Interviews
Interviews
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“Cows Are Terrible to Work With”: DP Ruben Impens on The Eight Mountains
The winner of the Jury Prize at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s The Eight Mountains introduces us to Pietro (Lupo Barbiero) as a young boy visiting the small mountain village of Grana with his mother. During this trip, he meets Bruno (Cristiano Sassella), a herder who also happens to be 11-years-old. Many years later, Pietro’s father passes away, leaving him a long-neglected plot of land in Grana. Upon returning to the Alpine town, he reunites with Bruno, who aids him in rebuilding a house on his newly-inherited land, strengthening a friendship that had previously […]
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“I Accumulated Hours of Vital Yet Unpublished Footage”: Mstyslav Chernov on 20 Days in Mariupol
Mstyslav Chernov, a Ukrainian war correspondent and documentary filmmaker, entered the eastern port city of Mariupol on the eve of the Russian invasion. During the ensuing bombing and siege of the city, Chernov and a team of fellow Ukrainian journalists documented the horrors of the encroaching Russian military as they played out, hoping to survive long enough to share their footage with the world. Taking shelter in a hospital as Russian forces surrounded them, their collective fate became increasingly uncertain. Director and DP Mstyslav Chernov gives Filmmaker rapid-fire answers as to how the film (his debut feature) came to be—and how […]
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“A Love Letter to South London”: DP Olan Collardy on Rye Lane
Two recently-heartbroken 20-somethings spend a day kindling an unexpected romance in Rye Lane, Raine Allen-Miller’s debut feature with a script by Nathan Bryon and Tom Melia. As Dom (David Jonsson) and Yas (Vivian Oparah) galavant through South London’s Peckham neighborhood, they begin to mend lingering wounds from past relationships and inch closer to the prospect of falling in love again. Cinematographer Olan Collardy discusses his desire to subvert rom-com conventions, Rye Lane‘s “eclectic mix of influences” and the challenges of shooting the film’s boat rendezvous scene. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did […]
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“We Had To Protect the Chemistry of the Cast Whilst Maintaining Social Distance”: DP Aaron McLisky on Talk to Me
Twin brothers (and YouTube filmmakers) Danny and Michael Philippou have crafted a ghost story for the influencer age with <i>Talk to Me</i>, their feature debut. When a mummified hand comes into the possession of a group of Australian teenagers, they record members of the group falling under a supernatural spell—channeling the dead when they clasp the hand and utter the requisite incantation: “talk to me.” However, if they allow the spirit to possess their body for more than 90 seconds, they effectively allow the entity to control their mind and body for eternity. With a crowd of teens recording the […]
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“The Gorgeous Light of LA Sunsets Always Seemed To Come Too Soon”: DP Derek Howard on The Tuba Thieves
The very real news story of tuba thefts occurring at a series of Southern California schools is the inspiration for The Tuba Thieves, visual artist Alison O’Daniel’s feature debut. Yet the film isn’t really about these odd crimes, focusing instead on abstract notions of sound and what is means to “listen,” particularly as it pertains to the d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing experience, a theme that has fueled much of O’Daniel’s artistic output. The film’s cinematographer, Derek Howard, discusses how being an outsider to LA helped him capture the city more honestly, the benefits of his documentary background and the […]
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“We Lost Quite a Bit of Time Waiting Out Lightning Storms”: DP Brian Lannin on The Starling Girl
Seventeen-year-old Jem Starling can’t help but feel out of place in her fundamentalist Christian community. The only person who seems to understand her is Owen (Lewis Pullman), her church’s youth pastor. He’s more than eager to get close to Jem (despite being a married man), making for a complicated relationship that will inevitably bear harsher consequences for Jem than her older male counterpart. Brian Lannin, the film’s cinematographer, discusses his collaboration with director Laurel Parmet (who also happens to be his fiancé), the Kentucky shoot’s unpredictable weather and the film’s most difficult scene to shoot. See all responses to our […]
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“Which One is the Real Doll and Which One is the Actress?” DP Peter McCaffrey on M3gan
When Peter McCaffrey left the processing lab at New Zealand’s National Film Unit in the early 1980s to become a freelance camera assistant, his bosses told him he’d be asking for his job back in two weeks. There was no such thing as a film industry in New Zealand, they warned. 35 years later, McCaffrey still hasn’t looked back. Climbing the ranks from clapper loader to focus puller to camera operator, McCaffrey has built an impressive resume of large-scale credits including The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Thor: Ragnarok. Now, he has […]
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“We Had to Be Extra Quiet Moving Around”: DP Filip Drożdż on Pianoforte
Founded in 1927, the prestigious International Chopin Piano Competition provides the dramatic stage for Jakub Piątek’s Pianoforte. Tracking some of the talented performers from around the world entering the competition, Piątek’s crowdpleasing documentary, which premiered at Sundance 2023, is lensed by his longtime collaborator Filip Drożdż, who discusses his work on the project below. 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 job? Drożdż: I’ve known the director, Jakub Piątek, for a long time. We used to work on many different projects together […]
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“A Rom-com That Knows Exactly What It Is”: Editor Victoria Boydell on Rye Lane
Director Raine Allen Miller brings a fresh feeling to the traditional romcom with Rye Lane, her Sundance 2023-premiering film set to drop on Hulu later this year. Following accountant Dom (David Jonsson) as he spends a day walking-and-talking around south London, a la Before Sunrise, with free-spirited costumer designer Yas (Vivian Oparah). Below, editor Victoria Voydell discusses her work on the stylish feature debut. 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? Boydell: I had mentioned to my agent that I was […]
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“What Would the Spirit of These Influences Feel Like in Orange County?” DP Michael Fernandez on The Accidental Getaway Driver
Collateral meets The Desperate Hours against the backdrop of issues of Vietnamese immigration and assimilation in this Orange County-set thriller that marks the feature directorial debut of music video director Sing J. Lee. Below, cinematographer Michael Fernandez discusses his work in filming this Sundance 2023 premiering thriller, in which an elderly Vietnamese cab driver is taken hostage by three recently escaped prisoners. 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 job? Fernandez: I had a built a relationship with the director over the last […]
