Sundance Film Festival 2025
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“It’s Wonderful to Aim for the Poetic”: Editor Julian Hart on Never Get Busted
Never Get Busted documents a decorated narcotics officer in Texas turn toward libertarianism as he aims to expose police misconduct and helps drug users slip under the radar. The docuseries, more than five years in the making, takes its name from the YouTube channel of its subject, Barry Cooper. Never Get Busted will screen at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival as part of the episodic pilot showcase. Below, editor Julian Hart extols the benefits that split screens had on his projects and shares what he has learned working for a diverse assortment of projects. See all responses to our annual Sundance […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 28, 2025 -
“We Did Not Lose Our Love for Our City” | Timeea Mohamed Ahmed & Rawia Alhag, Khartoum
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? Timeea Mohamed Ahmed: I’ll never forget the day I shot a green screen reconstruction with Jawad, the “Rasta” Sufi biker, my subject, from a moment of his experience in the war. We were recreating the moment he learned his close friend had been killed. We thought we were prepared—both of us—but when the camera […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 27, 2025 -
“A Constant Atmosphere of Uncertainty and Caution”: DPs Anas Saeed, Ibrahim Snoopy & Phil Cox on Khartoum
Anas Saeed, Rawia Alhag, Ibrahim Snoopy, and Timeea Ahmed are among the 10 million+ people who have been displaced by the ongoing Sudanese Civil War. In Khartoum, they work with British director Phil Cox and five displaced Sudanese to reenact their stories. The film combines studio recreations with documentary footage shot in Sudan. Below, Snoopy, Saeed, and Cox, all of whom served as cinematographers, talk both about the logistical difficulties and the aesthetic goals of Khartoum. 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 […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 27, 2025 -
“Forgetting the Camera Was Rolling, It Hit Me”: DPs Neema Sadeghi & Nicholas Bupp on Serious People
In Serious People, a music video director hires a doppelganger to take his place at work after he learns that his wife is pregnant. The film, co-directed by Pasqual Gutierrez and Ben Mullinkosson, is inspired by Gutierrez’s own expectant fatherhood and is a 2025 Sundance Film Festival NEXT selection. Neema Sadeghi (Noel Miller: Stop Crying) and Nicholas Bupp (Aporia, Salam) served as co-cinematographers. Below, they talk about working without a crew and contrasting a calm visual style with a mounting sense of narrative tension. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 27, 2025 -
“The Onus Always Comes Back to Producers’ Creativity”: Producer Colleen Cassingham on Life After
Life After is an investigation into the whereabouts of Elizabeth Bouvia, whose request for medically assisted in dying in 1983 kicked off a debate that still rages today. The film is Reid Davenport’s follow-up to the 2022 Sundance film I Didn’t See You There and screens as part of the festival’s U.S. Documentary Competition. The film is also the first producer credit for Colleen Cassingham. Below, she talks about being challenged by her film’s subject matter, navigating conundrums of documentary ethics, and the overlapping crises in the industry. See all responses to our annual Sundance first-time producer interviews here. Filmmaker: How […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 27, 2025 -
“Bringing Light to Darkness Does Motivate My Choice”: Editor Don Bernier, Life After
Reid Davenport’s follow-up to I Didn’t See You There probes the intersection between disability rights and medical assistance in dying in relation to the case of Elizabeth Bouvia, who started a national conversation about the issue in 1983 that persists to this day. The film screens in the 2025 Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. Documentary Competition. Don Bernier (Athlete A, An Inconvenient Sequel) served as the film’s editor. Below, he explains how working on Life After altered his view on the subject and connects the fine arts and experimental film that sparked his interest in film with documentary editing. See all responses to our […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 27, 2025 -
“Sudden Twists and Turns Are What Support the Core Idea”: Producers Sara Khaki & Mohammadreza Eyni on Cutting Through Rocks
Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni directed, shot, edited and produced their debut feature, Cutting Through Rocks, about an Iranian councilwoman who uses her position to advocate for the rights of women and girls in her village. The film screens as part of the World Cinema Documentary Competition at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Below, Khaki and Eyni respond in their capacity as producers about the process of finding funding while sticking with their subjects. See all responses to our annual Sundance first-time producer interviews here. Filmmaker: How did you connect with this filmmaker and wind up producing the film? Khaki & Eyni: […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 27, 2025 -
“We Were the First Audience for Our Editing Work”: Editors Sara Khaki & Mohammadreza Eyni on Cutting Through Rocks
In Cutting Through Rocks, directors Mohammadreza Eyni and Sara Khaki follow Iranian councilwoman Sarah Shahverdi, who teaches girls to ride motorcycles and uses her position to try to end child marriages. Cutting Through Rocks screens as part of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival’s World Cinema Documentary Competition. Eyni and Khaki, besides directing, also served as the film’s editors. Below, they explain their method for editing in parallel and how they combed through 200 hours of footage. 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 […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 27, 2025 -
“The Story was Unfolding in Real Time”: Editor Emelie Mahdavian on Heightened Scrutiny
Heightened Scrutiny documents ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio as he fights of transgender rights in the courtroom, as well as the battles waged outside the courtroom by those advocating for their rights. The film is director Sam Feder’s follow-up to 2020’s Disclosure and screens as part of the Sundance Premieres section. Emelie Mahdavian, whose previous credits include Midnight Traveler and Singing in the Wilderness, served as the film’s editor. Below, Mahdavian talks about the challenges of editing a film whose story is unfolding outside the editing room in real time. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 27, 2025 -
“This Shoot Collapsed That Separation Completely” | Reid Davenport, Life After
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? For me, the most significant day in the course of making this film was the very last day of production. We had planned a simple pick-up shoot to grab some b-roll of me doing research in my apartment in my role as filmmaker-investigator. Almost at the last minute, I decided I wanted to film […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 27, 2025
