”: DP Steven Capitano Calitri on A Kid Like Jake
In the past two years, Silas Howard has directed episodes of the TV series Transparent, This Is Us and The Fosters. He premiered his new feature, A Kid Like Jake, at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. The film is an adaptation of a 2013 play by Daniel Pearle and stars Claire Danes, Jim Parsons and Octavia Spencer. Howard hired Steven Capitano Calitri – the DP on 30 episodes of Broad City – to shoot the film in New York. Below, Calitri speaks with Filmmaker about his experiences making the film. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the […]
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“I Always Had Two to Three Cameras Rigged”: DP John Behrens on The Game Changers
Louie Psihoyos, the Oscar-winning director of The Cove, returns to the Sundance Film Festival with The Game Changers, his new documentary on the health and environmental impacts of plant-based diets. Psihoyos premiered his previous doc, Racing Extinction, at the festival in 2015. John Behrens (The Mask You Live In) served as a cinematographer on that project, and he reunites with Psihoyos as the DP of The Game Changers. Below, Behrens speaks with Filmmaker about shooting in five different countries and the influence of Natural Born Killers (of all films) on the project. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? […]
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“We Never Managed More than Three Takes on a Shot”: DP Benjamin Kracun on Beast
The debut feature from writer/director Michael Pearce, Beast arrives at the Sundance Film Festival after having screened at festivals in Toronto, London, Thessaloniki, Stockholm and elsewhere. The film takes place on a small island in the English Channel and chronicles an intense relationship between between two outcasts: Moll (Jessie Buckley) and Pascal (Johnny Flynn). Pearce hired his longtime friend from film school Benjamin Kracun to shoot Beast. Below, Kracun shares his thoughts on filming this romantic psychological thriller. 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 […]
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DP Ashley Connor on Filming Sundance 2018’s The Miseducation of Cameron Post and Madeline’s Madeline
In 2017, cinematographer Ashley Connor had films she shot premiere at Tribeca, BAMcinemaFest and Sundance. She returns to the latter festival this year having shot two features. The first is The Miseducation of Cameron Post from director Desiree Akhavan, a ’90s-set teen movie starring Chloë Grace Moretz and Sasha Lane of American Honey. The film screens at the festival in the U.S. Dramatic Competition. The second film, from the NEXT lineup, is Madeline’s Madeline from writer/director Josephine Decker. Connor spoke with Filmmaker about filming both titles prior to their premieres at Sundance. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up […]
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“We Wanted Her to Symbolically Blend into Her Environment”: DP Chris Norr on Puzzle
Chris Norr edited his first Sundance movie in 1996 with the feature Timeless. He has since lensed films to screen at the festival in 1998 (Franchesca Page), 2004 (Second Best) and 2010 (Sympathy for Delicious). He returns to the festival this year with Puzzle from director Marc Turtletaub (producer of Little Miss Sunshine and Safety Not Guaranteed) and writer Oren Moverman (Love & Mercy). Below, Norr discusses the influence of French painter Pierre Bonnard on the project and his visual goal to have his lead character “blend into her background and mirror her feeling of being lost and insignificant.” Filmmaker: How and why […]
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“My Goal Was to Make More than Just Pretty Pictures or Just Cover Scenes”: DP Denson Baker on Ophelia
Cinematographer Denson Baker’s recent projects have included the award-winning New Zealand drama The Dark Horse, the Oliver Stone-produced documentary Ukraine on Fire and the 2009 India-set romance The Waiting City. That last film was directed by Claire McCarthy, Baker’s wife and the director of Ophelia. Ophelia, which screens at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, casts Daisy Ridley, Naomi Watts and Clive Owen to reframe Shakespeare’s Hamlet from the perspective of the ill-fated Ophelia. Baker speaks with Filmmaker below about the key paintings that influenced the film, collaborating with his wife and capturing the film’s tricky opening shot. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind […]
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“I Would Receive a Call Hours Before a Potential Shoot”: DP Alex Pollini on Filming Seeing Allred
From directors Sophie Sartain (Mimi and Dona) and Roberta Grossman (Above and Beyond) comes Seeing Allred, a documentary portrait of famed women’s rights lawyer Gloria Allred. The film premieres at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and will reach Netflix on February 9. Sartain and Grossman tapped Alex Pollini, a DP on many shorts, including more than 30 for CollegeHumor, to shoot the film. Below, Pollini discusses his experiences capturing Allred in her private moments “outside of the press conferences and big public events.” Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the […]
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“I Am Very Sensitive to the Needs of the Performance Artist”: DP Ava Porter on Narcissister Organ Player
Multidisciplinary artist Ava Porter was one of four people to serve as a cinematographer on Narcissister Organ Player. The film, which premieres at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, is the work of performance artist Narcissister, who has in recent years received profiles in the New York Times, Vice and Huffington Post for her provocative work. Below, Porter discusses her experience as one of the shooters on the genre-defying Narcissister Organ Player. 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? Porter: Narcissister needed someone […]
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“We Tried to Avoid Making an Emotional and Psychologically Engaging Film”: DP Nadim Carlsen on Holiday
Danish cinematographer Nadim Carlsen has shot more than 20 music videos, commercials, shorts and features since 2009. In recent years he served as DP on the horror film Shelley, which screened at Berlin and CPH:PIX, and What Will People Say, which played at TIFF and IFFR. Carlsen went to film school with Isabella Eklöf, the director and cowriter of the provocative Holiday. Ahead of the film’s five screenings at Sundance, Carlsen spoke with Filmmaker about his use of static long takes and why he and Eklöf sought to create glossy images that “contradict the dark and dramatic content” of the […]
