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? Everyone started living a kind of extended Groundhog Day when lockdown began, and that feeling was heightened for me as I was watching the same movie, sometimes the same scene or moment over and over and over and over whether I was finishing the edit or working on post. I felt very grateful that the film was kind and hopeful and bittersweet—as the world outside was becoming less and less of those things I […]
Nikole Beckwith’s surprising romantic comedy Together Together lacks an actual romance. Matt (Ed Helms) decides to have a child despite being single, so he seeks the help of gestational surrogate Anna (Patti Harrison). The two strike up an unlikely friendship, a purely platonic relationship between two self-described loners who gradually learn a thing or two about love. DP Frank Barrera details how his team made difficult seems look effortless and how to film realistic drama. 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 […]
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? One of many of the long lasting repercussions of COVID is that it radically and fundamentally changed our relationship to technology. Whether to Zoom with grandma or have business meetings, order groceries or clothes, take an exercise class or attend school. We’ve all become dependent not only on the technology in our homes but on the invisible infrastructure that sustains it—by which I mean everything from the fiber optic cables that carry our digital […]
Nikole Beckwith’s surprising romantic comedy Together Together lacks an actual romance. Matt (Ed Helms) decides to have a child despite being single, so he seeks the help of gestational surrogate Anna (Patti Harrison). The two strike up an unlikely friendship, a purely platonic relationship between two self-described loners who gradually learn a thing or two about love. Editor Annette Davey tells us about crafting a unique story using tried and true genre conventions and how to stay authentic amid the editing process. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and […]
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? The events of last year made me want to find other ways of processing their meaning—through getting to know my neighborhood, through local political action, through the satisfaction of hobbies that have nothing to do with film. (Check back daily during the festival — new answers are uploaded on the day of each film’s premiere. Read all the responses here.)
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? As I worked remotely with editor Nick Ramirez and composers Colin Stetson and Caroline Shaw, so much erupted around us. When the horrible COVID surge overtook New York City, we heard endless ambulance sirens while banging pots and pans every night at 7 p.m. to honor our frontline and essential workers. We were simultaneously swept up in the mobilization of Black Lives Matter. We marched, masks on, proud of our own city’s electrifying reaction […]
Alex Camilleri’s Luzzu touts itself as one of the first 100% Maltese films. Starring fisherman Camilleri met during his time in Malta, the movie features non-actors in what could be mistaken for a documentary on Malta’s fishing industry and the ecological concerns therein. DP Léo Lefèvre tells us about his approach to filming inexperienced actors and what it was like filming on the water. 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? Lefèvre: First, I was approached by the […]
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? No question the events of 2020 changed the experience of making My Name is Pauli Murray in ways that will be familiar to other filmmakers: the rush to assemble makeshift home offices, the daily morning Zoom call, remote control shooting, and the unplanned budget line for COVID protocols. But beyond these complications, developments in 2020 have shifted and sharpened the way we’re thinking now about our documentary’s subject, Pauli Murray: a Black, gender nonconforming […]
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? In October 2019 Chen Zhou came over to Gijón to act but also help me shoot El Planeta. Back then I promised I wouldn’t cut my hair until I visited Shanghai again, because I was supposed to spend a month in China during March 2020. Of course, all those plans got cancelled. Now my hair is much longer than I expected and I truly miss my friend and collaborator Chen Zhou. But I also […]
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? It mostly affected the post-production process. I was in Prague locking the film with editor Enis Saraci when the lockdown in March happened, so it was surreal. The studios where we edited had to close all of a sudden, we had to find a private studio which would not cost a lot and continue editing. My kids and my husband were in Kosova. I had 4 more days of editing to lock the picture […]