Editors
Interviews - Editors
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“Some Moments Feel Like They’re from a Totally Different World”: Editor Tory Stewart on Conbody VS Everybody
Debra Granik, whose most recent work was the 2018 Sundance premiere Leave No Trace, returns to documentary with Conbody VS Everybody, an episodic series that marks her first entry in the medium. The series follows Coss Marte, an ex-convict who starts a gym with the aim of breaking the cycle of recidivism and fending off gentrification in New York City’s Lower East Side. Editing the series is Tory Stewart, editor of Stray Dog, Granik’s 2014 documentary, and also a contributor on Leave No Trace and Winter’s Bone. Below, she talks about how the edit and the series evolved over many years and the time capsule […]
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“We Allow Each Person to Identify with Any or All of the Main Characters”: Editor Adam Dicterow on In the Summers
Director Alessandra Lacorazza’s In the Summers follows two sisters who, over several formative summers, visit their caring but tempestuous father in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The cast includes Lio Mehiel, who won an acting prize at last year’s Sundance for Mutt, as well as Sasha Calle and René Pérez Joglar (also known as Residente, co-founder of the rap outfit Calle 13). Adam Dicterow, whose previous credits include the aforementioned Mutt, as well as Dear Evan Hansen, and HBO’s Succession, served as editor. Below, he talks about why the film moves through different styles and recalls the editing room deliberations about the film’s ending. […]
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“We Wanted To Embed the Viewer in the Energy of the Campaign”: Editor Aaron Soffin on And So It Begins
After Filipino president Rodrigo Duterte’s term comes to an end, the promise of democracy and threat of increased authoritarianism sends droves of citizens into the street to campaign for Liberal Party candidate Leni Robredo. Filmmaker Ramona S. Díaz captures the lead-up and aftermath of this critical election in her film And So It Begins, a companion to her 2020 doc A Thousand Cuts, about journalist Maria Ressa, who risks her life in order to vocally criticize Duterte’s involvement in the war on drugs. Below, editor Aaron Soffin discusses how he came onto the project only five months ago, trained under […]
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“I Hope Watching Her Will Spark That Curiosity in All of Us”: Editor Celia Beasley on Penelope
With Penelope, Mel Eslyn, director of last year’s Biosphere and a producer who has worked with the Duplass brothers and Lynn Shelton, enters the world of episodic series. The series follows a 16-year-old girl who, feeling out of place in the world, ventures into the wilderness. Penelope will screen as part of Sundance’s Episodic Pilot Showcase. Below, editor Celia Beasley discusses the importance of Washington state’s indie film community and how the series reignited her love of the outdoors. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor questionnaire here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? […]
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“The Turning Points of the Story are Painful and Challenging Moments”: Editor Hayedeh Safiyari on In The Land of Brothers
Raha Amirfazli and Alireza Ghasemi first co-directed the short Solar Eclipse, and they have teamed up again for In the Land of Brothers, a feature debut for each. The film tells the story of three members of an Afghan family who flee to Iran as refugees and struggle to find acceptance and security. In The Land of Brothers‘ editor is Hayedeh Safiyari (A Separation, The Salesman), who has edited many of contemporary Iran’s best-known filmmakers. Below, she discusses the novel challenges of editing a film with sharply delineated chapters and the importance of an editor connecting emotionally to the script. See […]
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“A Fundamental Quality for the Editor is to Investigate the Director’s Unconscious”: Editor Paola Freddi on Reinas
In Reinas, director Klaudia Reynicke (Love Me Tender) returns to her childhood home of Lima to tell the story of a mother and her two daughters attempt to reconcile with the estranged father before seeking greener pastures in the United States. Below, editor Paola Freddi, whose previous credits include the Venice premieres A Espera (2015) and Monica (2022), discusses her collaboration with Reynicke and how she approaches her craft. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your […]
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“Like If Pablo Larrain’s Jackie Was About Jason Voorhees”: Editor Alex Jacobs on In A Violent Nature
In a Violent Nature, the directorial debut of Chris Nash and a Sundance 2024 Midnight selection, puts a twist on the slasher film by staying close to the killer. Instead of the shenanigans in the secluded cabin with vaguely menacing sounds from outside, it shows us the killer trekking toward the distant voices. The film also marks the graduation of editor Alex Jacobs, who worked on titles, graphics and credits on the V/H/S film to lead editor on another director’s project. Below, he shares his serendipitous introduction to the director and how his love of lo-fi beats helped him in editing. […]
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“It Was Necessary to Make Non-Obvious Cuts”: Editor Marilia Moraes on Malu
Malu is a mercurial actress living with her conservative mother in a Rio de Janeiro slum while trying to navigate her strained relationship with her own daughter in Pedro Freire’s multigenerational family drama, Malu. The film is the feature debut of director Pedro Freire. Serving as editor is Marilia Moraes, whose credits include the recent Medusa and Petra Costa’s Elena. Below, Moraes dives deep into her process and what the particularities of the film required in the editing room, including the need to construct its rhythms around the performers. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor questionnaire here. Filmmaker: How and why did you […]
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“This Particular Film Felt Like Whittling Down a Single Object Until It Was Smooth”: Editor Graham Mason on Good One
The feature debut of writer-director India Donaldson, Good One follows 17-year-old Sam (Lily Collias) during a weekend camping trip in the Catskills with her father and his oldest friend. As the two men continuously clash throughout their extended hike, Sam becomes uneasily aware of the frailty of male egos, even amid a landscape that ostensibly shields the group from broader societal pressures. Serving as the film’s editor (as well as a producer), Graham Mason tells Filmmaker about the challenges and rewards of cutting a film that revolves around a pointedly un-chatty central character, as well as his affirmed hunch that […]
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“Feedback Helped Shape a More Comprehensive Narrative”: Editor Stephania Dulowski on Tendaberry
When her boyfriend travels to Ukraine in order to care for his sick father, 23-year-old Daokta (Kota Johan) finds herself roaming around New York City, finding both community and adversity in Tendaberry, the feature debut from writer-director Haley Elizabeth Anderson. Tendaberry is also editor Stephania Dulowski’s first feature-length project. Below, she describes how she approached cutting Anderson’s film, which premieres during the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in the NEXT program. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor questionnaire here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes […]
