Cameraperson

Description

Simultaneously an astute observation of nonfiction filmmaking’s dilemmas, and a wonderfully creative autobiographical collage, Cameraperson is a must-see for all documentary enthusiasts. As the cinematographer for acclaimed documentaries such as Citizenfour, Fahrenheit 9/11, and Darfur Now, Kirsten Johnson has seen the world from behind her camera lens. Here she assembles moments from 25 years of location shoots—including a birthing clinic in Nigeria, a Bosnian farm, a detention center in Yemen and a boxing ring in Brooklyn—and stitches together an illuminating, emotional patchwork memoir. It’s abundantly clear that Johnson loves her work and values the experience of filming with people from all walks of life. Along with editor Nels Bangerter and co-editor Amanda Laws, Johnson draws out the similarities of seemingly different people all over the world, and elicits the question of the observer’s responsibility to the observed. Rather than employ the obvious tool of narration, Johnson cannily places statements made by interview subjects and crew members into contexts that reflect the complex challenges she feels herself, as a professional who can chronicle extensively, but interfere minimally. Amid the exotic and the foreign, Johnson weaves her own home movies of her young children and Alzheimer’s afflicted mother, bringing her experience of her own personal world into focus. —Laura Henneman

Film Details