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“Comedy Helps People Understand in a Less Aggressive Way”: Editor Lam T. Nguyen on Emergency
In Emergency, a dark comedy by Carey Williams, a pair of Black college students finds a white woman unconscious on their living room floor. Wary of calling the police because of the optics of the situation, they instead recruit the help of a Latino friend to help resolve the situation, unmasking the absurd racial dynamics of contemporary America in the process. Below, editor Lam T. Nguyen discusses finding comedy in the gravely serious and the difference even a few frames can make in helping a punchline land. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 22, 2022 -
“I Never Say ‘No, We Cannot Do It’ to My Director”: DP Sviatoslav Bulakovskyi on Klondike
In July 2014, during the Donbas War, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over the Donetsk region of Ukraine, a pair of expectant parents living in the disputed Donetsk region of Ukraine by pro-Russian rebels. This is the backdrop for Maryna Er Gorbach’s Klondike, which follows a pair of expectant parents to find their hopes of raising a child in relative piece dashed by the differing loyalties of her brother and his friends. Cinematographer Sviatoslav Bulakovskyi explained how he scouted locations during a COVID lockdown and how his experience taught him to always prepare for the unexpected. Filmmaker: How and […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 21, 2022 -
“We Were Always Searching for the Beauty of Coexistence, Even in the Most Polluted of Places”: DP Ben Bernhard on All That Breathes
With All That Breathes, Shaunak San sought to position humans as a part of the natural world, akin to rather than separate from the birds overhead. The documentary follows a pair of brothers who care for the black kites that fall out of the Delhi skies due to pollution and features cinematography by Ben Bernhard, who has worked extensively with Victor Kossakovsky (Gunda). Below, Bernhard reveals the challenges of tethering images of the natural world to urban living and how he composed shots that place nature and mankind on a level playing field. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 21, 2022 -
“I Thought About How Crucial It Is to Try to Extract Meaning From the Visible and Invisible Historical Layers of a City” | Sierra Pettengill, RIOTSVILLE, USA
The last two years have prompted much contemplation and reconsideration of the reasons why we make our films as well as the ways in which we make them. What aspect of your filmmaking—whether in your creative process, the way you finance your films, your production methodology or the way you relate to your audience—did you have to reinvent in order to make and complete the film you are bringing to the festival this year? Across a year molded by the pandemic, RIOTSVILLE, USA.‘s writer Tobi Haslett, editor Nels Bangerter, and I did the entirety of our collaborative work remotely. While […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 21, 2022 -
“So Much Is About Responding in the Moment and Not Living in an Idealized Reality” | Mariama Diallo, Master
The last two years have prompted much contemplation and reconsideration of the reasons why we make our films as well as the ways in which we make them. What aspect of your filmmaking—whether in your creative process, the way you finance your films, your production methodology or the way you relate to your audience—did you have to reinvent in order to make and complete the film you are bringing to the festival this year? I’ve become a lot more flexible. As a person, I tend to be rigid. I make plans and stick to them. As a director, I used […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 21, 2022 -
“There’s Nothing Like Being in a Room Together and Bringing a Project to Life” | Ben Klein & Violet Columbus, The Exiles
The last two years have prompted much contemplation and reconsideration of the reasons why we make our films as well as the ways in which we make them. What aspect of your filmmaking—whether in your creative process, the way you finance your films, your production methodology or the way you relate to your audience—did you have to reinvent in order to make and complete the film you are bringing to the festival this year? We conceptualized this project in 2016 and started shooting in 2017. We shot on and off in various sprints until March of 2020. When the pandemic […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 21, 2022 -
“It Was Important to Me That VR Felt Like a Euphoric and Cozy Place to Be”: DP Joe Hunting on We Met in Virtual Reality
We Met in Virtual Reality is a documentary shot, as the name suggests, within virtual reality. Director Joe Hunting trains his camera on a range of activities, including pool games, dances and educational classes to tell the stories of a number of couples who met in VR during the COVID-19 lockdown. Hunting, who directed, edited, and shot the film, spoke about his challenges and goals as cinematographer. 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? Hunting: I was a self […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 21, 2022 -
“Restrictions Sometimes Bring to Life Really Great Shots”: DP Greta Zozula on Call Jane
In Phyllis Nagy’s directorial debut Call Jane, Joy’s pregnancy leads to a life-threatening condition. When the medical establishment refuses to help, Joy turns to a clandestine organization called the “Janes” that is based on the real-life Jane Collective. The period piece is heavy on sequence shots, which both posed challenges and enabled the creativity of DP Greta Zozula, who discusses the film below. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? Zozula: I was introduced to Phyllis in the early part of last year. The subject matter was important and I was drawn to the […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 21, 2022 -
“I Didn’t Want to Use Tears as a Way to Communicate”: Isabel Castro on Sundance 2022 Premiere Mija
The perils of being a fledgling musician go deeper than tour burnout and being paid with drink tickets. Isabel Castro’s nonfiction feature Mija, predominantly shot in Southern California, focuses on the unique plight of emerging alternative Latino artists—many of whom must tandemly fight for industry recognition and for largely undocumented family members to evade deportation. As portrayed in Mija, an integral part of the Latino music scene is Doris Muñoz, an up-and-coming music manager who juggles her various professional responsibilities while sponsoring her parents’ application for their green cards. At the film’s start, one of the artists Doris manages is singer-songwriter […]
by Natalia Keogan on Jan 21, 2022 -
“The Experimental Works I Was Already Creating Had Huge Potential to Invent a New Form of Immersive Global Filmmaking” | Joe Hunting, We Met in Virtual Reality
The last two years have prompted much contemplation and reconsideration of the reasons why we make our films as well as the ways in which we make them. What aspect of your filmmaking—whether in your creative process, the way you finance your films, your production methodology or the way you relate to your audience—did you have to reinvent in order to make and complete the film you are bringing to the festival this year? I began my filmmaking journey inside social VR during the fall of 2018, not foreseeing how valuable that endeavor would be. When the pandemic hit, it […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 21, 2022
