Editors
Interviews - Editors
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“The Intense, Emotional Journey of Navigating One’s Queerness”: Editor Erik Vogt-Nilsen on Plainclothes
Lucas is a young undercover police officer tasked with cracking down on gay communities whose job gets complicated when he falls in love with one of his targets in Plainclothes. The film is the feature debut of writer-director Carmen Emmi and is part of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. Dramatic Competition. Erik Vogt-Nilsen (Big Boys) served as the editor on Plainclothes. Below, he explains how his own coming out, as well as his background in both dance and commercials, helped him shape the narrative and striking a balance between observing Lucas and inhabiting his point of view. See all responses […]
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“I Wanted to Make Sure the Energy of the Place Was Preserved”: Editor Chelsi Johnston on Sunfish
In Sierra Falconer’s debut feature Sunfish (& Other Stories on Green Lake), the lives of strangers intertwine at the Northern Michigan location, a place where time seems to move more slowly. Sunfish is editor Chelsi Johnston first editor credit on a fiction feature after working further below the line on productions including Karyn Kusama’s The Invitation and Aaron Sorkin’s Being the Ricardos. Below, she discusses the importance of preserving the film’s location in the edit and finessing the beginning of the film. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor […]
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“A Process of Small but Important Adjustments”: Editor Anadi Athaley on Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears)
The feature debut from writer-director Rohan Parashuram Kanawade, Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears) follows (Bhushaan Manoj), a man who returns from the bustling city he now calls home to his remote childhood village after the death of his father. While back for a 10-day mourning period, he meets a farmer (Suraaj Suman) and the two quickly form a strong bond that turns romantic. Editor Anadi Athaley discusses the process of cutting Kanawade semi-autobiographical film, touching on the scenes that were trimmed, his personal connection to the story and how the project “reaffirmed my belief in the power of subtlety.” See all […]
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“Feedback Screenings Are Essential to the Process”: Editor Kayla Emter on Oh, Hi!
Director Sophie Brooks’ Oh, Hi! takes place over one weekend as it tracks the disintegration and attempted reconciliation of Iris and Isaac’s relationship (played by Molly Gordon and Logan Lerman, respectively). The film will premiere as part of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival’s Premieres section. Kayla Emter (Hustlers, Am I Ok?) served as the film’s editor. Below, she talks about the importance of staying true to the story and characters of the film and how she worked around a major continuity issue in a scene set to a beloved Bee Gees-penned classic. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor interviews here. Filmmaker: […]
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“Narration is a Double-Edged Sword”: Editor Parker Laramie on Train Dreams
Denis Johnson’s novella Train Dreams follows Robert Granier, a railroad builder, as he participates in America’s expansion to the West and finds love. Director Clint Bentley (Jockey) has adapted the Johnson’s attempt to contextualize the role of an individual within the immensity of history. Bentley’s Train Dreams screens as part of the Premieres section at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Below, editor Parker Laramie (Sing Sing, Unfriended) explains some of the differences between the film and the novel and why scenes were rearranged in the edit. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being […]
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“The Best Collaborations Always Leave Me with Something New”: Editor Victoria Chalk on Third Act
In Third Act, director Tadashi Nakamura trains his camera on his father, Robert A. Nakamura, “the godfather of Asian American media,” after the latter’s Parkinson’s diagnosis. The film, part of the U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, weaves this present-day storyline with archival footage dating back to the director’s childhood. Veteran documentary editor Victoria Chalk was brought in as an editor for Third Act. Below, Chalk discusses how she balanced filmmaker and subject in the edit and the joys of having so much archival footage to work with. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being […]
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“Our Job Was To Create Two Movies”: Editor Brian Kates on Kiss of the Spider Woman and It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley
Screening in Sundance’s Premieres section, Kiss of the Spider Woman is a reimagining of the 1985 film set amid Argentina’s Dirty War, with one prisoner relating his favorite Hollywood musical to the other. The film is directed by Bill Condon, whose credits include Dreamgirls, Gods and Monsters, and both parts of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn. It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley, a documentary about the belated singer who drowned at 27 in 1997 featuring never-before-seen footage and interviews with those close to him, is also screening as part of the Premieres section. The film marks the return of Amy Berg (Phoenix Rising) to Sundance. […]
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“This Experience Really Drives Home the Idea of What a Passion Project Really Is”: Editor Sydney Cowper on Endless Cookie
Half-brothers Seth and Peter Scriver investigate their differing identities in Endless Cookie, an “animated hangout film” that chronicles their lives from 1980s Toronto to present-day remote Shamattawa. Peter’s Indigeneity and Seth’s whiteness are contrasted and contextualized, yet their fraternal bond is never scrutinized. Editor Sydney Cowper discusses cutting the project, shedding insight on the film’s lengthy production, how piano lessons helped shape her craft and the “truly validating” feeling of signing onto this project. 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 […]
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“Each Set of Rushes Presents a Unique Puzzle”: Editor George Cragg on The Thing with Feathers
In The Thing with Feathers, a widower and father of two suspects he is being stalked by a crow-like figure. The adaptation of Max Porter’s book of the same name stars Benedict Cumberbatch and is the fiction feature debut of director Dylan Southern (Shut Up and Play the Hits, Meet Me in the Bathroom). The versatile George Cragg (Collective, I Am Not a Witch, Earth Mama) served as the film’s editor in his first collaboration with Southern. He talks about how he made his way up in the industry and how he and Southern restructured the film below. See all responses to our […]
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“You Have to Give It the Love It Needs”: Editor Matthieu Bouchard on Two Women
In Two Women, an adaptation of Claude Fournier’s Two Women in Gold (1970), two women, one struggling with depression and the other on a difficult maternity leave, find that misadventure and taboo make their lives a bit more invigorating. The World Cinema Dramatic Competition entry is directed by Chloé Robichaud (Days of Happiness, Sarah Prefers to Run). Matthieu Bouchard, a veteran of TV comedy, took his first turn as a feature film editor on Two Women. He reflects on achieving that dream and helping Robichaud realize her vision below. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did […]
