Two films shot by DDA cinematographers will premiere in competition at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival: Infinitely Polar Bear from Bobby Bukowski and God Help the Girl from Giles Nuttgens.
Also showing for the first time in the Premieres section are: Little Accidents, lensed by Rachel Morrison (who took Fruitvale Station to 2013 Sundance); Young Ones, also shot by Nuttgens; and the documentary Finding Fela, photographed by Maryse Alberti.
Based on director Maya Forbes’ own childhood experiences, Infinitely Polar Bear stars Mark Ruffalo as a bipolar father and Zoe Saldona as his wife. The film is set in 1978, with Bukowski’s camera capturing the family living in that turbulent decade in New York City.
Ever prolific, Bukowski shot several films last year, including Jon Stewart’s directorial debut Rosewater. He’s currently shooting the timely feature 99 Homes which is set during the worst part of the economic crisis and stars Andrew Garfield as a unemployed contractor who strikes an uneasy deal with a dirty real estate broker played by Michael Shannon. Bukowski saw Sundance last year with the film Very Good Girls.
God Help the Girl marks the directorial debut of Stuart Murdoch, the front man of the cult-popular indie rock band Belle & Sebastian. The coming-of-age story doubles as an indie-pop musical with Murdoch writing the songs as well and Nuttgens filming the singing and dancing mods and rockers who populate the film’s fantasy version of Glasgow’s West End.
Nuttgens’ second film at the festival, Young Ones, will screen in the Premieres section. Moving into the science-fiction genre, Nuttgens lensed Michael Shannon, Nicholas Hoult and Elle Fanning struggling to survive on a future Earth plagued by a water shortage.
Last year Nuttgens saw the release of the critically lauded What Maisie Knew starring Julianne Moore and the adaptation of Salmon Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children from Nuttgens’s frequent collaborator director Deepa Mehta. Nuttgens previously attended Sundance in 2001 with David Siegel and Scott McGehee’s The Deep End, for which the film festival awarded him its Best Cinematography prize.
Little Accidents features bold and moody naturalistic cinematography from Rachel Morrison, who photographed last year’s breakout film from Sundance, Fruitvale Station. Morrison shot in West Virigina to capture the impact of a mining disaster on an Appalachian coal-mining town in Little Accidents. The film will screen in the Premieres section.
Featured in Variety’s Below the Line Impact Report in 2013, Morrison is considered one of the major “Impactors” shooting films today. Glamour magazine also highlighted Morrison in its “35 Under 35” feature on women working in Hollywood.
Costume designer Meghan Kasperlik dressed the miners, corporate executives and families who populate Little Accidents. Assistant Costume Designer on massive blockbusters such as The Dark Knight Rises and critical hits like this year’s American Hustle, Kasperlik rose to head of department on star-studded indies Little Accidents and the upcoming 99 Homes with Andrew Garfield, Michael Shannon and Laura Dern.
Features and documentary DP Maryse Alberti shot director Alex Gibney’s latest, Finding Fela, which screens in the Documentary Premieres section. The doc showcases African musician Fela Kuti, exploring his pivotal role in postcolonial political activism and his creation of the Afrobeat sound. To round out historical footage, Alberti shot scenes from the successful Broadway show about the singer/activist: FELA!
Alberti and Gibney frequently collaborate. Alberti shot his last film at Sundance, We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks and is responsible for the camerawork on the Oscar-winning Taxi to the Dark Side and the narrative feature The Wrestler.
Click for Sundance Screening Times: INFINITELY POLAR BEAR, GOD HELP THE GIRL, LITTLE ACCIDENTS, YOUNG ONES, FINDING FELA.
About DDA
Dattner Dispoto and Associates (DDA) is a Hollywood-based talent agency representing an elite, international group of producers, cinematographers and designers. Please visit www.ddatalent.com for further news and information on DDA clients.