Editors
Interviews - Editors
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“Skate Videos Really Influenced My Sensibility as a Filmmaker”: Editor Bryan Mason on Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
In Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, Emma Thompson plays a retired schoolteacher who is certain she has never had good sex. She decides to change that by checking into a hotel room and hiring a sex worker, but he quickly appears to take an interest in her that is more than professional. Much of the film consists of these two characters in a hotel room, and editor Bryan Mason discusses the importance of highlighting performances and chemistry to keep the audience’s attention. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors […]
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“Acting Is Truly Not Just About the Language You Speak”: Editor Linda Jildmalm on Hatching
Hatching, a Finnish film that combines satire of modern “lifestyle” blogging with elements of coming-of-age films and body horror, follows a socially isolated pre-teen girl, Tinja, as she discovers and then nurtures the egg of a wounded bird. The egg eventually hatches, and Tinja christens her new best friend Alli. Editor Linda Jildmalm explained how she edited a film shot in a language she does not speak and worked to preserve the director’s vision. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired […]
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“It’s Easy to Get Tunnel Vision on a Project Without Seeking Out Other Forms of Art”: Editor Catrin Hedström on Sharp Stick
Sharp Stick, Lena Dunham’s return to feature filmmaking after 12 years, is an intimate, character-driven film focusing on Sarah Jo, a naïve, woman in her mid-twenties embarking on an affair with the father of the child for whom she is a caretaker. The film touches on ideas of self-image and sex positivity, but remains close to its protagonist. Editor Catrin Hedström discusses keeping that focus by cutting scenes down to the essentials and how she brought out the complexity of the script’s characters. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the […]
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“I Think a Lot of People Are Going to Able to Find Parallels to Their Own Love Stories”: Editor Robert Martinez on Lucy and Desi
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz are one of the most beloved couples in showbiz history, and for many, it isn’t clear where the real people end and the Ricardos of I Love Lucy begin. Amy Poehler illuminates how those boundaries manifested and moved in Lucy and Desi, her documentary on the two stars. Below, editor Robert Martinez explains why he fought the urge to include extended I Love Lucy clips and kept the focus on the love story. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to […]
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“My Hope Is That These Amazonian Voices Are Heard”: Editor Carlos Rojas Felice on The Territory
The Territory, which highlights ongoing conflicts in the Amazon between its Indigenous inhabitants and Brazilian politicians and businessmen, was co-produced by the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau community. The film thus grants first-hand views of the conflict, from the frequent invasions to the Indigenous peoples’ establishing of their own media team to broadcast their side of the story. Editor Carlos Rojas Felice explains how he retained the film’s environmentalist themes while highlighting the opposing views of the various players. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being […]
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“The Movie We Made Is Really Very Close to the Movie I Imagined”: Editor Darrin Navarro on Summering
Summering is James Ponsoldt’s ode to childhood in which four girls who discover something in the woods and make a questionable decision to keep it a secret and solve the mystery on their own. The coming-of-age story also has elements of both horror and magical realism, and keeping close to the perspective of its characters while staying tethered to the reality was crucial for the film. Editor Darrin Navarro discusses striking that balance and how altering the structure of the film gave the audience a way into the narrative. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor […]
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“The Silences, the Looks, Are What Mark the Emotional Rhythm”: Editor Fernando Epstein on Utama
Utama, the feature debut by Alejandro Loayza Grisi, concerns an elderly Quechua couple urged by their grandson to move to the city while their native land is ravaged by drought. The pace of life and the experience of time are major themes in the film, and editor Fernando Epstein discusses how this necessitated creative ways of depicting routine and delaying the introduction of a major character. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Epstein: I am Uruguayan, and […]
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“What’s Exciting About Spending a Lot of Time With Footage Is Always the Patterns That Begin to Emerge”: Editors Geoffrey Richman and Michael Bloch on Descendant
The 2019 discovery of the Clotilda, the last known slave ship to enter the United States, was the impetus for Descendant, but the film is as much about the contemporary residents of Africatown, the community just north of Mobile, Alabama founded by the slaves aboard the Clotilda. The film’s editors explain why they did not want to introduce the discovery of the ship too early, how Zora Neale Thurston helped shape the film, and how seemingly disparate elements gradually formed connections. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes […]
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“Comedy Helps People Understand in a Less Aggressive Way”: Editor Lam T. Nguyen on Emergency
In Emergency, a dark comedy by Carey Williams, a pair of Black college students finds a white woman unconscious on their living room floor. Wary of calling the police because of the optics of the situation, they instead recruit the help of a Latino friend to help resolve the situation, unmasking the absurd racial dynamics of contemporary America in the process. Below, editor Lam T. Nguyen discusses finding comedy in the gravely serious and the difference even a few frames can make in helping a punchline land. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What […]
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“Even if You Are Cutting a More Commercial Film, the Inspiration You Can Find From Obscure Films Is Endless”: Editors Jennifer Lee and Maya Maffioli on Master
Master, the debut feature by Mariama Diallo, takes place at the fictional Ancaster College, situated on land once occupied by gallows poles during the Salem witch trials. Blending horror and thriller elements with a critique of racism and privilege, the film follows numerous characters as the college’s façade of gentility begins to unravel. Mixing genres and following a large group of characters means the film could have gone in numerous directions, and editors Jennifer Lee and Maya Maffioli discuss the various incarnations the film assumed throughout the editing process. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor […]
