Sundance Responses
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“A Spark That Turned into a Wild Creative Ride” | Amber Fares, Coexistence, My Ass!
Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? I met Noam in a cafe in Brooklyn in the fall of 2019. We knew each other from years prior when I was living in Ramallah, Palestine, and making my first film, Speed Sisters. She was working for the UN at the time. But when we reconnected in the US, she was at Harvard for […]
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“Everything That Can Go Wrong Did” | Katarina Zhu, Bunnylovr
Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? The second day of the shoot will be forever seared into my memory, partly because everything that can go wrong did, but mainly because it was the moment I realized just how extraordinary my team was and how grateful I was to be surrounded by them. It was the first day that another actor, […]
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“A Joyous Return to the Wonder and Thrill of Youthful Invention” | Albert Birney, OBEX
Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? We filmed a few scenes in the woods behind my childhood home. I know these woods like the back of my hand. I know where the deer paths are and where the ground is steep and where the old abandoned stone building is. I’ve been playing in these woods for as long as I […]
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“The Beginning of A Very Powerful Artistic Exchange” | Chloé Robichaud, Two Women
Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? A few months before starting the film shoot, I invited Sara Mishara, Louisa Schabas, and Patricia McNeil to my home—respectively, the director of photography, the production designer, and the costume designer. I live in the countryside, and we settled in front of a fire and spent an entire day discussing our feelings about the […]
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“Our Communication Had Been Restricted” | David Borenstein, Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? The making of our film is a story as epic as the film itself. From my perspective, it’s filled with unforgettable moments: the first time I connected with Pasha in Russia, the trust-building conversations we shared over the phone and the nerve-wracking security incidents that kept us awake through long, tense nights. The most […]
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“A Film Is Like a Puzzle” | Vladimir de Fontenay, Sukkwan Island
Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? In many ways, a film is like a puzzle. It is a slow and gradual process that is often very challenging depending on the number of pieces you’re missing. But because of the story, and the way in which we filmed it—backwards—it was especially true of Sukkwan Island. Roy agrees to spend a formative […]
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“From Day One, Andrea Was All-in” | Ryan White, Come See Me in the Good Light
Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? Day one. I had never met Andrea before—they came out to the driveway and gave me a hug and said, “So you’re gonna be with me when I die,” and then they invited us inside. Usually Day one (and often Month one) of a documentary is just a warm-up in building trust and getting […]
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“Adding Both Seth’s Son and Peter’s Grandson to the Animation” | Seth and Peter Scriver, Endless Cookie
Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? Well this film took nine years to make so we’re already looking back, haha. Jeeze, I wonder—there were lots of hilarious moments. Cookie says she always laughs when thinking about Sylvester’s song that they were singing. I would say adding both Seth’s son and Peter’s grandson to the animation—who were born a couple days […]
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“What I Perceived as the Truth Fundamentally Changed” | Bao Nguyen, The Stringer
Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? Reflecting on the journey of directing The Stringer, there is one day that particularly symbolizes a significant shift in my perception. It was the moment when my understanding of what I perceived as the truth fundamentally changed. Learning the undisclosed reality behind a well-known story was not only enlightening but also a stark reminder […]
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“Respect and Appreciate the Mundane Moments” | Brittany Shyne, Seeds
Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? The moments I treasure and relish the most were the days that I was able to spend with the elders, many of which passed away. Riding with Carlie as he gathered pecans from hundred year old orchard trees. Belle proudly showing me her varieties of citrus and grapefruit that populated her childhood home. During […]
