Sundance Film Festival 2025
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“The Power of Sounds, Spells, and the Sublime Unknown”: Editor Brett W. Bachman on Rabbit Trap
Set in 1976, writer-director Bryn Chainey’s Rabbit Trap follows a couple (Dev Patel and Rosy McEwen) who decide to move to a house in the Welsh countryside. Musicians by trade, they unwittingly unleash an eldritch horror through the songs that they make, culminating in an eerie, unnamed child showing up at their doorstep. Below, Bachman speaks about the two dominant ideas kept in mind while cutting Rabbit Trap, the intense sound design process and the importance of trusting one’s audience. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 24, 2025 -
“Knowing How to Take Feedback Is an Art”: Editor Lev Lewis on Dead Lover
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“The Camera Team Was Also the SFX Team”: DP Rhayne Vermette on Dead Lover
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“We All Brought Something Unique to the Table” | Rashad Frett, Ricky
Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? The most significant day for me was when my editor, Daysha Broadway; my co-writer, Lin Que Ayoung; and I gathered at an amazing restaurant in Chinatown to brainstorm and finetune the film’s edit. Over delicious food, laughter and deep conversation, we made key adjustments that truly elevated the project. That moment of collaboration felt […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 24, 2025 -
16 Films We’re Anticipating at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival
The penultimate edition in its long-running Park City location, the Sundance Film Festival began today, and, as I note every year, the event is a bellwether when it comes to an assessment of the American independent film scene. The acquisitions scorecard will influence the decisions of future film investors, the films premiering here will be eagerly and instantly viewed by festival programmers the world over, and, we hope, promising new directorial careers will be launched. And that’s in addition to perhaps the largest goal, which is for films here to make bracing, uplifting, healing, disturbing, entertaining, provocative and necessary statements […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 23, 2025 -
“Interrotrons Can Be a Real Drain on Production”: DP David Jacobson on Pee-wee as Himself
Filmed before his death in 2023, Pee-wee as Himself, an episodic project from documentary filmmaker Matt Wolf, chronicles the life and legacy of performer Paul Reubens via intimate interviews and a wealth of archival material. Cinematographer David Jacobson discusses his involvement on the project, including meeting Wolf at their alma mater, the influence of technicolor on the shoot and incorporating Errol Morris’s Interrotron technology for the interviews. 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 […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 23, 2025 -
“Sisyphean, but Ultimately Fortuitous” | James Sweeney, Twinless
Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? Positive memories become idealized the more we retell them, and the negative ones vice versa—so I am hesitant to single out a most memorable day, because then it becomes canon… but I will answer the prompt! Being a director means making the tough decisions. My first instinct goes to the worst day, but I’m […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 23, 2025 -
“I Had to Relearn How to Look at and Respond to the World”: DP Jon Shenk on Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore
Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore trains its camera on Marlee Matlin, who became the first Deaf performer to win an Oscar when she took home Best Actress for the 1987 film Children of a Lesser God. The film is directed by Deaf director Shoshannah Stern in her directorial debut. Jon Shenk, whose previous credits include Athlete A and Ruth: Justice Ginsburg in Her Own Words, served as director of photography. Below, he explains how cinematographic techniques taken for granted when shooting with hearing actors and spoken dialogue cannot be implemented when shooting Deaf conversations and how he and Stern adjusted their filmic language. See all […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 23, 2025 -
“Listening to Them Blew My Mind” | Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Sly Lives
Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? There are two days that stand out. The first one is located not in this movie, even, but in my last film, Summer of Soul, which featured a performance by Sly and the Family Stone at the Harlem Cultural Festival in 1969. The energy of that performance leapt past that film and stayed with […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 23, 2025 -
“Amanda’s Approach is About Eclecticism”: Editor Benjamin Shearn on By Design
By Design is the latest feature film by Amanda Kramer, best known for Please Baby Please and Ladyworld. The film will premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival as part of the NEXT section. Benjamin Shearn, who has edited all of Kramer’s feature films, joined her once again in the cutting room for By Design. Below, he explains how his close friendship with Kramer helps him retain the magic in the edit. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 23, 2025
