Sundance
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“The Real Violence and Danger Women Sometimes Go Through When Giving Birth”: DP Chananun Chotrungroj on birth/rebirth
A modern-day, female-focused retelling of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Laura Moss’s birth/rebirth refuses to flinch when it comes to portraying the bloody viscera of the birthing process. The film follows a maternity nurse Celie (Judy Reyes) who experiences a life-shattering personal loss. Soon after, she forms an unlikely relationship with pathologist Rose (Marin Ireland), an aloof genius who’s covertly working on a medical process that can reanimate the dead. DP Chananun Chotrungroj told Filmmaker about her and Moss simultaneously attending the NYU Grad Film program, the iconic film that served as birth/rebirth‘s visual touchstone and how her own experience in the […]
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“We Had To Have All Hands on Deck To Finish the Film in Time for the Festival” | Laura Moss, birth/rebirth
Every production faces unexpected obstructions that require creative solutions and conceptual rethinking. What was an unforeseen obstacle, crisis, or simply unpredictable event you had to respond to, and how did this event impact or cause you to rethink your film? Getting into Sundance was tremendously exciting, but we had to have all hands on deck to finish the film in time for the festival. We wrapped principal photography in New Jersey in September, and once we got accepted into Sundance, learned we had to turn in our print on January 13th. With so many holidays falling in that time period, our […]
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“A Narrative That Exposes the Horror of Losing One’s Autonomy”: Editor Taylor Mason on birth/rebirth
Director Laura Moss’s feature debut birth/rebirth is laden with horror references, which was a principal reason for editor Taylor Mason vying for the gig. The film is essentially a modern retelling of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, with an overtly femme twist. It follows Celie (Judy Reyes), a maternity nurse who experiences a sudden tragedy, and Rose (Marin Ireland), a brilliant (if somewhat anti-social) pathologist, form an unlikely bond over the latter’s experimental reanimation process. As their friendship develops, they both reassess their respective moral compasses—shocking each other, and themselves, in the process. Mason spoke with Filmmaker about the film’s myriad horror […]
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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 Had to Start From Scratch and Find the Financing in Europe” | Sophie Barthes, The Pod Generation
Every production faces unexpected obstructions that require creative solutions and conceptual rethinking. What was an unforeseen obstacle, crisis, or simply unpredictable event you had to respond to, and how did this event impact or cause you to rethink your film? Well, the pandemic! We were supposed to shoot this film in New York in July 2019. The pandemic made this impossible. I tried to set up the film in Australia for a while, but that didn’t work out. Finally, I had to start from scratch and find the financing in Europe—and shoot New York in Europe! We brought a New […]
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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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“I Had To Be Very Vigilant With My Self-Care” | Noora Niasari, Shayda
Every production faces unexpected obstructions that require creative solutions and conceptual rethinking. What was an unforeseen obstacle, crisis, or simply unpredictable event you had to respond to, and how did this event impact or cause you to rethink your film? Given the material was personal and digging into my childhood trauma, every day was an emotional and psychological challenge. Much more than I could have anticipated. It is one thing to be a writer-director-producer on your first feature with an ensemble cast and a large crew, but it is another to do it whilst being triggered from the very material […]
