Interviews
Interviews
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“The Cinema Gods Smiled Upon Us”: DP Andrij Parekh on The Pod Generation
In the not-so-far-flung future, a New York Couple (played by Emilia Clarke and Chiwetel Ejiofor) manage to snag a spot at the coveted Womb Center, which offers conveniently detachable vessels that foster fetuses without a human toll. This is the premise of Sophie Barthes’s latest film, The Pod Generation, a meditation on the rampant commodification of natural processes in our tech-obsessed culture. Cinematographer Andrij Parekh—Barthes’s husband and long-time collaborator—delves into the specifics of shooting the film, including his painstaking efforts to utilize as much natural light as possible. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and […]
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“With This Film, It Came Full Circle”: Editor Ron Patane on The Pod Generation
In The Pod Generation, the third feature film from French-American director Sophie Barthes, the process of pregnancy and birth has been offloaded from human bodies, relegated to artificial pods that produce fetuses. New York-based couple Rachel and Alvy (Emilia Clarke and Chiwetel Ejiofor) are excited to learn that they’ve been selected to attend the ultra-exclusive Womb Center, where these quasi-artificial offspring are conceived. However, even within the confines of this futuristic world, technologies of convenience must be questioned and contended with. Editor Ron Patane discusses his initial excitement at the prospect of working on the film, aspects of The Pod […]
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“For This Project, I Had a Collection of Over 1000 Images of Penélope Cruz”: DP Gergely Pohárnok on L’Immensità
The fifth feature from Emanuele Crialese, L’Immensità, is a semi-autobiographical family drama that takes place amid the backdrop of ’70s Rome. The film premiered earlier this year at the Venice International Film Festival, and now arrives at Sundance as part of the festival’s “Spotlight” section. Filmmaker spoke to the film’s cinematographer Gergely Pohárnok, who’s collaborated with Crialese since his 2005 film Golden Door. 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 being hired for this […]
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“I Opted for a Low-key Chiaroscuro Look”: DP Sherwin Akbarzadeh on Shayda
Writer-director Noora Niasari’s debut feature, Shayda, is a deeply personal tale of trauma and tenacity. With a script mining from Niasari’s lived experiences, the film centers on the titular character Shayda (Zar Amir Ebrahimi), an Iranian woman living in an Australian women’s shelter with her 6-year-old daughter. With the Iranian New Year upon them, Shayda attempts to forge a new life for them after her recent divorce from abusive husband Hossein. However, when a judge grants him visitation rights with his daughter, Shayda becomes increasingly concerned that her ex-husband will kidnap Mona and flee back to their native Iran. Cinematographer […]
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“We Hope That This Film and Its Female Narrative Will Echo the Voice of Iranian Women”: Editor Elika Rezaee on Shayda
Elika Rezaee understood that signing on to edit Shayda, the deeply personal narrative debut from writer-director Noora Niasari, would require the utmost sensitivity. The film mines from Niasari’s lived experiences, following the titular character as she and her daughter Mona temporarily move into an Australian women’s shelter after Shayda’s divorce from her abusive husband. When a court order deems that her ex is entitled to visitation rights with their daughter, Shayda becomes afraid that he will take Mona and return to their native Iran. Rezaee tells Filmmaker about her first reaction to Niasari’s script, her editing career origins and how she […]
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“In the Desert, There Were Challenges We Couldn’t Foresee”: DP Boaz Freund on The Longest Goodbye
The inherent loneliness of deep space exploration is the foundation of The Longest Goodbye, filmmaker Ido Mizrahy’s latest documentary. Particularly as it concerns NASA’s looming deadline to have a mission blast off to Mars by 2033, Mizrahy explores how technology can aid astronauts in maintaining vital connections—to friends, family and Earth itself—and what scientific advancements are being made to preserve the social and emotional well-being of these intrepid explorers. Cinematographer Boaz Freund, who’s previously collaborated with Mizrahy, tells Filmmaker about shooting in the vast Utah desert, making Mars a character in the film and working with colorist Marc Boucrot. See […]
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“I Wanted To Make Sure the Film Felt Lived In”: Editor Ryan Kendrick on Sometimes I Think About Dying
The depressing atmosphere of cubicle culture permeates Sometimes I Think About Dying, Rachel Lambert’s latest directorial effort. At least until a charming new hire begins to break down the defenses of Fran (Daisy Ridley), the film’s protagonist who, yes, often thinks about her own death to kill time. Editor Ryan Kendrick tells Filmmaker about his previous collaborations with Lambert, how his history as a documentary editor helped on this narrative project and how he broke into the business. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your […]
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“A Foray Into the Heart of Different Family Dynamics”: Editor Anouk Deschênes on The Longest Goodbye
While the prospect of traveling on a years-long expedition to Mars might seem like an alien scenario to most, Ido Mizrahy’s documentary The Longest Goodbye argues that we may have more in common with deep space astronauts than we think. Especially in the wake of COVID, we all know the feeling of being indefinitely estranged from loved ones, with only the Internet to aid us in our human quest for connection. Filmmaker asked editor Anouk Deschênes to detail her process on this film, from signing onto the project to cutting the film’s most difficult scene. See all responses to our […]
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“We Needed To Embrace a Certain Amount of Ugliness”: DP Dustin Lane on Sometimes I Think About Dying
Daisy Ridley stars in Sometimes I Think About Dying, directed by Rachel Lambert and co-written by Kevin Armento, Stefanie Abel Horowitz and Katy Wright-Mead. Ridley plays Fran, an office worker who, as the film’s title suggests, is driven to such mind-numbing boredom that she often thinks about her own death to pass the time. That is, until a new employee named Robert (Dave Merheje) begins striking up conversation with her. Surprisingly, he manages to pique her interest, effectively breaking the monotony of her isolating office job. DP Dustin Lane tells Filmmaker how he crafted the visual language of the film […]
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“This ‘Space Problem’ Became Our Problem”: Ido Mizrahy on The Longest Goodbye
With NASA under “presidential orders” to land humans on Mars by 2033—and the industry titans of Silicon Valley rushing to make space exploration sexy again (not to mention cash in on that lucrative action)—it might be a good time to stop and ask not when our long-mission astronauts will launch, but rather who should be going and how they will survive. And not just physical survival, but mental and emotional, for even the Trekkiest among us may give pause before signing up for a years-long journey that requires relentless isolation, being stripped of any semblance of privacy and deprived of […]
