Cinematographers
Interviews - Cinematographers
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“A New Way of Looking at the American West”: DP Austin Shelton on East of Wall
In East of Wall, writer-director Kate Beecroft trains her camera on Tabatha Zimiga, who runs a ranch for wayward teenagers while trying to cope with her own precarity. Beecroft found her subject by chance, as the film’s cinematographer, Austin Shelton, explains below. He also talks about how they approached filming Tabatha and her family in a way that was both true to her lives, even when it meant finding unorthodox solutions to make a scene work. 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 […]
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“Having a Crew Was Not an Option: DP Gianluca Matarrese on GEN_
Patients seeking gender-affirming care and in vitro treatments in Italy flock to Niguarda public hospital, where Dr. Maurizio Bini is considered one of the preeminent experts in the field. This is the subject of director and cinematographer Gianluca Matarrese’s film GEN_, premiering in the World Cinema: Documentary Competition at Sundance this year. Amid an increasingly hostile conservative climate, Dr. Bini and his patients navigate social stigma alongside much-needed medical intervention. Below, Matarrese discusses the decision to film most scenes from behind a book shelf, being inspired by Frederick Wiseman and relying on natural lighting. See all responses to our annual […]
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“This Was Our One Shot To Capture Something Lasting”: DP Ethan Indorf on André is an Idiot
When André Ricciardi received the cancer diagnosis that would eventually kill him, he decided he wanted to make a movie documenting how he faced death with humor. The result, André is an Idiot, will screen as part of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. The film is the directorial debut of Tony Benna and was shot by Ethan Indorf, both friends with Ricciardi. Below, Indorf discusses what it was like to be tasked with documenting the death of his friend. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of […]
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“A Continuous Swing Between Memories and the Present.”: DP Clarissa Cappellani on Brides
In Brides, UK teenagers Doe and Muna (Ebada Hassan and Safiyya Ingar) take an ill-advised trip to Syria to escape the constant feeling of being othered that follows them at home. The film, the debut feature by Young Vic Theatre artistic director Nadia Fall, examines teenage girlhood through a distinct sociopolitical lens. The film was shot in three different locations, meaning the production had new crews every two weeks. Director of photography Clarissa Cappellani (Misericordia, Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams) discusses working through those challenges and the films and photographs that she and Fall used as references. See all responses to our […]
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“For Me, Less is More”: DP Anna Smoronova on Bubble & Squeak
Bubble & Squeak, about a married couple accused of smuggling cabbages in a country where cabbage is illegal, marks the feature film debut of Evan Twohy. The film will premiere in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Anna Smoronova (The Killing of a Journalist), served as the film’s director of photography. Below, she explains how the film’s similarity to some of her favorite filmmakers hooked on her first read of the script and elaborates on the visual aesthetic, including the influence of Henri Rousseau. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and […]
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“A Chemistry Between the Operator and the Actors:” DP Frida Marzouk on Where the Wind Comes From
19-year-old Alyssa (Eya Bellagha) and her 23-year-old friend Medhi (Slim Baccar) travel to southern Tunisia for a contest that promises to change their lives in Where the Wind Comes From, writer-director Amel Guellaty’s feature debut. Cinematographer Frida Marzouk discusses lensing Guellaty’s film, including the difficulties of shooting car scenes, her penchant for verite filmmaking and her previous career as a set electrician. 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 that led to your being hired for this job? […]
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“An Observational Character Study of an Ex-Offender”: DP Sam Motamedi on Ricky
In Ricky, Rashad Frett extends his Sundance 2023 short of the same name to feature length to tell the story of a 30-year-old returning home after serving time in prison. The film follows Ricky as he tries to reintegrate into the community that he was taken from, utilize his gifts as a barber to making a living and make up for lost time. Sam Motamedi, who shot the 2023 short, again served as DP. Below, he explains how he tried to replicate a documentary-like feeling and shares a couple of his influences, including documentary footage from the early days of the […]
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“The Camera Team Was Also the SFX Team”: DP Rhayne Vermette on Dead Lover
Writer-director Grace Glowicki looks to Marry Shelley’s Frankenstein for inspiration with Dead Lover, her follow-up to her 2019 feature debut Tito. As with her previous film, Glowicki plays the lead character, this time embodying an awkward and crude grave digger who manages to woo a handsome local. When he tragically dies at sea, she goes to great lengths to rekindle their spark and bring him back from the dead. DP Rhayne Vermette discusses being a self-taught cinematographer, handling SFX work alongside shooting and the singular filmmaker who Glowicki sought to reference. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. […]
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“14 Inches From a Very Personal Form of Murder”: Steven Soderbergh on Camera as Character and His Sundance Horror Film, Presence
The following interview of Steven Soderbergh about Presence was originally published last year when the film premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. It is being reposted today as the film is released in theaters from NEON. — Editor A heady, elegantly-constructed ghost story, Steven Soderbergh’s Presence has a bunch of half-buried threads, a couple of perfectly-timed scares, and a horrific close-up of an act of violence that mesmerizes the camera—just as horror films mesmerize their audience. The camera is the star here, and not merely because its sustained, floating movements, its sudden turns and retreats, its anxious hovering display […]
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“Interrotrons Can Be a Real Drain on Production”: DP David Jacobson on Pee-wee as Himself
Filmed before his death in 2023, Pee-wee as Himself, an episodic project from documentary filmmaker Matt Wolf, chronicles the life and legacy of performer Paul Reubens via intimate interviews and a wealth of archival material. Cinematographer David Jacobson discusses his involvement on the project, including meeting Wolf at their alma mater, the influence of technicolor on the shoot and incorporating Errol Morris’s Interrotron technology for the interviews. 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 that led to your […]
