Antonio (Ronnie Lazaro), a Filipino comprador for the Japanese Imperial Army, harasses a well-to-do family for the whereabouts of gold bars. He suspects the patriarch, Aldo (Arnold Reyes), a “great merchant importer,” of stealing some from the kōgun (Imperial Army) and hiding them somewhere among their cavernous colonial home or surrounding property. Flanked by two armed Japanese soldiers, Antonio leaves the family with a threatening impression and suggests his patience will wear thinner upon subsequent visits. Left alone, Aldo’s wife Ligaya (Beauty Gonzales) asks her husband whether he took the gold. “I will never do anything to put the family […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
The depressing atmosphere of cubicle culture permeates Sometimes I Think About Dying, Rachel Lambert’s latest directorial effort. At least until a charming new hire begins to break down the defenses of Fran (Daisy Ridley), the film’s protagonist who, yes, often thinks about her own death to kill time. Editor Ryan Kendrick tells Filmmaker about his previous collaborations with Lambert, how his history as a documentary editor helped on this narrative project and how he broke into the business. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your […]
While the prospect of traveling on a years-long expedition to Mars might seem like an alien scenario to most, Ido Mizrahy’s documentary The Longest Goodbye argues that we may have more in common with deep space astronauts than we think. Especially in the wake of COVID, we all know the feeling of being indefinitely estranged from loved ones, with only the Internet to aid us in our human quest for connection. Filmmaker asked editor Anouk Deschênes to detail her process on this film, from signing onto the project to cutting the film’s most difficult scene. See all responses to our […]
Each year, Filmmaker asks all the incoming feature directors at Sundance one question. (To see last year’s question and responses, click here.) We also send out cinematographer and editor questionnaires. This year’s question: 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? Below, find links to each director’s individual response to the prompt. Keep checking back here during the festival, as more responses will be posted daily! “A Rare […]
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? Toward the end of our shoot, I was given the green light to conduct a 20 minute interview with astronaut Kayla Barron—one of our main subjects—while she was on the space station. I don’t think I’ve ever been this nervous about an interview (also, it kinda felt like I was going to space). Following up on an interview I did […]
Daisy Ridley stars in Sometimes I Think About Dying, directed by Rachel Lambert and co-written by Kevin Armento, Stefanie Abel Horowitz and Katy Wright-Mead. Ridley plays Fran, an office worker who, as the film’s title suggests, is driven to such mind-numbing boredom that she often thinks about her own death to pass the time. That is, until a new employee named Robert (Dave Merheje) begins striking up conversation with her. Surprisingly, he manages to pique her interest, effectively breaking the monotony of her isolating office job. DP Dustin Lane tells Filmmaker how he crafted the visual language of the film […]