Cinematographers
Interviews - Cinematographers
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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 […]
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“I Had to Relearn How to Look at and Respond to the World”: DP Jon Shenk on Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore
Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore trains its camera on Marlee Matlin, who became the first Deaf performer to win an Oscar when she took home Best Actress for the 1987 film Children of a Lesser God. The film is directed by Deaf director Shoshannah Stern in her directorial debut. Jon Shenk, whose previous credits include Athlete A and Ruth: Justice Ginsburg in Her Own Words, served as director of photography. Below, he explains how cinematographic techniques taken for granted when shooting with hearing actors and spoken dialogue cannot be implemented when shooting Deaf conversations and how he and Stern adjusted their filmic language. See all […]
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“We Kept the Space Very Intimate for Our Subjects”: DP Laura Goncalves on Sly Lives
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s follow-up to the Oscar-winning Summer of Soul will premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festiva’s Premieres section. The film combines archival footage with new interviews to examine the legacy and music of Sly and the Family Stone. Laura Goncalves, who served as director of photography, explains her personal connection to the project and how she used the Interrotron to help create private, intimate spaces for interviewees. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? Goncalves: I believe I was born to shoot this […]
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“It Was the Movie I’d Been Waiting For”: DP Paul Meyers on Omaha
Sundance 2025 U.S. Dramatic Competition entry Omaha follows a father and his two young children on a cross-country journey that follows an unexpected family tragedy. The film is the feature debut of Cole Webley after a series of shorts and commercials. Making the leap to features alongside Webley is his frequent partner Paul Meyers, who served as DP on Omaha. Below, Meyers elaborates on the challenges of shooting a film with child actors and how it necessitated an ingenious solution to a day-for-night sequence. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up […]
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“With Each Location We Embraced Its Essence:” DP Matthew Chuang on Jimpa
In director Sophie Hyde’s Jimpa, non-binary teen Frances (Aud Mason-Hyde) travels to Amsterdam with her mother Hannah (Olivia Colman) to visit her grandfather (John Lithgow); Frances’ longtime nickname for him lends the film its title. Won over by her grandfather’s unabashed queerness and the community he calls home, Frances communicates her desire to stay in Holland for a year to live with Jimpa, which, naturally, complicates things for Hannah. Cinematographer Matthew Chuang delves into the difficulties of shooting between Adelaide and Amsterdam, the influence of Nan Goldin on the film and the “memorable experience” of riding a bike to set […]
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“A Feeling of Endless Night”: DP Arseni Khachaturan on April
In April, the sophomore feature from Georgian filmmaker Dea Kulumbegashvili, a small-town obstetrician (Ia Sukhitashvili) comes under scrutiny when a baby dies during delivery. The investigation, spearheaded by the father of the deceased infant, threatens to also expose the young woman’s clandestine abortion operation. Cinematographer Arseni Khachaturan tells Filmmaker about shooting a live birth scene, her recurring collaboration with Kulumbegashvili and the team’s naturalistic 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 factors and attributes that led to your […]
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“We Wanted a Visual Language That Was Both Filmic and Intimate”: DP Guy Mossman on Speak.
<i>Speak</i> follows five high school Speech & Debate students who dream of winning at the event’s annual national tournament, one of the world’s biggset public speaking competitions. Jennifer Tiexiera (Unveiled, Subject) teamed up with Guy Mossman (The Human Trial) to direct the Sundance U.S. Documentary Competition premiere. Below, Mossman, who also served as the film’s director of photography, gets technical as he discusses the different equipment he used in <i>Speak.</i> He also recounts the difficulties of shooting the 2023 Nationals tournament in the blistering Phoenix heat and how it prepared him for the following year’s tournament. See all responses to […]
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Sundance 2025: Cinematographer Interviews
Each year, Filmmaker sends all Sundance feature film or series cinematographers a questionnaire to complete ahead of their film’s festival screening. We also send out a single question for feature directors to answer as well as questionnaires for editors and first-time Sundance feature producers. Below, find links to individual cinematographer responses, which will be updated daily during the festival. “We Wanted a Visual Language That Was Both Filmic and Intimate”: DP Guy Mossman on Speak. “A Feeling of Endless Night”: DP Arseni Khachaturan on April “With Each Location We Embraced Its Essence”: DP Matthew Chuang on Jimpa “It Was the Movie I’d […]
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Get In/On the Car: DP Terry Stacey on Den of Thieves 2: Pantera
The original Den of Thieves was all about the thin line separating insular tribes of cops and robbers in Los Angeles. In the breezier Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, Gerard Butler’s detective crosses that line to join forces with former nemesis O’Shea Jackson Jr. to rob the World Diamond Center in Nice. The heist franchise represents a line crossing for cinematographer Terry Stacey as well. The British DP began his features career lensing early aught indies (including American Splendor and films with Larry Fessenden, Allison Anders, Brad Anderson and Lisa Cholodenko) before working on a slew of studio romances and […]
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“Film No Longer Has the Texture I Was Looking For…”: DP Phedon Papamichael on Shooting A Complete Unknown
The five years between Bob Dylan’s arrival in New York and his performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival marked a huge shift in popular culture. It wasn’t just the songs Dylan wrote and performed. The politics he espoused, relationships he formed, causes he endorsed, even the clothes he wore were critiqued and copied by a growing number of acolytes and fans. Dylan helped shape the culture in ways few other artists could match. Based in part on Elijah Wald’s book Dylan Goes Electric!, director James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown follows Dylan as he finds and develops a voice and […]
