Sundance
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“Jane Usually Knew Exactly Where I Was”: DP Sam Painter on Jane Fonda in Five Acts
The past four months have seen the premieres of two documentaries shot by Sam Painter and directed by Susan Lacy. The creator of American Masters and the winner of 14 Emmy Awards, Lacy released Spielberg on HBO last October. This month she arrives at Sundance to debut Jane Fonda in Five Acts, her doc on the legendary actor, activist and feminist. Below, Painter discusses how he sought to photograph this “amazingly colorful, political, philanthropic and influential life.” Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your […]
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“Chaos Has its Own Reward”: Directors David and Nathan Zellner | Damsel
As you made your film during the increasingly chaotic backdrop of the last year, how did you as a filmmaker control, ignore, give in to or, conversely, perhaps creatively exploit the wild and unpredictable? What roles did chaos and order play in your films? With Damsel almost the entire film was shot outdoors, on location, in the wilderness. With every step of the filmmaking process we try to approach it knowing exactly what we want, but with the flexibility to adapt as needed. Dealing with animals, extreme shifts in weather and remote locations, adapting was essential. When a prop was […]
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“At a Certain Point You Have to Give in to that Insanity”: Director Kaitlin Fontana | Franchesca
As you made your series during the increasingly chaotic backdrop of the last year, how did you as a filmmaker control, ignore, give in to or, conversely, perhaps creatively exploit the wild and unpredictable? What roles did chaos and order play in your work? Franchesca is a hybrid pilot – and my directorial debut. I was very cognizant of the fact that we were making this piece that was part scripted, part doc, part improv. We shot in one day and we had to keep that feeling of buoyancy and looseness even though were under a crunch. At a certain […]
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“If You’re Not Loving it, Then What’s the Point?”: Director Michael Walker | Paint
As you made your film during the increasingly chaotic backdrop of the last year, how did you as a filmmaker control, ignore, give in to or, conversely, perhaps creatively exploit the wild and unpredictable? What roles did chaos and order play in your films? Did you really get into making movies so that you could have order in your life? Making movies, at least low budget movies, is fucking crazy. It’s always wild and unpredictable. That’s the fun of it. When you do it with people you love and trust – which is nearly always – it’s the best party […]
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“The Courage to Just Give a Damn”: Editor Patrick Ryan Gass on HIV/AIDS Documentary Quiet Heroes
In 1981, Dr. Kristen Ries and her partner Maggie Snyder were the only medical professionals in Utah to treat people with HIV/AIDS. Jenny Mackenzie’s new documentary, Quiet Heroes, tells their story. Mackenzie previously directed similar healthcare-focused docs on childhood diabetes (Sugar Babies) and the opioid epidemic (Dying in Vein). Below, Gass spoke with Filmmaker ahead of the film’s Sundance premiere about being a self-taught editor and why this story needed to be told. 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? Gass: I […]
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“An Endeavor of Structuring Chaos”: Director Cameron Yates | Chef Flynn
As you made your film during the increasingly chaotic backdrop of the last year, how did you as a filmmaker control, ignore, give in to or, conversely, perhaps creatively exploit the wild and unpredictable? What roles did chaos and order play in your films? Crafting a documentary that’s been filmed for over a decade by many different people with countless cameras was an endeavor of structuring chaos, and credit goes to our dauntless editor Hannah Buck. After staring glassy-eyed at our screens for hours one particularly distressing day in the fall of 2016, we canceled work for the rest of […]
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“A Political Thriller with Everything You Want to See in a Movie”: DP Bjorn Charpentier on Beirut
Director Brad Anderson returns to Sundance for a sixth time with Beirut, a political thriller from screenwriter Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton, The Bourne Identity). The film stars John Hamm as a U.S. diplomat who returns to Beirut after his wife was murdered there 10 years prior. Belgium-born DP Bjorn Charpentier shot the film with the work of David Fincher and Roger Deakins in mind. Below, he gets technical with his approach to lighting and lenses on the film. Bleecker Street Media will release Beirut theatrically on April 13. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the […]
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DPs Axel Schneppat and Max Preiss on Filming the “Digital Scavengers” of The Cleaners
One of 12 films to compete in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at Sundance this year, The Cleaners tells the story of so-called “digital scavengers.” These are individuals outsourced by Silicon Valley companies to delete supposedly inappropriate content from the internet. The Cleaners takes place in a nocturnal Manila designed to evoke Blade Runner and Gotham City. The film’s cinematographers – Axel Schneppat and Max Preiss – spoke with Filmmaker before the film’s five showings at Sundance. Below they discuss the cinematic challenge of shedding “light on an industry virtually kept in the dark.” Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up […]
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“Our Computers Were Crashing Roughly Six Times a Day”: Director Aneesh Chaganty | Search
As you made your film during the increasingly chaotic backdrop of the last year, how did you as a filmmaker control, ignore, give in to or, conversely, perhaps creatively exploit the wild and unpredictable? What roles did chaos and order play in your work? Our movie was supposed to be completed on March 3, 2018. On February 28, five days away from our deadline, we didn’t have a single finished frame. CUE FLASHBACK. Search is a hyper-modern thriller that unfolds entirely on computer screens. We wanted it to be engaging, thrilling and most of all: cinematic. And we knew exactly […]
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David Gutnik on Editing the Psychological Thriller NANCY Starring Andrea Riseborough
Writer/director Christina Cho and editor David Gutnik met during their time at Columbia University’s MFA Film Program. Gutnik edited Cho’s thesis film, I Am John Wayne, which won the Grand Jury Prize for best short film at Slamdance in 2012. Their new film together, NANCY, is one of three films at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival to star Andrea Riseborough. Below, Gutnik discusses the genre elements of this psychological thriller and how he sought to ensure that “every edit is connected to the central nervous system of the character, and by extension the soul of the film.” Filmmaker: How and why did you […]
