Sundance Film Festival 2025
-
“I Wanted to Make Sure the Energy of the Place Was Preserved”: Editor Chelsi Johnston on Sunfish
-
“It Might Yield Something Truly Beautiful” | Clint Bentley, Train Dreams
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? I think it would have to be the first scene we shot. We were filming in a beautiful cabin we had built on location in eastern Washington, and Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones were just starting to bring their characters to life. What was scripted as a simple dialogue-free moment naturally grew into a […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 26, 2025 -
“You’d Be Surprised How Happy People Are to Talk About the Best Times in Their Lives”: Elegance Bratton on His Sundance-Debuting Doc, Move Ya Body: The Birth of House
“A good party knows no fucking sexual orientation, no race, no socioeconomic background,” notes Vince Lawrence, the very first person to record a house song and the main protagonist in Elegance Bratton’s Sundance-debuting Move Ya Body: The Birth of House. That a global movement could be traced back to a rather nerdy Black youngster raised in the segregated world of Mayor Daley’s Chicago is just one surprising element in this lovingly crafted music history lesson. (Less surprising is the number of white folks who would also like to take credit.) But perhaps most remarkable is that through a combination of […]
by Lauren Wissot on Jan 26, 2025 -
“These Two Worlds Couldn’t Be More Opposite”: DP Tobias Schliessler on Kiss of the Spider Woman
In Kiss of the Spider Woman, director Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, Gods and Monsters) of the 1985 film of the same name amid Argentina’s Dirty War. Set partially in a prison as Molina (Tonatiuh) recounts his favorite Hollywood musical to his cellmate Valentin (Diego Luna), the film blends period realism with Technicolor glamor. Tobias Schliessler, who has also worked frequently with Peter Berg, served as director of photography on the production, his seventh time working with Condon. Below, he explains how he altered his lighting, equipment, and style to contrast the film’s 1981 prison scenes with its musical sequences, which seek […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 26, 2025 -
“Moviemaking Goes Hand-in-Hand with Collaboration” | Sophie Brooks, Oh, Hi!
-
“That Call Was Almost as Exciting as the Good News Call from Sundance” | Sierra Falconer, Sunfish (& Other Stories on Green Lake)
-
“Anything That Does a Good Job Everywhere Can’t Do a Great Job Anywhere”: DP Marcus Patterson on Sunfish
In Sundance U.S. Dramatic Competition premiere Sunfish (& Other Stories on Green Lake), the lives of a girl learning to sail, a musician, two sisters running a bed-and-breakfast and a fisherman intersect in the eponymous Northern Michigan locale. The film, the debut feature by Sierra Falconer was shot largely on location. Below, cinematographer Marcus Patterson (Soukoon) discusses his influences for the film’s look and how he plans around budget limitations without compromising his ambitions. 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 […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 26, 2025 -
“To Evoke Those Deep Emotional Layers With Utmost Honesty”: DP Vikas Urs on Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears)
-
“A Process of Small but Important Adjustments”: Editor Anadi Athaley on Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears)
-
“I Wanted to Always be Receptive to Inspiration on the Day”: DP Conor Murphy on Oh, Hi!
