Fran Kranz’s Mass is the rare film that explores the aftermath of a tragedy rather than the tragedy itself. Some years after the events of a school shooting, the parents of a victim (Jason Isaacs and Martha Plimpton) plan to meet the parents of the perpetrator (Reed Birney and Ann Dowd). Editor Yang-Hua Hu shares what it was like to practice restraint in the film’s edit but still maintain interest in a movie with a mostly static setting. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to […]

Kentucker Audley and Albert Birney’s surreal sci-fi romantic comedy Strawberry Mansion reimagines the dystopia as something shockingly similar to our own world: a society where even our dreams are plagued with marketing and advertisement. DP Tyler Davis shares what the team took from music videos and fantasy films like The NeverEnding Story to capture their dreamy, fantastical vision. 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? Davis: In early 2019 I met Albert Birney (one of the directors, along with Kentucker Audley, […]

Hearkening back to coming-of-age movies like Superbad, Manuel Crosby and Darren Knapp’s First Date feels comfortingly familiar as both a thriller and a comedy. After buying a questionable ’65 Chrysler, Mike’s (Tyson Brown) first date with Kelsey (Shelby Duclos) snowballs into an epic night of cop chases, criminals, and cat ladies. DP and co-director Manuel Crosby explains what it was like filming a late night thriller with an ’90s style on a budget. 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? […]

Clint Bentley’s Jockey is a naturalistic look at horse racing, a sport that some might say is in an extended twilight period. The film stars Clifton Collins Jr. as Jackson, an experienced jockey who may be forced to retire as his health begins deteriorating. His life turns upside down when a young jockey (Moisés Arias) arrives to the scene claiming to be Jackson’s son. DP Adolpho Veloso explains how they shot the sport in a respectful but honest way and the benefit of shooting in the colorful landscape of Arizona. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the […]

Jamila Wignot’s Ailey explores the life of seminal choreographer Alvin Ailey in poetic manner. With a heartbeat as studied as Ailey’s jazz-dance that made him famous. Editor Annukka Lilja explores the seamless collaboration between herself and Wignot and her method of approaching documentary much the way she would a fictional film. 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 Lilja: The producer Lauren DeFilippo knew me through my longtime collaborators David Alvarado and Jason Sussberg, whose three feature documentary films I […]

Rita Moreno stands as one of the rare few entertainers to attain EGOT status. Mariem Pérez Riera intimate documentary on the West Side Story star the racism Moreno faced as a Puerto Rican immigrant with aplomb, featuring interviews other iconic entertainers such as Gloria Estefan, Whoopi Goldberg and Eva Longoria. DP PJ López discusses how they captured the authentic essence of a beloved figure in movie history. 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? López: I had already worked with […]

Hearkening back to coming-of-age movies like Superbad, Manuel Crosby and Darren Knapp’s First Date feels comfortingly familiar as both a thriller and a comedy. After buying a questionable ’65 Chrysler, Mike’s (Tyson Brown) first date with Kelsey (Shelby Duclos) snowballs into an epic night of cop chases, criminals, and cat ladies. Editor Zach Passero explains how they snipped a nearly three hour cut down while preserving the movie’s irrepressible personality. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? Passero: I came onboard after Darren and Manuel had edited a 2 hour 45 minute cut. They were […]

How did events of 2020—any of them—change your film, either in the way you approached it, produced it, post-produced it, or are now thinking about it? COVID-19 nearly derailed us in post-production, but the longer schedule forced us to think more deeply about the story we were telling and the way we told it. A film is shaped many times—on the page, by the actors in rehearsals, during production, and then again in the edit room. The extra time gave us space to breathe and see new ways of telling our story that we might have rushed past were it […]

Erin Vassilopoulos’ Superior isn’t your classic film about twins. While on the run, Marian (Alessandra Mesa) returns to her childhood home where her housewife sister Vivian (Ani Mesa) lives. Marian’s past begins to catch up with her, endangering both her and her sister’s life tremendously. Editor Jenn Ruff shares what it was like to collaborate with one of her students and the brilliant madness that came from working during COVID. 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? Ruff: How? […]

The Sundance Institute has been running producer and director labs since 1981, even before taking over and renaming the former US/Utah Film Festival in 1985. In that sense, the projects coming out of the Feature Film Program (whose founding director, Michelle Satter, is still in charge), Indigenous Program and Documentary Film Program are just as important a marker of Sundance’s effect on the US film ecosystem as the platform provided by the festival. When I programmed film festivals, I tracked their press releases as closely as official lineup announcements. This year, 16 projects in the festival were officially supported by […]