Sundance Film Festival
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“I Wanted Viewers to Meet People Before They Become News Stories”: Jessica Beshir on Faya Dayi
Filmed in the highlands of Harar, Ethiopia, Jessica Beshir’s Faya Dayi is a deeply personal project for the Mexican-Ethopian director. Having left her home city of Harar in tenth grade, the now-Brooklyn-based Beshir travelled back and forth between America and Ethiopia for a decade to spend time with family and gather material for the film, which now competes in Sundance’s World Cinema Documentary section. The film provides an contemplative portrait of Harar and the people that live in and around it, using its focus on the harvest and trade of the “khat” plant—a chewable stimulant that has become the country’s […]
by Matt Turner on Feb 1, 2021 -
“We Needed a Visual Approach that Would Match the Poetry of Mr. Ailey’s Words”: Jamila Wignot on Ailey
With Jamila Wignot’s documentary Ailey opening today from NEON, we are reposting Randy Astle’s interview with the director out of the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. Alvin Ailey’s choreography was as powerful and muscular as it was elegant and sublime. Most dance outsiders probably come to him through his most famous work, 1960’s Revelations, which exemplifies the fierce pride of the Black community moving from slavery through baptism and into celebration. The work also includes delicate and restrained moments, such as in an early pas de deux, where a slowly raised arm contains all the beauty of a the later exultation. […]
by Randy Astle on Feb 1, 2021 -
“Forgiveness, Empathy and Healing Are Actions the World Needs Right Now”: Editor Yang-Hua Hu on Mass
Fran Kranz’s Mass is the rare film that explores the aftermath of a tragedy rather than the tragedy itself. Some years after the events of a school shooting, the parents of a victim (Jason Isaacs and Martha Plimpton) plan to meet the parents of the perpetrator (Reed Birney and Ann Dowd). Editor Yang-Hua Hu shares what it was like to practice restraint in the film’s edit but still maintain interest in a movie with a mostly static setting. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 1, 2021 -
“Toes the Line Between Dreams and Reality”: DP Tyler Davis on Strawberry Mansion
Kentucker Audley and Albert Birney’s surreal sci-fi romantic comedy Strawberry Mansion reimagines the dystopia as something shockingly similar to our own world: a society where even our dreams are plagued with marketing and advertisement. DP Tyler Davis shares what the team took from music videos and fantasy films like The NeverEnding Story to capture their dreamy, fantastical vision. 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? Davis: In early 2019 I met Albert Birney (one of the directors, along with Kentucker Audley, […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 1, 2021 -
“My Day Rate Was Cheap (Because It Didn’t Exist)”: DP Manuel Crosby on First Date
Hearkening back to coming-of-age movies like Superbad, Manuel Crosby and Darren Knapp’s First Date feels comfortingly familiar as both a thriller and a comedy. After buying a questionable ’65 Chrysler, Mike’s (Tyson Brown) first date with Kelsey (Shelby Duclos) snowballs into an epic night of cop chases, criminals, and cat ladies. DP and co-director Manuel Crosby explains what it was like filming a late night thriller with an ’90s style on a budget. 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? […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 1, 2021 -
“We Wanted to Be as Close to Jackson as We Possibly Could”: DP Adolpho Veloso on Jockey
Clint Bentley’s Jockey is a naturalistic look at horse racing, a sport that some might say is in an extended twilight period. The film stars Clifton Collins Jr. as Jackson, an experienced jockey who may be forced to retire as his health begins deteriorating. His life turns upside down when a young jockey (Moisés Arias) arrives to the scene claiming to be Jackson’s son. DP Adolpho Veloso explains how they shot the sport in a respectful but honest way and the benefit of shooting in the colorful landscape of Arizona. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 1, 2021 -
“You Learn a New Language From Scratch Each Time”: Editor Annukka Lilja on Ailey
Jamila Wignot’s Ailey explores the life of seminal choreographer Alvin Ailey in poetic manner. With a heartbeat as studied as Ailey’s jazz-dance that made him famous. Editor Annukka Lilja explores the seamless collaboration between herself and Wignot and her method of approaching documentary much the way she would a fictional film. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job Lilja: The producer Lauren DeFilippo knew me through my longtime collaborators David Alvarado and Jason Sussberg, whose three feature documentary films I […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 1, 2021 -
“Most of the Atmosphere Was Fully Created on Set”: DP PJ López on Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided Go For It
Rita Moreno stands as one of the rare few entertainers to attain EGOT status. Mariem Pérez Riera intimate documentary on the West Side Story star the racism Moreno faced as a Puerto Rican immigrant with aplomb, featuring interviews other iconic entertainers such as Gloria Estefan, Whoopi Goldberg and Eva Longoria. DP PJ López discusses how they captured the authentic essence of a beloved figure in movie history. 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? López: I had already worked with […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 1, 2021 -
“Chaotic Comedy and Intense Action”: Editor Zach Passero on First Date
Hearkening back to coming-of-age movies like Superbad, Manuel Crosby and Darren Knapp’s First Date feels comfortingly familiar as both a thriller and a comedy. After buying a questionable ’65 Chrysler, Mike’s (Tyson Brown) first date with Kelsey (Shelby Duclos) snowballs into an epic night of cop chases, criminals, and cat ladies. Editor Zach Passero explains how they snipped a nearly three hour cut down while preserving the movie’s irrepressible personality. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? Passero: I came onboard after Darren and Manuel had edited a 2 hour 45 minute cut. They were […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 1, 2021 -
“The Longer Schedule Forced Us to Think More Deeply”: Directors Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli | Violation
How did events of 2020—any of them—change your film, either in the way you approached it, produced it, post-produced it, or are now thinking about it? COVID-19 nearly derailed us in post-production, but the longer schedule forced us to think more deeply about the story we were telling and the way we told it. A film is shaped many times—on the page, by the actors in rehearsals, during production, and then again in the edit room. The extra time gave us space to breathe and see new ways of telling our story that we might have rushed past were it […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 1, 2021
