Interviews
Interviews
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“I Even Found Myself Taking Lines into My Personal Life”: Editor Berenice Chavez on Come See Me in the Good Light
In the latest documentary by Ryan White (Pamela, A Love Story; Ask Dr. Ruth), poets Andrea and Meg turn to their art to help them cope with Andrea’s cancer diagnosis. Come See Me in the Good Light will screen as part of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival’s Premieres section. Editor Berenice Chavez, who also edited Pamela, A Love Story returns to the cutting room for Come See Me in the Good Light. Below, she talks about finding her way into Andrea and Meg’s life despite not, at least initially, being a fan of poetry. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor interviews here. […]
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“If You’re in the Room, Your Voice Matters”: Producer Shannon Moss on East of Wall
Screening in the 2025 Sundance Film Festival’s NEXT section, East of Wall is a fictionalized version of the life of Tabatha Zamiga—who runs a ranch for wayward teenagers—and her family after the sudden death of her husband. The film stars its subjects as themselves and was written by debutant writer-director Kate Beecroft while she spent time with the family after a chance meeting on a road trip. Also debuting on East of Wall is producer Shannon Moss. Below, Moss talks about some of the challenges of shooting the film, the industry’s risk-averse nature and the mentors who helped her make […]
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“I Grew Up Playing Nintendo”: Albert Birney on OBEX
Albert Birney has been busy since 2020. On top of releasing 2022’s Eyeballs in the Darkness, a second feature in his series about a pair of 8-bit inspired animated best friends, Tux and Fanny, in, after releasing a video game incarnation of those characters the year before, and premiering his second collaboration with Kentucker Audley, Strawberry Mansion, Birney has now completed his first live-action film as a solo director. OBEX started its humble, black-and-white production with resources Birney had on hand: his house, his bulldog-chihuahua-pug mix (what he calls a “Bullchug”) Dorothy and his affinity for the ‘80s technology of […]
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“You Have to Create a Strong Duo”: Producer Dominique Barneaud on GEN_
Italian director Gianluca Matarrese centers his latest film on Dr. Bini, who oversees in vitro and gender-affirming care Milan’s Niguarda public hospital. Navigating complications put forth by the country’s conservative government as well as the commodification of healthcare, Dr. Bini never wavers in his mission to help his patients. First-time producer Dominique Barneaud discusses the difficulties of security Italian funding, his long-standing relationship with Matarrese and the importance of free speech among the film’s subjects. See all responses to our annual Sundance first-time producer interviews here. Filmmaker: How did you connect with this filmmaker and wind up producing the film? Barneaud: […]
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“I Sometimes Felt Like the Worst Partner in the World”: DP Clarke Gayford on Prime Minister
Prime Minister, premiering in the 2025 Sundance Film Festival’s World Cinema Documentary Competition, is co-director Lindsay Utz and Michelle Walshe’s behind-the-scenes look at Jacinda Ardern’s’s five years as the Prime Minister of New Zealand. Clarke Gayford, Ardern’s’s husband and a radio and TV broadcaster, also served as one of the film’s cinematographers. Below, he talks about the challenges of pulling double duty as both a DP and a supportive husband to a prime minister. 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 […]
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“Horror Films Have a Unique Ability to Tap into Deep Emotions”: DP Andreas Johannessen on Rabbit Trap
In Rabbit Trap, a musician and her husband find their outsider status in a remote Wales town amplified when their music brings to the door an unnamed child who will stop at nothing to weasel into their lives. Shot on 35mm, debut English-language feature by director Bryn Chainey will play as part of the Midnights section at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Andreas Johannessen, who served as camera operator on The Worst Person in the World and has acted as cinematographer on music videos by Jenny Hval, among others, also makes his feature debut as DP. Below, he goes into detail about […]
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“A New Way of Looking at the American West”: DP Austin Shelton on East of Wall
In East of Wall, writer-director Kate Beecroft trains her camera on Tabatha Zimiga, who runs a ranch for wayward teenagers while trying to cope with her own precarity. Beecroft found her subject by chance, as the film’s cinematographer, Austin Shelton, explains below. He also talks about how they approached filming Tabatha and her family in a way that was both true to her lives, even when it meant finding unorthodox solutions to make a scene work. 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 […]
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“Having a Crew Was Not an Option: DP Gianluca Matarrese on GEN_
Patients seeking gender-affirming care and in vitro treatments in Italy flock to Niguarda public hospital, where Dr. Maurizio Bini is considered one of the preeminent experts in the field. This is the subject of director and cinematographer Gianluca Matarrese’s film GEN_, premiering in the World Cinema: Documentary Competition at Sundance this year. Amid an increasingly hostile conservative climate, Dr. Bini and his patients navigate social stigma alongside much-needed medical intervention. Below, Matarrese discusses the decision to film most scenes from behind a book shelf, being inspired by Frederick Wiseman and relying on natural lighting. See all responses to our annual […]
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“He Wanted To Share with People How To Embrace Death”: Editor Parker Laramie on André is an Idiot
In Tony Benna’s directorial debut, André is an Idiot, André Ricciardi, armed with his sense of humor, documents his own eventual death from cancer. The film will premiere in the U.S. Documentary Competition of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Parker Laramie (Unfriended, Sing Sing) served as the film’s editor. Below, he talks about what it was like to join a delicate project while it was in motion and how they cut their subject’s journey down to just 88 minutes. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of […]
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“This Was Our One Shot To Capture Something Lasting”: DP Ethan Indorf on André is an Idiot
When André Ricciardi received the cancer diagnosis that would eventually kill him, he decided he wanted to make a movie documenting how he faced death with humor. The result, André is an Idiot, will screen as part of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. The film is the directorial debut of Tony Benna and was shot by Ethan Indorf, both friends with Ricciardi. Below, Indorf discusses what it was like to be tasked with documenting the death of his friend. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of […]
