Sundance Film Festival
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“Swap Skywalker Out With a Black Kid”: Director JD Dillard | Sleight
In every film, there is the story that you knew you were telling, the story the audience perceives. But there is always some other story, a secret story. It might be the result of your hidden motivations for making the film, or, instead, the result of themes that only became clear to you after you made the movie. It might be something very personal, or it might be a story you didn’t even know you were telling. What is your film’s secret story? Pushing for diversity in the movie wasn’t necessarily a mandate of ours, but when Alex and I […]
by Soheil Rezayazdi on Jan 24, 2016 -
“A Film Reveals Itself As You Go Along”: Director Kelly Reichardt | Certain Women
In every film, there is the story that you knew you were telling, the story the audience perceives. But there is always some other story, a secret story. It might be the result of your hidden motivations for making the film, or, instead, the result of themes that only became clear to you after you made the movie. It might be something very personal, or it might be a story you didn’t even know you were telling. What is your film’s secret story? I don’t exactly recall what film I thought I was going to make when I started on […]
by Soheil Rezayazdi on Jan 24, 2016 -
“Targeting Women of Color”: Director Dawn Porter | Trapped
In every film, there is the story that you knew you were telling, the story the audience perceives. But there is always some other story, a secret story. It might be the result of your hidden motivations for making the film, or, instead, the result of themes that only became clear to you after you made the movie. It might be something very personal, or it might be a story you didn’t even know you were telling. What is your film’s secret story? I was very attracted to this story as not just a story about choice, but about political […]
by Soheil Rezayazdi on Jan 24, 2016 -
“To Portray Life as Joyful and Dynamic Amid the Horror”: Director Anna Rose Holmer | The Fits
In every film, there is the story that you knew you were telling, the story the audience perceives. But there is always some other story, a secret story. It might be the result of your hidden motivations for making the film, or, instead, the result of themes that only became clear to you after you made the movie. It might be something very personal, or it might be a story you didn’t even know you were telling. What is your film’s secret story? One of the secrets I discovered while making The Fits was that it was a lot more […]
by Soheil Rezayazdi on Jan 24, 2016 -
DP Sheldon Chau on Shooting Run-and-Gun in New York for Sundance Short Jungle
Hailing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Sheldon Chau has served as a cinematographer on 30 short films and two features since 2011. For Jungle, he collaborates with fellow NYU student Asantewaa Prempeh to tell the story of two Senegalese street vendors in New York City. Below, Chau discusses the everyday obstacles of shooting in the concrete jungle of NYC. 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? Chau: The director Asantewaa Prempeh (Sante) and I have been good friends for over a year […]
by Soheil Rezayazdi on Jan 23, 2016 -
“From the Other Side of Reality”: Director Ciro Guerra | Embrace of the Serpent
In every film, there is the story that you knew you were telling, the story the audience perceives. But there is always some other story, a secret story. It might be the result of your hidden motivations for making the film, or, instead, the result of themes that only became clear to you after you made the movie. It might be something very personal, or it might be a story you didn’t even know you were telling. What is your film’s secret story? During the writing process, I dove deeply into Amazonian myth and narrative, looking for ways to infuse […]
by Soheil Rezayazdi on Jan 23, 2016 -
Sundance Dispatch 1: Morris From America, Operation Avalanche and NUTS!
Chad Hartigan’s Morris From America has an unpromising logline, but so did his previous feature, This is Martin Bonner (an unlikely friendship between two men looking for redemption etc. etc.), and that turned out pretty well, so I wasn’t worried. Morris is a coming-of-age crowdpleaser, in the vein of “it’s been 18 years since Rushmore, but this version is different because…” (Son of Rambow, Submarine, et al.). I know a lot of people (I’m one of them, no shade implied) who find a deep satisfaction in action movies novel only in their details and crispness of execution while placing no value upon originality per se. That’s a principle which, of […]
by Vadim Rizov on Jan 23, 2016 -
Director/DP Nanfu Wang on Sundance Doc Hooligan Sparrow and the Perils of Political Filmmaking in China
Nanfu Wang makes her debut as a feature film director and cinematographer in Hooligan Sparrow, a documentary profile of human rights activist Ye Haiyan. The film, which participated in IFP’s Filmmaker Lab and the Sundance Institute’s Creative Producing Summit and Lab, is the work of a self-proclaimed “one-woman-band.” Here, Wang discusses her many run-ins with government agents and the intimidation she felt as a filmmaker highlighting political dissent in China. 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? Wang: When I […]
by Soheil Rezayazdi on Jan 23, 2016 -
Cinematographer Clair Popkin on Sundance Doc Jim: The James Foley Story
A New York-based cinematographer and camera operator, Clair Popkin has worked on such shows as Louie, 30 for 30, and Park Bench with Steve Buscemi. In 2015, he served as cinematographer for the HBO film Living with Lincoln, which was co-directed by Brian Oakes, the director of Jim: The James Foley Story. Below, Popkin discusses his unobtrusive visual approach to depicting the life of James Foley, a reporter who was held hostage and ultimately died in Syria in 2014. 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 […]
by Soheil Rezayazdi on Jan 23, 2016 -
“A Secret World of Doppelgängers and Demons”: Director Stephen Kijak | We Are X
In every film, there is the story that you knew you were telling, the story the audience perceives. But there is always some other story, a secret story. It might be the result of your hidden motivations for making the film, or, instead, the result of themes that only became clear to you after you made the movie. It might be something very personal, or it might be a story you didn’t even know you were telling. What is your film’s secret story? I had never heard of X Japan. When I came on board, there was a brief treatment […]
by Soheil Rezayazdi on Jan 23, 2016
