Charm City Kings,  directed by Angel Manuel Soto, took home the U.S Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast this past Saturday at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. From Executive Producers Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith, and James Lassiter, comes the story of a young man named Mouse, who hopes to take his place in the Midnight Clique, a notorious group of  dirt-bike riders in Baltimore, among whom who his late brother had ridden to glory and tragedy. To learn how the incredible performances of this award-winning cast went from set to screen, read our interview with the film’s cinematographer Katelin Arizmendi below.  Jahi appears in Charm City Kings by Angel Manuel Soto, Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute Name: Katelin Arizmendi Film: Charm City Kings (dir. Angel Manuel Soto) Competition Category: US Dramatic Competition Camera Body: Alexa XT and Alexa Mini Glass: Panavision Ultra Speed Mark II + Detuned Ultra Speeds cinema5D:  So you went the university route. How has that influenced the trajectory of your career? KA: I studied my undergrad at UC Santa Cruz which was essentially all film theory and a few experimental film classes. I shot on a 1 chip camera where I wrote, directed, acted in, and edit- ed a few weird experimental films. Needless to say, I had no idea what I was doing when I graduated and needed to continue my film studies in a more hands-on collaborative setting. The one thing I took away from my undergrad, however, was the mentality of my film teachers : “Screw Hollywood. You need to be different and experiment. Break the rules.” I think that’s carried with me through the years. I decided to study my MFA at Academy of Art University in San Francisco, mostly being lured by the chance to shoot 16mm and 35mm. Truthfully, I learned technicality of working with film cameras, but the lighting department lacked there and the way the school was structured, I ended up doing a lot of my own projects, hardly collaborating with other students. cinema5D: So grad school forced you to be really self-sufficient.  KA: Only one director asked me to shoot his thesis project, so I had to come up with ideas for the other 4 thesis films I was required to shoot. Because of this, I continued to make experimental fashion films and music videos after school to build a more interesting reel than the work that came to me from the tech-world in the bay area. Building that reel on my own led me to shoot more creative commercials and music videos at the beginning of my career. Katelin Arizmendi on the set of Charm City Kings. cinema5D: Can you pinpoint a particular movie or filmmaker that nudged you toward cinematography? KA: I was (and still am) hugely influenced by Buffalo 66. There’s something about that film quality, the stock they used, the way they held on shots, the things you don’t see, the way faces are cropped, the unintentional romance of the characters, use of slow-motion, bizarre but brilliant coverage of the scene at his parents kitchen table…I still feel all kinds of ways when I watch it today. Films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and Being John Malkovich influenced me because I felt they used experimental cinematography in a really effective way for the story, pushing the boundaries but not distracting from the narrative. You actually feel something deep and emotive from the subjective camerawork. cinema5D: Fast-forward to now, how do you like to run your camera department? KA: I like my camera and G&E departments to feel like a family. I hate egos and like to believe I don’t act above anyone on set. I’m only as good as my crew. Having like-minded people that are respectful of everyone on set, who are passionate about the project, and who bring a good attitude every day is super important to me. cinema5D: What’s your advice to directors on how to optimize their relationships with their DPs? KA: I would say I’ve worked with a various level and style of directors. Some are incredibly prepared and know exactly what they want, actually leaving little input for me. Then there’s the opposite where you feel all the weight is on your shoulders. Most I’ve worked with are some- where in between, where both of us bring ideas to the table and are willing to be challenged on why something should be shot a certain way. Having those discussions in prep, or even on set will make sure you’re always favoring the story, but still doing it in the most creative way you can. Katelin discusses a shot with director Angel Manuel Soto. cinema5D: How did you come to work on Charm City Kings? KA: Angel, who I didn’t know before, told me that when he went into his initial meetings with the studio, they asked who he wanted to shoot it and he said me. They offered up some other more experienced DPs for him to consider but his gut always came back to me. We only skyped for about 20 minutes about how we wanted to approach the movie but I think it was an instant click for us. We were on the same page from the beginning. We had the absolute best time to- gether in Baltimore. cinema5D: How did you feel about making a narrative retelling of an established documentary? KA: This was an authentic portrayal of Baltimore, ending with a positive message. I really loved the doc, but I was very cautious about making a film about such amazing subject matter…this special bike life community that could easily become a Hollywood flashy interpretation of it. I had no desire to do that. After speaking to Angel and seeing his first feature, which was incredibly raw and powerful, I knew authenticity was his number one priority. That even came down to using almost all real  Baltimore riders in the film. cinema5D: What influenced your choices in assembling the camera package? KA: I’ve always been a fan of Panavision glass and had fallen in love with the Ultra and Super Speeds from previous short films. There’s different characteristics in each lens – even the few overly warm coated focal lengths in the set have their place and use. I also knew Panavi- sion would be able to customize and work with us on some specialty lenses. We added a few detuned Ultra Speeds to increase the bloom and flares for some of the riding at night – adding to the magic of being on a bike. cinema5D:  Were there any special considerations regarding shooting the dirt-bikes?  KA: Well—first and foremost, we needed to experience being on a bike hitting twelve. That was the first thing we wanted to do when we got into prep: experience a real ride, how people interact with the bikes and riders, feel how low-key or high energy the crowd really is, whether it’s a family type event, and so on. The Sunday Ride scene in the movie needed to be as real as possible. We had Wheelie Wayne, basically the ringleader of all bike life in Baltimore, bring us to a few rides. The energy was insane. I was smiling the whole time—feeling the thrill that just comes from the sound of those bikes alone and watching these incredibly talented riders make it look effortless. I needed to feel it firsthand, so no one better to trust when hopping on the back of an ATV (doing a wheelie) than Wheelie Wayne. It was both the most invigorating and most terrifying thing I’ve ever felt. Behind the scenes of Charm City Kings. Cinematographer Katelin Arizmendi pictured kneeling back center. cinema5D: Did you and Angel watch any movies together beforehand? KA:  When it came down to Angel and I pulling references and coming up with shot ideas, he really wanted the camera to move as much as possible for a good portion of the movie, referencing impressive oners from movies like Soy Cuba. We also watched A Prophet for the very naturalistic subjective camerawork. Angel made a huge list of films for me to watch, but when I admitted to him a few weeks into shooting that I only watched A Prophet and the rest of the nights I watched Sex in the City, he was so disappointed. But I only admitted that to him after I knew he was happy with my work on our film! I need my guilty-pleasure time you know! Ha. But truthfully, I like to have fresh ideas and fresh eyes. I don’t like overdoing the film references, or you get caught up trying to replicate someone else’s work. cinema5D:  How about during principle photography?  What was your collaboration like? KA:  Angel and I vibed from the very beginning: from being able to bounce ideas off each other all day at the office, to hanging out outside work constantly, getting tattoos together…He has an incredible knowledge of every department on set. He made me a better DP. I didn’t have a ton of experience with long choreographed oners, so many of those ideas started with him and I would add to them, favoring angles I thought would be more cinematic. I tried things like panning off Mouse when he goes down the stairs in his house and then turning the camera into his POV. You only hear him off screen, and then it pans back around to the front of him and leads him outside. I love disconnecting the visuals and audio, so I often brought ideas like that into our shot list. Katelin Arizmendi and Angel Manuel Soto on the set of Charm City Kings cinema5D: Any new tech or tools on this shoot? KA: We used a giraffe crane where our steadicam operator, Stew Cantrell, had a long steadicam shot and in the end stepped onto the crane, rising up into a high angle. It would have worked amazingly, if we weren’t running out of light and only had 2 chances at it. The street lamps started to come on and at that point it wouldn’t cut with the rest of the day scene. I wasn’t available to do the reshoots, which included much more of the chase scene, so DP Shelly Johnson (ASC) shot them. In prep, we had discussed shooting some of that scene with a remote head attached to a motorcycle, but we didn’t end up doing it in principal photography. They did use that for the reshoots, and it looks incredible. The bike can get through the narrow overgrown alleys that a russian arm could never get through. cinema5D:  What was the lighting strategy? Any location more challenging than others? KA: If you’ve ever seen Baltimore at night, it’s incredibly cinematic with a perfect mix of sodium and mercury vapor. The “Highway to Nowhere,” where Mouse escapes on his bike toward the end was already lit like that, with the perfect color separation. In other locations, where I didn’t want the sodium vapor to be the only tone, I brought in other colors like greens, blues, or white light. Many  of the interior scenes at Mouse’s house had to be lit cleverly, so the camera could roam through the space. My gaffer Russel Wicks would stick lite tile on the ceiling, tuck away litemats into the ceiling windows, and push our daylight from 18Ks through the front windows of the house. The more “general” lighting style was due to wanting to cover most scenes in one shot. The bike shop where Meek works was a bit more difficult. We had so many scenes in there. I didn’t want to be stuck with one day and one night look, so we heavily relied on Scott Dugan, our production designer, to help us with practicals. We mixed neons, fluorescents above work benches, and supplemented quasar tubes in places that would look like flourescents but would be controllable. In general, we never wanted to stray away from the colors that would be in Baltimore and didn’t bring in any unmotivated colors to any scenes. cinema5D:  Any new tech or tools on this shoot? KA: We used a giraffe crane where our steadicam operator, Stew Cantrell, had a long steadicam shot and in the end stepped onto the crane, rising up into a high angle. It would have worked amazingly if we weren’t running out of light and only had 2 chances at it. The street lamps started to come on and at that point it wouldn’t cut with the rest of the day scene. I wasn’t available to do the reshoots which included much more of the chase scene so DP Shelly John- son ASC shot them. In prep we had discussed shooting some of that scene with a remote head attached to a motorcycle but we didn’t end up doing it in principal photography. They did use that for the reshoots and it looks incredible. The bike can get through the narrow overgrown al- leys that a russian arm could never get through. cinema5D:  What about the script really made you want to work on it?  KA: Of course, I was drawn in by the bikes:  the excitement and freedom one feels of doing something so dangerous, yet so liberating…and how we could evoke that same feeling through the camerawork. The bottom line is I was drawn to the coming of age story of this well-rounded character, who was portrayed in a 3-dimensional way, which is not always seen in stories like this. Sony Classic Pictures is set to release Charm City Kings  on April 10th, 2020.  In the meantime, if you’d like to see the documentary the film is based on, you can stream 12 O’Clock Boys on Kanopy for free, if you have a valid library card or university ID.  It can also be rented on YouTube. You can read more interviews with Sundance filmmakers here. 

The Sundance Film Festival has stood the test of time as one of the most vital exhibitions of boundary-breaking storytellers and their work.  To be in Park City for those 10 days is to experience artists from all walks supporting and celebrating one another, usually in the bitter cold of a Utah winter. If it was not in your schedule or budget to make it to Park City, fear not!  Below you’ll find the links to the daily recaps of the festival, which are played the day after the events they encapsulate, right before every public  showing of the films in competition.  Hopefully, you’ll get a little kick of inspiration from these brief glimpses into what it’s like to be at the Sundance Film Festival.  (Each recap is around 1 minute.) Producer, Director, and Actor Radha Blank wins the Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic for The 40-Year-Old Version by Radha Blank at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. | photo by Jemal Countess. Day 1 Day one of the festival opened with a documentary that would take home the Audience Award for U.S. Docs 8 days later: Crip Camp. Among other opening day films was the documentary about Taylor Swift:  Lana Wilson’s Miss Americana, which you can already catch on Netflix. Day 2 Boys State,  made by Sundance sophomores Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine was the talk of Day 2.  This documentary won the most coveted prize for American non-fiction filmmakers: the U.S Grand Jury Prize for Documentary.  Ron Howard kicked off the Cinema Cafe panels for 2020.  You can catch that full conversation here. Day 3 Nanette Burstein’s documentary Hillary premiered on day three. Secretary Clinton was at the premiere. You can catch this four-part docu-series on Hulu on March 6th. Also on day 3 – Lin Manuel Miranda and Kerry Washington headed up a “Power of Story Panel” that you can watch HERE. Day 4 The first Sunday of the festival, Hillary Clinton dropped by to speak to an intimate crowd in the Filmmaker’s Lodge. Palm Springs debuted to rave reviews and landed a record breaking sale.  Max Barbakow’s romcom was picked up by Neon and Hulu for $17, 500,000.69 USD. Day 5 Edson Oda’s first feature film Nine Days starring Winston Duke premiered on day 5. This visionary debut took home the Waldo Salt screenwriting award. Day 6 It has long been a festival tradition that Wednesday is volunteer appreciation day. Volunteers wearing orange, like the ones you see in the recap below, help festival-goers get to the shuttles, scan tickets and just about anything else you can imagine to keep the festival running. There are over 2,000 volunteers every year in Park City to help out. Day 7 In this second installment of “power of story“, the theme was the people speak. At the Egyptian Theatre, poet Staceyanne Chin, actress Sian Clifford, Ethan Hawk, Celisse Henderson, Viggo Mortensen, Ntare Mbaho Guma Mwine, and Meshell Ndegeo Cello with guitarist Christopher Bruce performed pieces inspired by the work of historian Howard Zinn. Day 8 The University of Utah hosted a panel at filmmaker lodge on Destigmatize Mental Illness Through Storytelling Science and Philanthropy. There was also a panel on the new aesthetics of disability featuring sound artist Nick Ryan, who spoke about his work on the Reason I Jump. Day 9 Day 9, also known as the 2nd Saturday of the festival, ended in a much anticipated award show which you can also watch below. The Awards Show Perhaps the most exciting announcement on February 1st, was the passing of the Festival director baton to Tabitha Jackson, who has served the Sundance Institute as the Director of the Documentary Film Program since 2013.  As John Cooper passed that baton, he said, “As my final festival as director comes to a close, it has been the honor of a lifetime to stand with these artists and to see their work meet audiences for the first time.” The big winner of the night was Minari, taking home  both the U.S Grand Jury Prize and the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award. Edson Oda won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award for his feature Nine Days. If you don’t feel like watching 2 hours of an award show, the full list of winners can be found here. Day 10 Day 10 saw John Cooper’s last day presiding over the Sundance Film Festival, after an eleven year career as festival director the independent film community owes him a debt of gratitude. Have you ever been to Sundance? What do you think about indie film festivals in general in times of the big streaming services seemingly taking over everything? Let us know in the comments below. 

The Sundance Film Festival program lists Amulet as a thriller in which director Romola Garai “builds a profoundly restrained dread as she unleashes a phantasmagorical nightmare. This genre piece follows a homeless veteran in London named Tomaz, who becomes entangled in the lives of a woman and her homebound mother. The more time he spends with them, the more he suspects unnatural and otherworldly forces at play. To bring Garai’s modern folklore to the screen, DP Laura Bellingham had her work cut out for her.  Read on and discover her account of the making of Amulet.   Still from Amulet Directed by Romola Garai and shot by Laura Bellingham. Name: Laura Bellingham Film: Amulet (dir. Romola Garai) Competition Category: Midnight Camera Body: Arri Mini and Arri Amira Lenses: Cooke Speed Panchros, Angenieux Optimo, Lens Baby, & Zeiss Super Speeds for the flashbacks. cinema5D: What films inspired you to pursue a career in cinematography? LB: La Belle Et La Bête (1946, dir. Jean Cocteau, DP Henri Alekan) for its luminous B&W cinematography. Don’t Look Now (1973, dir. Nicholas Roeg, DP Anthony Richmond BSC). The Piano (1993, dir. Jane Campion, DP Stuart Dryburgh NZCS ASC) and many Powell and Pressburger films.  cinema5D: How did your education shape you as a cinematographer? LB: I went to the European Film College in Denmark followed by the National Film School in London, both invaluable in different ways. The latter empowered me to trust my instincts and be bold in the pursuit of the look that serves the project, whilst adapting to the unexpected. Prior to all this, I studied literature, which I think contributed to my story focused approach. cinema5D: Do you have any particular philosophy in regarding how you run the camera department? What do you look for when you’re hiring? LB: I’m totally narrative driven, if a story doesn’t grab me, I know I’m probably no going to do the film justice. I notice when my crew are engaged with story too, and when they are, I usually want to work with them again! I definitely seek out people who are inclusive, collaborative and mindful of others: both actors and crew alike. cinema5D: What’s your advice to directors on how to optimize their relationships with their DPs? LB: Be open and unguarded. You should feel safe with your DP to experiment and share doubts and ideas. Once shooting is underway, check in with them often, and let them know when something’s working, or not. cinema5D: How did you come to work on Amulet? LB: I’d known about the project for a while via producer Matt Wilkinson of Stigma Films, a long time collaborator, with whom I love working. I also knew Romola’s work as a writer/director and thought she was incredibly talented. When I read the script, I pulled a load of references, pretty much building a look before even getting the job. I think she sensed my enthusiasm for the world she had created. I feel very lucky to have been part of this film. cinema5D: What about the script sparked that enthusiasm? LB: The genre of the film really attracted me, as well as how it subverts expectation. I was inspired by the aesthetic of the house as an unsettled sanctuary for the protagonist Tomaz and how we might subtly alter the atmosphere to reflect his shifting psychology. cinema5D: Why did you ultimately go with the Alexa Mini and the Amira? LB: The minis gave us more options for rigging in awkward corners and cupboards for the wide angles in our location. cinema5D: And the lenses?  The Speed Panchros, combined with the Tiffen’s Soft FX filters, brought a sort of nostalgia to the gothic love scenes between Tomaz and Magda. I felt (they) connected us to the mood of some of our key references. I went for Super Speeds in the forest flashbacks to have a cooler, more acute look, which we bloomed and softened with Tiffen Low Cons, rating the camera at 1280 to get a bit more texture. cinema5D: How did you and Romola prepare during pre-production? Did you watch any movies? LB: In prep, Romola and the  production designer and I spent a lot of time together. We built a collage of reference images and watched several films together, but the go-to references were Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession, Roman Polanski’s The Tenant and Peter Strickland’s Katalin Varga. Romola and I spent a lot of time shot listing, trying to build a language for the camera that acknowledged not only the film’s horror roots, but also the perspective of Tomaz—his gaze where Magda was concerned. We wanted the camera, like the house, to feel like an impassive observer through its movement. cinema5D: How did that language carry into principle photography? LB: The image catalogue we’d built stayed with us all the way through. It became a bit of a shorthand. Romola had them in her notebook, and we printed them, so the gaffer could stick them up in the lighting truck. We knew we needed to keep abreast of the markers in Tomaz’s journey, as well as the audience’s genre-related expectations for that journey. Then, we wanted to switch things up visually to heighten the twists and turns. It kept us on our toes. cinema5D:  Any new tech or toys on this shoot? LB: No new tech,  but we enjoyed a great collaboration with our VFX team at Bait Studio who worked really creatively with us to make the VFX and creature elements feel visceral and connected to the ‘texture’ of the house. This was super interesting for me as Amulet was the most VFX heavy feature I’d worked on.Carla Juri and Alec Secareanu appear in Amulet by Romola Garai.  Courtesy of Sundance Institute cinema5D: You mentioned the Low Cons.  Is there any other go-to glass filtration in your kit? Any must-have accessories? Or mode of operation you push for? LB: Since using the soft FX on Amulet, they’ve become a favorite. In approach, I love working with two cameras when possible. Often the second camera will be free to seek out something unexpected to steer the mood. We got a lot of our slow zooms on Amulet this way. cinema5D:  How was your relationship with your gaffer? What went into the lighting strategy you devised together? LB: I met my now regular gaffer Ben Millar on this film. I’d loved his work on Lady Macbeth. He’s really imaginative and collaborative. The main challenge was establishing a solid look in a house without electricity, and working with candle and gaslight. We quickly established a logical approach of augmenting the trajectory of the natural light or exterior sodiums.  We bounced that light around corners into the darker liminal spaces and thresholds of the landing for a sort of heightened naturalism. I wanted everything to feel motivated, yet uncanny at the same time. Still from Amulet. Image courtesy of the Sundance Institute.   cinema5D: Do you negotiate involvement in post into your contract? How did that play out specifically with your DIT or the colorist? LB: Yes absolutely. On Amulet, the 709 curve served us well on the two cameras, but we had quite specific intentions over colour palette. We created subtle shifts in the sunlight hue from gels as the story progresses, so I’d work with our DIT to make sure that mood was being preserved in the dailies. cinema5D: What’s your take on where cinematography is heading? Do you find the overturn in tech a catalyst or an inhibitor in your own creativity? LB: Ah! Big question. I’d generally adhere to the philosophy that the more formats, tools and platforms available, the better…but I do think there is something unique and kinetic about filmmaking in that it’s a timed art form. As a DP, you want to be in the moment responding to the space, the actors, and committing to those choices. I think that’s how we grow. Laura Bellingham on the set of Amulet. cinema5D: What’s your advice for camera department folks that are coming up in the ranks? LB: Seek out the projects that offer opportunities to create looks you aspire to. I’ve noticed it’s a ‘like begets like’ situation, where the people who then respond to your work will have a similar aesthetic and therefore likely steer you in the direction you hope to go.

As is the case every year, the second Saturday of the Sundance Film Festival ended in a highly anticipated awards ceremony.  With acquisitions and career futures on the line, the stakes don’t get much higher.  Yet, in the spirit of the Sundance Institute, the atmosphere of the festivities is far from competitive.  Undoubtedly, many leave disappointed, but getting into Sundance is in itself an achievement, which sources a current of deep and mutual respect among the filmmakers.  Whether an audience, or a jury for that matter, responds to  a film is entirely subjective  and out of the filmmaker’s control, so why not support one another?   Therefore in that same spirit of Sundance, we invite you to celebrate those that took home awards for their work…and those who didn’t. 2019 Sundance Film Festival Awards Night. photo by Rin Ehlers Sheldon The only true guarantee in the awards for each category are the Audience Award, the Grand Jury Prize (essentially Best Picture), and the Best Direction Prize, (or in the case of NEXT, the Innovator Award).  The audiences at Sundance are given ballots as they enter a theatre to rank a film “Fair, Good, Better, or Best” upon leaving. Any other “Special Grand Jury” awards are at the discretion of the jury.  If they find a film has a quality worth celebrating, they create an award to honor the filmmaker responsible.  Here’s how the night panned out. WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize: The Souvenir, directed by Joanna Hogg.  (Acquired by 1091 Media formerly The Orchard) Tom Burke and Honor Swinton Byrne appear in The Souvenir by Joanna Hogg. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Agatha A. Nitecka. World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award: Queen of Hearts, directed by May El-Toukh Director May el-Toukhy and actor Trine Dyrhom accept the World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award for Queen of Hearts by May el-Toukhy. The two had already left Park City to show their film at another festival but sent a video acceptance speech. Photo Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Jemal Countess. World Cinema Dramatic Directing Award: The Sharks, directed by Lucia Garibaldi Director Lucía Garibaldi accepts the award for the World Cinema Dramatic Award for Directing for The Sharks. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Jemal Countess. World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award: Monos, directed by Alejandro Landes (Acquired by Neon) Alejandro Landes accepts a Special Jury Award for Monos. photo by Graham Ehlers Sheldon World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Originality: We Are Little Zombies, directed by Makoto Nagahisa Arguably, the happiest human of the night: Makoto Nagahisa. photo by Rin Ehlers Sheldon World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting: Krystyna Janda, Dolce Fine Giornata Krystyna Janda (left) appears in Dolce Fine Giornata by Jacek Borcuch, an official selection of the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Sonia Szstak. WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize: Honeyland, directed by Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov Tamara Kotevska, one half of the directing team of Honeyland. photo by Graham Ehlers Sheldon World Cinema Documentary Audience Award: Sea of Shadows, directed by Richard Ladkani A still from Sea of Shadows by Richard Ladkani. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Richard Ladkani. World Cinema Documentary Directing Award: Cold Case Hammarskjold, directed by Mads Brugger Producer Peter Engel accepts the award on behalf of director Mads Bruegger for the World Cinema Documentary Award for Directing for Cold Case Hammarskjöld. Courtesy of  Sundance Institute | photo by Jemal Countess. World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for No Borders: Midnight Traveler, directed by Hassan Fazzili Producers Su Kim and Emilie Mahdavian accept the award on behalf of director Hassan Fazzili for the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Midnight Traveller by Hassan Fazzili © 2019 Sundance Institute | photo by Jemal Countess. World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Impact for Change: Honeyland, directed by Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov Fejmi Daut and Samir Ljuma, the Macedonian cinematography duo for Honeyland. Feimi Daut was stung several times during filming. Samir was stung only once. World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Cinematography: Honeyland, cinematographers Fejmi Daut and Samir Ljuma Samir Ljuma accepts the World Documentary Special Jury award for Cinematography. Photo by Graham Sheldon U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize Award: One Child Nation, directed by Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang.  (Acquired by Amazon)  U.S. Documentary Audience Award: Knock Down the House, directed by Rachel Lears (Acquired by Netflix) A still from Knock Down The House by Rachel Lears, Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Rachel Lears U.S. Documentary Directing Award: American Factory, directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert. (Acquired by Netflix) Directors Bognar and Reichert share a kiss on the Sundance Stage after winning the Best Direction Award in their category.  photo by Rin Ehlers Sheldon U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Moral Urgency: Always in Season, directed by Jacqueline Olive Always in Season director Jacqueline Olive.  photo by Graham Ehlers Sheldon U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for an Emerging Filmmaker: Jawline, directed by Liza Mandelup Liza Mandelup, director of Jawline. Photo by Graham Ehlers Sheldon U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Editing: Apollo 11, edited by Todd Douglas Miller (Acquired by Neon) Editor Todd Douglas Miller accepts award for Apollo 11. photo by Graham Ehlers Sheldon U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Cinematography: Midnight Family, cinematographer Luke Lorentzen. Luke Lorentzen is also the director of Midnight Family. Still Courtesy of the Sundance Institute. Image by Luke Lorentzen NEXT: The Infiltrators swept both the Innovator and the Audience Award. Maynor Alvarado and Manuel Uriza appear in The Infiltrators by Cristina Ibarra and Alex Rivera. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Lisa Rinzler. U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION U.S. Dramatic Audience Award: Brittany Runs a Marathon, directed by Paul Downs Colaizzo Director of the comedy Brittany Runs A Marathon, Paul Down Colaizzo. photo by Rin Ehlers Sheldon U.S. Dramatic Directing Award: The Last Black Man in San Francisco, directed by Joe Talbot Joe Talbot dedicates his award to his life-long best friend, collaborator Jimmie Falls and to “all of the people trying to stay in San Francisco.” U.S. Dramatic Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: Share, screenplay by Pippa Bianco Pippa Bianco accepts the coveted Screenwriting Award for ,Share, which she also directed. U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Vision and Craft: Honeyboy, directed by Alma Har’el Alma directed Shia LeBeouf’s script based on his real life experiences with his father and rehabilitation. U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Creative Collaboration: The Last Black Man in San Francisco, directed by Joe Talbot. Actor Jimmie Falls accepts the award for Collaboration on behalf of The Last Black Man in San Francisco team. photo by.Graham Ehlers Sheldon. U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Achievement in Acting: Rhianne Barreto, Share. (Acquired by HBO Films in association with A24.) Rhianne Barreto appears in Share by Pippa Bianco. Still courtesy of Sundance Institute U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize Award: Clemency, directed by Chinonye Chukwu (presented by Damien Chazelle) Chinonye Chukwu receives the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize for her film Clemency Photo by Rin Ehlers Sheldon Curious about who decides the winners?  This year’s jurors were Desiree Akhavan, Damien Chazelle, Dennis Lim, Phyllis Nagy, Tessa Thompson, Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Yance Ford, Rachel Grady, Jeff Orlowski, Alissa Wilkinson, Jane Campion, Charles Gillibert, Ciro Guerra, Maite Alberdi, Nico Marzano, Véréna Paravel, Young Jean Lee, Carter Smith, Sheila Vand, and Laurie Anderson…and of course, the over 125,000 film fanatics who attended the festival.

The fishy love interest from Shape of Water has an evil cousin, and he’s here to eat you and all your millennial friends. Sweetheart is part survival, part creature feature, dripping with throwbacks to the the decade when this subgenre dominated sleepover nightmares. Image Credit: Sundance Institute Kiersey Clemons (Jenn), star of last years musical standout Heart Beats Loud (also a Sundance premiere), has the screen mostly to herself over the brisk 90 minute runtime of Sweetheart, and she doesn’t need Wilson’s help to captivate you. Director/Co-Writer, J.D. Dillard, crafts a simple setup in this Blumhouse thriller. After some post-college-prove-yourself boat trip, which is never really explained, two friends wash up on the shore of a deserted tropical island (shot in real life Fiji). The island is beautiful, but so was Fyre Island, and just like Ja Rule’s influencer victims, no one wants to stay. However, in the first two minutes of the movie, one of them becomes a permanent island resident because of well, dying there.  Spoiler: it’s not Kiersey Clemons. What’s nice about this rando named Brad’s last few flickering moments is that before he dies, he gives us our first tease of the creature, “Did you see it, too?” Jenn did not see it too, and she goes off to needlessly get him a healing coconut.  Even though retrieving this superfood is fruitless, seeing Jenn in the simple act of cracking a coconut serves its purpose. We discover that while she is maybe no survivor, Jenn is far from flimsy. Within the first five minutes of this movie, we see the seedling of a creature fighting heroine with all the strength of a Ripley or a Lara Croft, but none of the training or prowess, which is much of the fun of Sweetheart.  We watch our protagonist discover what she is capable of. The environment forces Jenn to rise to the occasion. First, she has to survive the weather and figure out where to find some gnosh. Her scavenging skills are A++, as she discovers an old campsite with SCORE! some matches and a few other useful bits and bobs. (The matches feel really convenient, but watching Jenn count the days by how many matches she has left is a clever way of tracking time for the audience.) With coconuts for thirst and fish for sustenance, Jenn buries her friend and feels like she has this whole survivor thing a little more under control. Jenn is unaware that despite watching the only other living being on the island (sweet, vacant Brad) journey to that frat house in the sky, she is not alone in this scare-adise. When a plane flies overhead, Jenn shoots a flare into the sky, seemingly to no avail… except for when the red flash falls to the ocean in the most epic homage to the creature feature of this entire film, a quick silhouette of our muscly man-shark rising out of the water. Every night that follows, Jenn finds herself on the wrong side of the hunt. When it’s finally revealed, the monster looks A LOT like Guillermo del Torro’s fish-man from Shape of Water, but with the head of a baby shark… da-doo-doo-doo-dah-doo. However, this amphibian is less interested in listening to music and making out, and way more interested in eating everything that moves. With a script light on easy answers and heavy on unsettling moments, you rarely learn much about the protagonist, but that’s okay, because what matters is the warrior she’s becoming. With very few places to hide, Jenn has to figure out how to put any barrier between herself and her hunter. There’s an attempt at using height, but all she has is a makeshift hammock. There’s an attempt at a haven, but all she can find is a hollowed out palm tree. These two scenes in particular are quite effective in giving the audience a good jump. The action unfolds across a taut line on which Jenn must balance being visible enough for rescue and covert enough to not be eaten by the predator beneath the waves. The effects are uniformly fantastic, and although the creature may be a little silly, once you see what it can do to you, and where it drags its victims, it’s easy to be onboard. The creature’s audio design elevates its impact, and may keep you out of the aquarium for quite some time. That’s not to say there isn’t a face-palm moment or two. When the addition of a few surprise human guests brings dialogue into play, you will long for moments when all we had was our star and her will to survive. While this isn’t a life-changing cinematic experience, there are still a great many elements that categorize this saltwater saga as a good fun watch. Chase scenes on the beach lit by lightning, underwater cinematography, and badass fight choreo that Kiersey Clemons absolutely slays, make this worth seeing in theatres. Be warned that if you aren’t already, you will probably become a Kiersey fanatic, as you cheer on a warrior guaranteed to become America’s next creature-crushing Sweetheart. (i.e. Badass)

Corporate Animals is a horror/comedy in the vein of The Office, but with a healthy dose of cannibalism. The majority of the film takes place in a cave (built on a soundstage) which led to a few challenges that DP, Tarin Anderson, was happy to tackle. We asked Tarin how she struck the delicate balance of lighting both a horror and a comedic film and how she shot this truly unique Sundance 2019 premiere movie.  Image Courtesy of Sundance Institute DP: Tarin Anderson Film: Corporate Animals (dir. Patrick Brice) Sundance Category: Midnight Camera: Alexa Mini Glass: Ultra Primes DP Philosophy: The story dictates the look. I believe in always putting the story first and trying to create a visual language that is specific to each story rather than doing something I’ve done before. I believe in working hard and hopefully having fun while we do it. cinema5D: What camera body did you choose for this film? Why? TA: Alexa Minis. The majority of this film is in a cave and even though it was mostly a stage build, it was still great to be able to strip the camera down and get into some small spaces and tunnels. cinema5D: What optics did you use?  TA: Ultra Primes. The director and I picked them after testing several lens sets. We loved the natural halation it gave from the headlamps. cinema5D: Did you and the director, Patrick Brice, watch any films together?  TA: Pretty much every cave movie ever shot! The challenging part creatively was that we were shooting a comedy in a cave so the goal was to still see the actors faces as much as possible even when the lights go out and we’re in “movie dark”. We spent a lot of time talking about the tone of this film. It’s a dark comedy and mostly in one location, so it was important to keep changing the look as the movie progresses to keep it interesting. cinema5D: How did you plan out your shots?  TA: We mostly shotlisted and then took stills of the more complicated sequences to help clear up our plan for all departments. cinema5D: How important was prep going into this project?  TA: Preproduction was key. Patrick and I spent a lot of time in prep laying the foundation for the visuals so that by the time we started shooting we had an established short hand and were able to move quickly and be on the same page. cinema5D: Did you use any new tech or tools for this shoot? You mentioned some type of filter that I’m not familiar with.  TA: Yes! We used the RGB LED filter from Keslow. It allowed us to slightly flare out the lens with colors that we could adjust wirelessly. We had a hallucination sequence and Patrick was open to experimenting so we tried it out. cinema5D: Talk a little about your approach to the lighting? How were you balancing the comedy/horror mixed tone?  TA: Our philosophy on this film was to get to “movie dark” while retaining faces since it is a comedy, literally and figuratively, a dark comedy. We used soft boxes overhead to keep some ambience and then used floor lights to model faces. Most lights were on a dimmer board so that we could make color temperature and intensity changes during the shot. No update yet on when you’ll be able to catch Corporate Animals if you missed it at Sundance, but stay tuned to this page for further updates. You can learn more about Tarin Anderson and her work on her website HERE. 

You may know documentary DP, Matt Porwoll, from his work on the gutsy academy award nominated documentary, Cartel Land.  We also featured him last year at Sundance for his work on the movie The Trade. He’s back at the festival with a new film, Tigerland, helmed by veteran doc director, Ross Kauffman (Born into Brothels).  Tigerland follows the fight in Russia and India to protect tigers from extinction.  Image Credit: Discovery DP: Matt Porwoll FILMS: Tigerland (dir. Ross Kauffman) SUNDANCE CATEGORY: U.S. Documentary Competition CAMERA:  Canon C300 MKII, RED Helium, DJI Osmo GLASS: Canon K35 Primes, Canon CN-E Compact Zooms DRONE:  Inspire 2 w/ RAW license DP Philosophy: As a documentary cinematographer, I always try to soak in an experience and capture it in a way that best conveys the character’s experience. This is oftentimes difficult, but it’s also what I love most about vérité documentary. The more time you spend with your characters, the more you can relate to them, and ultimately the better insight you can give to the audience. So with that, I try to build relationships with the characters that are built on trust. In the moment, I don’t like to have a lot of people in the room. Ideally, just the director, camera and sound. Many times its just camera and sound with the director watching wirelessly outside the room. The less it feels like we’re making a movie and more that we are active participants in the moment, the better off it’ll be. This approach passes down to how I like to work with the crew. When I have a camera assistant with me, I like someone who can anticipate; thinking ahead to what might come and prepare for it. I like someone who can wear many hats, because in documentary production, less is more. When I know there is someone just outside the room prepared with what I might need, while also keeping that entire process hidden from the characters, the better off the film will be. Obviously this can be a difficult endeavor, but if it can be our guiding principle, then we’ll be in good starting place when things get challenging. cinema5D: What camera body did you choose for this film? Why? MP: We chose to shoot Tigerland on the Canon C300 MKII for a variety of reasons. This was a story that begged for beautiful images shot in 4K, but also had the challenges of a vérité documentary that required flexibility in build size and an ability to hold up under harsh shooting conditions. I have been a longtime user of this camera, and have found it extremely capable of delivering on all of those requirements. On this film, both Ross Kauffman, the director, and I were shooting, so we could build out the camera to our liking from a compact body-only setup all the way up to a full should-mounted rig. It’s incredibly flexible in that regard. We found ourselves shooting in all kinds of environments, from riding on snowmobiles in Far East Russia to the back of dusty trucks in India, with temperatures ranging from 35° below 0 to 110° F. I don’t know of any other camera that could handle this extreme range of conditions without constant care and attention. And to top it off, we shot in DCI 4K with Canon’s beautiful color science to deliver a gorgeous image. In addition to carrying 2 C300 MKII’s in Russia and 3 bodies in India, we brought along a DJI Osmo to Russia for filming off the back of snowmobiles, employed a DJI Inspire 2 shooting in CinemaDNG/RAW for aerials, and a RED Epic Helium for slow motion in India. cinema5D: What optics did you pair with the Canon C300 MK II and the RED Helium? Did your lens choices vary by region or environment at all?  MP: The lenses played such an important part in the look of the film. We wanted our two main storylines to have a different feel, while also having ways of blending them together in the edit, so we tailored our lens choices around that. In Russia, we wanted to convey the cold, stark feel of winter, so we chose to use the Canon CN-E Compact Zooms 15.5-47mm and 30-105mm T2.8 for the vérité scenes. Theses lenses are incredibly sharp with good contrast that beautifully draw out those qualities. For our atmospherics, we used the Canon K35 primes. These lenses have a gorgeous quality of lower contrast, interesting flares and a lot of character. In India, we wanted to complement the richness of color and light, so we used the K35s as much as possible. The images produced from these lenses feel like you’re in a dream. When prime lenses weren’t appropriate, we used the Canon Compact Zooms, but paired them with a Tiffen ¼ Black Pro Mist to soften the highlights and slightly reduce the overall contrast. For all of our wildlife footage, we had the Canon CINE-SERVO 50-1000mm T5.0-8.9. This was an amazing lens to work with, not only for its incredible telephoto ability with tigers or the setting sun, but also in-scene with the ability pull back to 50mm and really feel the location. Image Credit: Discovery cinema5D:  Talk to me about your process working with Director, Ross Kauffman. Did you reference specific films to get on the same page regarding the look of the project?  MP: From the beginning, Ross Kauffman had a very clear vision of how he wanted the film to look. We knew there would be a blend of vérité, archival and animation elements, so we discussed how to give these elements their own feel, but also allow them to blend seamlessly for the edit. Despite this being a documentary, many of Ross’s visual inspirations came from the narrative films of Terrence Malick like The Tree of Life and The Thin Red Line. We wanted the atmospheric imagery to have a grace and beauty to them that properly conveyed the majesty of the landscapes and the mysticism of the tiger. With these films in mind, we tried to capture something that evoked our own feelings of being in these beautiful environments. The camera and lens choices played heavily into making these shots a reality. cinema5D: Were you both on the same page the entire project when it came to doc coverage? MP: Both Ross and I come from a vérité documentary background, so even though there’s a good amount of this language in the film, there were new challenges for us to actualize with visual poetry. We constantly talked about the ethos of the tiger, its impact on people’s imagination and so on. We did some digging into our own perceptions to see the best way to visualize these impressions. It was a wonderful experience for me to work in this way with a fellow documentary director. Image Credit: Discovery cinema5D: Any new gadgets find their way into your kit for this project?  MP: Despite having multiple camera bodies and a full zoom/prime lens package, we tried to keep our gear to a minimum since we were shooting a vérité film. With that said, the one tool that was incredibly useful to have was a DJI Ronin 2. It had just come out while in pre-production, so I decided to upgrade my original Ronin for this project. We found it incredibly helpful with shooting tracking shots of our characters and rigging onto our safari vehicle for driving shots through the tiger preserve. I feel the shots produced from the Ronin 2 really helped elevate the footage in the film. cinema5D: Any go-to glass filtration in your kit? MP: So that we could use the same cinema zooms in both Russia and India, we employed the Tiffen 1/4 Black Pro Mist in India to offer a different feel to the images produced. I also always carried a set of ND’s, ND Soft-Edge Grads for landscapes, a Polarizer for richer skies and killing reflections and a Clear filter for the dust. cinema5D:  What does the future of documentaries look like in your opinion? It seems like we are in a bit of a golden age.  Documentaries have exploded in popularity over the last 5-10 years. Its incredible! Through this expansion, the expectation of the quality has gotten much more critical. Gone are the days that a doc is expected to not look as good as narrative films. As a documentary cinematographer, this is exciting, but also quite challenging. I grew up learning from the greats of vérité filmmaking where the mantra has always been content over style. Sadly, I think this emphasis has been turning towards style over content, but it has also lit a fire under us all to maintain the integrity of the stories we are telling, while also pushing us to make them look as good as possible. It is certainly an incredible time to be working in the art form. To see more of Matt’s work you can visit his website HERE. Distribution: You won’t have to wait long to check out this wildlife conservation doc. Tigerland was acquired in advance of the festival and it airs on March 30th on the Discovery channel. 

The compelling dramedy Paddleton, starring Ray Romano and Mark Duplass premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2019 in the premiere category. The film is part of a four-picture deal between Duplass and Netflix. We discussed the cinematography behind the film with DP, Nate Miller.  Image Credit: Netflix DP: Nate M. Miller FILMS: Paddleton (dir. Alex Lehmann) SUNDANCE CATEGORY: Premieres CAMERA:  Canon C700 GLASS: Cooke Speed Panchros DP Philosophy: I’m always of the mindset that it’s not the camera that makes the movie, but the creative energy behind it. Having said that, you need the right tool to put your mind at ease. Do your research so that on set you can rely on instinct. Be conscious of not putting the photography in front of the story. The Duplass Brothers are great because they keep their crews small and create an atmosphere of family. No a**holes. This is surely one of the most important building blocks. I’m nothing without my crew and I never forget that. cinema5D: What camera body and optics did you choose for Paddleton?  NM: The Canon C700. I’ve worked with Canons consistently throughout my career and have always been happy with the image I’ve captured – we also needed a 4K acquisition. We paired the C700 with the Cooke Speed Panchros. They create a rich, warm world, and add a softness that helps mellow out a sharp 4k sensor. Image Credit: Netflix. Nate Miller operating on the right in Paddleton. cinema5D: Talk a little about pre-production for this project. How did you work with the director, Alex Lehmann, during this part of the process?  NM: Although Alex and I had more time than I’ve had on other projects, we still had to keep things rather abbreviated. You just soak up as much information from the director as possible so you can be in sync with them on the day when every second counts. To be honest, we’d didn’t watch any films or even talk about them really. Alex knew what he wanted cinematically and I was on board right away. No storyboards. Simply shot listing and a lot of discussion about the best way to tell this story visually. We didn’t want any fancy camerawork to detract from the story. Alex and I (as 2nd Unit DP / Op) had worked together before on his first film, Blue Jay. This meant there was a built-in comfortability factor and pre-established communication with us that helped expedite the technical and get straight to the creative side of things. cinema5D: Any go-to glass filtration in your kit? NM: I always have a Hollywood Black Magic in my kit. I never go above a 1/8. I like to keep it really subtle. Just to soften the digital image a touch, and if there’s a practical source in the frame, I appreciate a soft bloom, as opposed to a harder digital edge. We also used a Low Con 1/8 on daytime exteriors on this one. cinema5D: Talk a little about your approach to the lighting specific to this film.   Any particular challenges?  Any looks that you knew would be tough?  What were you really pleased with at the end of the shoot in terms of aesthetic?  Basically highlight anything you want about the cinematography of this film.  Don’t worry about being too concise, we can trim it for you if need be. NM: It was just more about realism than anything. Alex and I also really encourage mixing color temperatures. The film was improv heavy, so as much as we could we created a 360-degree set the actors could roam around in. A lot of lighting with practical’s. It was a two camera shoot too… lighting is always a tightrope in these situations, but my gaffer, Armando Ballesteros, is a wizard, so I always felt in good hands. Image Credit: Netflix. Photo Credit: Patrick Wymore cinema5D: What is your goal for the future? Do you see your process changing going forward?  NM: I just keep rolling with the punches. I don’t have a hard take on this despite seeing constant change. I came up right when digital was just getting going. I learned my craft as things were changing fast so I guess that’s prepared me for this ever-changing world. Having said that, I thing it’s important to keep things simple. Stick to simple storytelling through imagery. Don’t try to impress. It’s obvious and will take away from what’s important. For more of Nathan M Miller’s work be sure to visit his website HERE. This was a Netflix original production so we expect a streaming date soon and we’ll update here when Paddleton goes live for Netflix users.