Director Andrew Bowser brings one of his most well-known comedy characters to the big screen in Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls. Onyx the Fortuitous (Bowser) is a struggling amateur occultist who believes he’s made it to the big leagues when he’s invited to a demonic seance by his idol Bartok the Great. When they manage to rouse the ancient spirit, however, he must fight to save his life—and his soul. DP Dan Adlerstein discusses his longtime collaboration with Bowser, bringing the film’s specific brand of horror-comedy to life and more. See all responses to our annual Sundance […]
Cat Person, the viral short story by Kristen Roupenian that first appeared in The New Yorker, can stoke the flames of discourse anew with the film adaptation from director Susanna Fogel. The premise remains the same: College student Margot (Emilia Jones) develops a mutual crush on 33-year-old townie Robert (Nicholas Braun). Yet when Margot’s attraction for him fizzles out, she becomes the target of Robert’s misogynistic rejection-fueled ire. Cinematographer Manuel Billeter tells Filmmaker about his experience working with Fogel and shooting the anticipated short story adaptation. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did […]
Alice Englert’s feature debut Bad Behavior follows Lucy (Jennifer Connelly) as she embarks on a silent retreat under the guidance of her guru (Ben Wishaw). As the film’s title suggests, Lucy is no stranger to behaving badly—and during this so-called “spiritual” getaway, she will sink to shocking new lows. DP Matt Henley tells Filmmaker about working on the film, including the various media influences he and Englert looked to in order to heighten the film’s “emotion, thematics or story.” See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of […]
The documentary Invisible Beauty offers insight into the life and long-spanning career of fashion model and activist Bethann Hardison. In fact, the film’s subject also serves as co-director alongside Frédéric Tcheng, speaking candidly about walking runways as a Black model in the ’70s to participating in roundtables about racism in the fashion industry in the aughts. Mia Cioffi Henry, the film’s cinematographer, talks about her existing admiration for Hardison and how she approaching shooting the fashion icon and her home. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer […]
In Girl, the feature debut from writer-director Adura Onashile, 11-year-old Ama (Le’Shantey Bonsu) begins to pull away from the co-dependent relationship fostered by her loving 24-year-old mother Grace (Déborah Lukumuena). This instantly drives a wedge between them, one that will only pull them further apart if Grace doesn’t come to terms with a traumatizing incident that occurred before her daughter’s birth. DP Tasha Back discusses the important of color in the film and how she achieved the film’s distinctly un-drab look. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the […]
Based on Alysia Abbott’s 2013 memoir of the same name, Andrew Durham’s feature debut Fairyland chronicles Alysia’s (Emilia Jones) coming of age after the death of her mother. More specifically, Fairyland explores the complicated relationship between Alysia and her father Steve (Scoot McNairy), who relocates with her to San Francisco in the ’70s and begins to openly date men and adopt a distinctly bohemian lifestyle. DP Greta Zozula tells Filmmaker about the various aesthetic choices made to capture this touching true story. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being […]
At this point, it’s a running joke that any indie film worth its salt will have an extended scene featuring a woman pissing. Not just a woman sitting on the toilet, underwear around her ankles—the trickle of her stream must be fully perceptible to the viewer’s ear, subversive in its unvarnished or gritty exploration of the female experience (even with my sparser-than-usual Sundance viewing schedule this year, I’ve still clocked one extended instance of this). If a filmmaker is really being edgy, a blood-soaked tampon may appear on screen, or perhaps sparse droplets of menses slowly descending down a thigh. […]
Filmmaker Ella Glendining has always wanted to meet someone who shares the same rare disability that she was born with. The problem is, she’s not sure such an individual even exists. This quest is the basis of Is There Anybody Out There? her intimate documentary that incorporates personal video diaries alongside interviews with people she meets with bodies similar to her own. UK-based DP Annemarie Lean-Vercoe shares the female cinematography collective that connected her with the director, how the shoot adapted to COVID complications and the documentary touchstones her and Glendining used as references. See all responses to our annual […]
Ever since her mother’s death, 12-year-old Georgie (Lola Campbell) has been living all on her own in director Charlotte Regan’s film Scrapper. She scrapes by with the help of her friend Ali (Alin Uzun) and their bike-stealing hustle, staving off social workers by pretending to live with a non-existent uncle. Just when she thinks she’s got it all figured out, a man named Jason (Harris Dickenson) appears, who claims to be her father. Though she barely recognizes him due to his prolonged absence from her life, she nonetheless falls under his care—but not without a fair amount of pushback. Cinematographer […]
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? I spent close to three years alone with my story, researching, imagining it, and writing it and I loved that. I treasured that it was a secret that was mostly just interesting to me. It’s freeing but I longed for companionship too. It’s a strange thing when something that feels so inside you, so private becomes something that belongs to […]