Sundance Film Festival 2016
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Cinematographer Fraser Rice on Finding Poetry in the Shipyards for Sundance Short Mining Poems or Odes
Appearing in the Shorts Program #5 at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, Mining Poems or Odes tells the Scotland-set story of an ex-shipyard welder turned writer. The short was shot by Fraser Rice, a cinematographer on a number of UK TV series. Rice is also the brother of the film’s director, Callum. Below, Rice discusses the origins and creative goals of Mining Poems or Odes. 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? Rice: I am a director of […]
by Soheil Rezayazdi on Jan 29, 2016 -
Shane Bruce Johnston and Charles J. Gibson on the Everyday Naturalism of The 4th
Shane Bruce Johnston and Charles J. Gibson are two first time feature film cinematographers on The 4th, the debut feature from director/actor Andre Hyland. Both DPs have worked with Hyland before. Johnston shot Hyland’s 2014 Sundance short Funnel, while Gibson has worked with Hyland in addition to his work such bigger-budget films as Her and Cake. In this interview with Filmmaker, the two DPs discuss shooting without full script, using only natural light, and the “16mm film grittiness” of the Blackmagic Film Camera. The 4th debuted as part of the NEXT program at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. Filmmaker: How and why did you […]
by Soheil Rezayazdi on Jan 29, 2016 -
DP and Co-Director Lou Pepe on Direct Cinema and the High School Doc The Bad Kids
Lou Pepe has worked with long-time collaborator Keith Fulton ever since the two directed a feature length documentary about the making of 12 Monkeys in 1996. Their latest film, The Bad Kids, is a documentary in the American direct cinema tradition of Frederick Wiseman. In this interview with Filmmaker, DP and co-director Pepe discusses the difficulties of shooting direct cinema with a single camera, working in natural light, and scheduling around teenagers. The film premiered in the U.S. Documentary section of the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the […]
by Soheil Rezayazdi on Jan 28, 2016 -
“We Got Attacked by the Taliban”: Pieter-Jan De Pue on Sundance Doc The Land of the Enlightened
Belgian filmmaker and photographer Pieter-Jan De Pue makes his feature film and Sundance debut with The Land of the Enlightened. Shot over five years in Afghanistan, the documentary tracks a group of Kuchi children who unearth old Soviet land mines and sell them to child workers at a nearby mine. De Pue shot, edited and directed the film. Below, he shares stories of a dramatic, at times violent production that placed him and his crew in the Taliban’s crosshairs. The Land of the Enlightened had its world premiere at Sundance 2016 in the World Cinema Documentary Competition. Filmmaker: How and why […]
by Soheil Rezayazdi on Jan 28, 2016 -
Five Questions for Southside with You Writer/Director Richard Tanne
Intriguing for its logline alone, Southside with You raised considerable interest when it was announced as a Sundance selection. Telling the true story of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Robinson’s first date in Chicago in 1989, the film features the leader of the free world at a moment in time where things were perhaps not as high-stakes for him as they are now. Bonding over ice-cream and shared interests, that fateful date would prove to be a more important outing than the lovers could have initially realized. As the film prepared to make its world premiere, director Richard Tanne discussed the […]
by Erik Luers on Jan 28, 2016 -
“The Camera Lens Was Almost Touching the Puppet’s Face”: DP Joe Passarelli on Anomalisa
Joe Passarelli has spent the last decade serving as a cinematographer and electrician on more than 30 shorts, features and TV series. In 2015, he had his breakout film with Anomalisa, the long-awaited stop-motion feature written and co-directed by Charlie Kaufman. Below, Passarelli speaks with Filmmaker about the film’s singular visual design, which seeks to capture the mood of its troubled protagonist Michael Stone. This interview was conducted in conjunction with “Behind the Scenes of Anomalisa,” a panel at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to […]
by Soheil Rezayazdi on Jan 28, 2016 -
“No Secret Is Without Complications”: Director Jon Shenk | Audrie & Daisy
In every film, there is the story that you knew you were telling, the story the audience perceives. But there is always some other story, a secret story. It might be the result of your hidden motivations for making the film, or, instead, the result of themes that only became clear to you after you made the movie. It might be something very personal, or it might be a story you didn’t even know you were telling. What is your film’s secret story? Audrie & Daisy tells the story of two teenage girls who went to parties, drank alcohol, passed […]
by Soheil Rezayazdi on Jan 28, 2016 -
Sundance Dispatch 4: Certain Women, Love & Friendship and Indignation
Even by Kelly Reichardt’s disciplined standards, Certain Women brings the rigor. Opening credits are laid over a overhead static shot of a train making its way from the frame’s upper right corner to the bottom left; not quite James Benning’s RR, but that gives some idea of Reichardt’s patience. The “certain women” of Montana have their stories told in three basically discrete segments (there are overlapping characters between each, but no greater cohesion as far as I could tell at first pass). Lawyer Laura (Laura Dern) represents an injured construction worker; unable to get the settlement he deserves, he takes a hostage for leverage. Laura’s sleeping with Ryan Lewis […]
by Vadim Rizov on Jan 28, 2016 -
DP Mackenzie Mathis on Slamdance World Premiere Chemical Cut
A cinematographer on nearly a dozen shorts since 2008, Mackenzie Mathis makes his debut as a feature film DP with Chemical Cut. The film, written and directed by America’s Next Top Model contestant Marjorie Conrad, held its world premiere at Slamdance 2016. In this interview, Mathis discusses his influences and technique as a DP. 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? Mathis: I was introduced to Marjorie Conrad through our producer Barret Hacia, for whom I’d shot a short film some years back. Marjorie […]
by Soheil Rezayazdi on Jan 28, 2016 -
“Like Illustrations from a Children’s Book”: DP Kuba Kijowski on Sundance Entry The Lure
Jakub “Kuba” Kijowski has served as cinematographer on two feature-length films: 2013’s Floating Skyscrapers and The Lure, aWorld Cinema Dramatic Competition selection at Sundance 2016. Kijowski has also acted as a camera operator on a number of short films, including the Oscar-nominated In Darkness. Below, he discusses the fairy tale and musical-like aesthetic he sought to achieve for Agnieszka Smoczynska’s The Lure. 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? Kijowski: I actually didn’t know the director, Agnieszka Smoczynska very well. We […]
by Soheil Rezayazdi on Jan 28, 2016
