Opening her masterclass at doc film festival Visions du Réel in Switzerland, cinematographer and filmmaker Kirsten Johnson – an Emmy and Sundance award winner for “Dick Johnson Is Dead&…
“What I often find upsetting with cinema is that we forget to acknowledge all the people it takes to make these moments together. I learnt that through being a cameraperson, and I’m interested in understanding why we want to reduce it to just one person, because there’s something beautiful about the fact that all of these humans, collectively, help us be here today,” she said, employing her favorite word to describe her work, “Cameraperson,” which is also the title of second feature film.
She proceeded to share a slide-show featuring images that have inspired her – ranging from works by Saul Steinberg – “one of my favorite artists” – to a self-portrait she made aged five in which she drew herself in a bright multi-colored outfit similar to the one she was wearing on stage – “I’m basically this person and always have been, nothing has changed!” – to the audience’s amusement.
Johnson explains how her curiosity turned into a form of travel bulimia, taking her to 87 countries in 25 years. This is where she drew the material for “Cameraperson.” But it was a lengthy process before she allowed herself to make the film she did – a montage of scenes from her previous films as a cinematographer, with all its imperfections, one that lays bare the dilemmas and contradictions that filmmaking entails, and which, in the title sequence, she asks viewers to see as her memoir.
“I’m trying to figure out how to give you clues, as an audience, to understand that you’re about to encounter something that might disturb you – it disturbed me. I don’t want to remain in my isolation around the fact that when I shoot films I’ve got a world of ethical questions. Let us not pretend that it’s not happening.”
Asked about her current projects, Johnson said she was working on a hybrid documentary-fiction about American writer and political activist Susan Sontag – “I’m going to try and do a funny film about Susan Sontag, good luck to me!,” she joked.
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