Sundance Film Festival 2025
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“Merging Aesthetic Elements and Practical Considerations”: DP Patrick Jones on By Design
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“We Kept the Space Very Intimate for Our Subjects”: DP Laura Goncalves on Sly Lives
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s follow-up to the Oscar-winning Summer of Soul will premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festiva’s Premieres section. The film combines archival footage with new interviews to examine the legacy and music of Sly and the Family Stone. Laura Goncalves, who served as director of photography, explains her personal connection to the project and how she used the Interrotron to help create private, intimate spaces for interviewees. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? Goncalves: I believe I was born to shoot this […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 23, 2025 -
“We Filmed a Baby Being Born” | Dea Kulumbegashvili, April
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 important day on set, not only while making April but also my previous films, is the day when we filmed a baby being born. We have prepared for this day for months, we thought we were ready. However when we actually witnessed and were able to grasp the moment of birth, it was […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 23, 2025 -
“It Was the Movie I’d Been Waiting For”: DP Paul Meyers on Omaha
Sundance 2025 U.S. Dramatic Competition entry Omaha follows a father and his two young children on a cross-country journey that follows an unexpected family tragedy. The film is the feature debut of Cole Webley after a series of shorts and commercials. Making the leap to features alongside Webley is his frequent partner Paul Meyers, who served as DP on Omaha. Below, Meyers elaborates on the challenges of shooting a film with child actors and how it necessitated an ingenious solution to a day-for-night sequence. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 23, 2025 -
“Budget a Worst-Case Scenario and Then Do Better”: Producers Ivan Unkovski and Ivana Shekutkoska on DJ Ahmet
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“Set is a Pretty Box That Holds Me” | Amanda Kramer, By Design
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“I Realized We Were Going to Make this Film No Matter What” | Georgi Unkovski, DJ Ahmet
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“The Language of the Film Slowly Emerges in the Editing Room”: Editor Michal Reich on DJ Ahmet
A fifteen-year-old boy navigates first love, familial pressure and his newfound love of music in DJ Ahmet, premiering in the 2025 Sundance Film Festival’s World Cinema Dramatic Competition. The film is the feature debut by Sundance Short Film Program alum Georgi M. Unkovski. Michal Reich (The Ballad of Piargy) served as his former university mate’s editor. Below, he talks about moving scenes around in the edit to provide the desired emotional arc and preserving the performances of non-professional actors. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 23, 2025 -
“All of Us Cracked Up Hysterically” | Violet Du Feng, The Dating Game
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? To me, making films has been driven by the desire to express myself. But for filmmakers like me from more oppressive societies, for our films to reach audiences, we often learn to express ourselves indirectly, through metaphors, creating evocative atmospheres, or embedding subversion into narrative structures. In The Dating Game I was determined to express myself freely without […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 23, 2025 -
“A Symbol of Hope and Inspiration for Future Generations”| Emilie Blichfeldt, The Ugly Stepsister
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? Casting Elvira, the lead role in my debut feature, was a big challenge. As a fairy tale, the film demands actors capable of embracing absurdity and heightened emotions while remaining grounded in the humanity of their characters. Elvira, in particular, required a unique blend of physicality, emotional depth, innate humor, and stamina for long […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 23, 2025
