Cinematographers
Interviews - Cinematographers
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Photographer turned Filmmaker Maya Goded Talks Sundance Doc Plaza de la Soledad
An accomplished photographer hailing from Mexico, Maya Goded has had her work shown in solo exhibits in the U.S., Spain, Peru, South Africa and elsewhere. She makes her debut as a filmmaker with Plaza de la Soledad, an intimate documentary on a group of sex workers in the La Merced neighborhood of Mexico City. As she told Filmmaker, Goded has been meeting with and photographing these women for more than 20 years. Below, she speaks about how she cultivated such a strong sense of intimacy with her documentary subjects. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the […]
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Hélène Louvart on why the Director of American Mass Shooter Drama Dark Night Wanted a European DP
Since the 1980s, prolific French cinematographer Hélène Louvart has worked with such art-house favorites as Wim Wenders and Agnes Varda. For her new film, she collaborates with writer/director Tim Sutton on Dark Night, a film based on the 2012 movie theater mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado. She spoke with Filmmaker ahead of the film’s world premiere at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival about her European perspective, natural light and shooting with a very small crew. 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? Louvart: […]
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Christopher Raymond on Shooting in the Remote Regions of Mongolia for The Eagle Huntress
An entry in the Sundance Kids program at Sundance 2016, The Eagle Huntress tells the story of a young girl who trains to participate in the Kazakh tradition of hunting with golden eagles. The documentary charts her ascent as she breaks down gender barriers and masters her craft. Filmmaker spoke with Christopher Raymond, the co-DP on the film, about The Eagle Huntress ahead of its Sundance premiere. 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? Raymond: I was hired to shoot some […]
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“A Poultry-Infused Visual Remix” of The Shining: Nick DenBoer on The Chickening
A garish, absurdist riff off The Shining, The Chickening is prime fodder for Sundance’s Midnight Shorts Program. Animation duo Nick DenBoer and Davy Force wrote and directed the film, which blends shots from The Shining with a Tim & Eric-esque cocktail of inventive, abrasive imagery about a fried chicken tycoon. Below, DenBoer discusses how he and Force created the meticulously crafted images of their giddy short film. 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? Nick DenBoer: My co-director Davy Force and I collaborated […]
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DP Philippe Bellaiche on Israel/Palestine Doc The Settlers
Documentary DP Philippe Bellaiche has worked steadily on more than 30 documentary features and shorts over the past 16 years. On The Settlers, the Israel/Palestine documentary from Shimon Dotan, he had his first encounter with physical violence. Below, Bellaiche speaks about the film’s evolving structure, the region’s landscapes and getting assaulted by a group of young men while on a shoot. Dotan and Bellaiche’s previous film together, Hot House, won the Special Jury Prize in the World Documentary program at Sundance 2007. 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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“Inside a Minivan with a Huge Hog”: DP Damian Garcia on Diego Luna’s Mr. Pig
Actor Deigo Luna visits the Sundance Film Festival for the first time as a director with Mr. Pig, a rural road movie starring Danny Glover and Maya Rudolph. The film was shot by Damian Garcia, a DP with more than a dozen Spanish-language shorts and features to his name. Filmmaker spoke with Garcia about the film’s location shooting and unobtrusive visual style. Mr. Pig played in the Premieres program at Sundance 2016. 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? Garcia: […]
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Co-Director/DP Michael Palmieri on the Arkansas-Set Sundance Short Peace in the Valley
Filmmakers Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher have collaborated on four documentaries since 2009: October Country, Off Label, Rougarouing and, their latest, Peace in the Valley. Presented in the Shorts program at Sundance 2016, their new film concerns issues of religion and LGBT rights in a small Arkansas town. Below, co-director and DP Palmieri discusses his visual approach for the film. 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? Palmieri: One of the reasons I gravitated towards documentary film had to do […]
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“What it’s Like to Lose One’s Sight”: DP Gerry Floyd on Notes on Blindness
An entry in the New Frontier program at Sundance 2016, Notes on Blindness began in 2013 as a four-minute short from writer/directors Pete Middleton and James Spinney. The film attempted to capture the sensory experience of blindness through the audio diary of John Hull, a writer and theologian who had lost his sight. The following year, Middleton and Spinney adapted Notes on Blindness into a longer New York Times Op-Doc. Now, they have adapted this story to a feature length. Below, Notes on Blindness DP Gerry Floyd speaks to how he and the directors sought to offer a “sensory insight” into blindness. Filmmaker: How and […]
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Sundance Veteran DP Patrice Cochet on the Male-Bonding Comedy Joshy
Sundance regular Patrice Cochet has served as DP on four films at the festival since 2002: Better Luck Tomorrow, The End of Love, The Good Life and, as of this year, Joshy. Cochet speaks below about the perils of lighting improv, DPing on little prep and shooting on the Alexa. In addition to Joshy, the prolific Cochet has at least six other films set for release in 2016. 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? Cochet: Joshy was a film that Producers […]
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Cinematographer Matthew Irving on the ’70s Stylings of Sundance Premiere Outlaws and Angels
For Outlaws and Angels, seasoned DP Matthew Irving and first-time writer/director JT Moliner wanted a film that looked as though it were “excavated straight out of a vault from the 1970s.” Irving shot the film on 35mm and used Robert Altman’s McCabe and Mrs. Miller as a chief reference point. Below, Irving talks about shooting on 35, the film’s elaborate 11-minute long take and the “grit and grain” of ’70s cinema. Outlaws and Angels made its world premiere at Sundance 2016. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led […]
