Sundance

“Be as Sincere About the Complexity and the Ambiguity of Our Emotions as Possible” | Carlota Pereda, Piggy

The last two years have prompted much contemplation and reconsideration of the reasons why we make our films as well as the ways in which we make them. What aspect of your filmmaking—whether in your creative process, the way you finance your films, your production methodology or the way you relate to your audience—did you have to reinvent in order to make and complete the film you are bringing to the festival this year? I felt the need to be more honest, more truthful to the nature of my characters, to dig deeper into the theme of my movies. It […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 24, 2022
“We Wanted to Avoid the Usual Thriller Look”: Rita Noriega on Piggy

Piggy follows a heavily bullied teen living in a small Spanish Town sees her tormenters kidnapped. Feeling grateful for the perpetrator who saved her, she refuses to tell police what she saw. Horror and social commentary are inseparable in Piggy, which tackles questions of justice and small-town morality. Below, cinematographer Rita Noriega emphasizes how she avoided aesthetics more commonly associated with thrillers and how the film has changed since its first incarnation as a short film. 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 […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 24, 2022
“The ‘COVID Coordinator’ Became an Essential Team Member” | Kathleen Hughes & Abigail Disney, The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales

The last two years have prompted much contemplation and reconsideration of the reasons why we make our films as well as the ways in which we make them. What aspect of your filmmaking—whether in your creative process, the way you finance your films, your production methodology or the way you relate to your audience—did you have to reinvent in order to make and complete the film you are bringing to the festival this year? Disney: Early in the pandemic, I descended pretty quickly into an identity crisis as a filmmaker. I wondered what would happen to film when it can […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 24, 2022
“The Problem Is Getting More and More Urgent”: Editor David Cohen on The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales

Abigail E. Disney, the granddaughter of Walt Disney Company co-founder Roy O. Disney, has spoken out against the treatment of Disney employees and the compensation of Disney executives in the past; with The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales, she and co-director Kathleen Hughes investigate the poor working conditions and hand-to-mouth living of Disneyland workers and the riches of Disney CEO Bob Iger. Editor David Cohen explains how he shaped the footage into a narrative and the constant evolution of Abigail Disney’s role in front of the camera. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 24, 2022
“I Was Just Desperate to Bottle up My Wonderful Dad Somehow”: DP Ondi Timoner on Last Flight Home

After a patient in California makes a Death With Dignity request, there is a 15-day wait until that request can be filled. Ondi Timoner’s Last Flight Home was filmed during that period, when Timoner’s father said his final goodbyes to his family. As Timoner, who also served as the director of photography, describes, she attempted to be as unobtrusive as possible while filming, but her footage captures the pain of losing a loved one, as well as the solace a family finds in itself in such moments. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 24, 2022
Sundance 2022 Critic’s Notebook: Dos Estaciones, Meet Me in the Bathroom

In the opening sequence of Juan Pablo González’s second feature, Dos Estaciones, DP Gerardo Guerra’s Steadicam roves a tequila farm’s fields as workers chop down agave plants; when they pause for lunch, the camera pans equally slowly, seemingly without planning, to bring whoever’s speaking into frame. In these opening moments, Dos Estaciones could be any one of a number of post-Lisandro Alonso films composed of tracking shots, slow pans and nonprofessional performances by Latin American laborers, differentiated only by the skill and specifics of their execution. A static shot then introduces farm owner, Maria Garcia (Teresa Sánchez), trying and failing to start her […]
by Vadim Rizov on Jan 24, 2022
“I Feel So Blessed That Somehow My Father’s Brilliance Was Captured”: Editor Ondi Timoner on Last Flight Home

When Ondi Timoner began to film her family and her father as he waited the obligatory 15 days before opting for death with dignity, she never intended to make a feature-length documentary. As she spent more time with the footage, however, she realized that she had captured something that is paradoxically both rare, in that it is infrequently discussed and depicted, and universal, in its confrontation of death. Timoner answered questions about undergoing that journey and what she learned as she repeatedly watched and edited the scene of her own father’s death. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 24, 2022
“Make Choices With the Edit to Sculpt and Reveal an Inherent Truth”: Harrison Atkins on Emily the Criminal

A financially precarious temp worker effectively locked out of a stable job due to a minor criminal record takes a black market gig buying goods with stolen credit cards in Emily the Criminal. As its logline suggests, the film examines the gig economy and class structure in America, and editor Harrison Atkins discusses how he shaped the film to approach that film with anger rather than numbness 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? Atkins: I’ve been working […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 24, 2022
“I Had to Look Inward and Accept the Uncertainty” | John Patton Ford, Emily the Criminal

The last two years have prompted much contemplation and reconsideration of the reasons why we make our films as well as the ways in which we make them. What aspect of your filmmaking—whether in your creative process, the way you finance your films, your production methodology or the way you relate to your audience—did you have to reinvent in order to make and complete the film you are bringing to the festival this year? Where to begin with that question? First off, we closed financing in March of 2020. After years of trying, I finally got the money to make […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 24, 2022
“We chose to embrace the armpits of Los Angeles”: DP Jeff Bierman on Emily the Criminal

In John Patton Ford’s Emily the Criminal, a woman saddled with student debt and minimal job prospects owing to a minor criminal record turns toward the black market to make her living. As cinematographer Jeff Bierman explains, capturing the unglamorous Los Angeles the protagonist inhabits in the August heat was a crucial part of emphasizing the gulf between the dream of success and the reality of pursuing it. 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? Bierman: John and I […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 24, 2022

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