Sundance 2025: How 43 Cinematographers Shot Their Narrative Features

Each year, IndieWire reaches out to the cinematographers behind the films premiering at the Sundance Film Festival and asks four questions: What format did they shoot, which cameras and lenses did they choose, and, most importantly, how did the tools they chose help them build the looks their films needed. While there are always unifying qualities behind cinematographers’ decision-making — a couple of DPs praise the fall-off of Cooke S4 lenses and the workhorse reliability of the ALEXA Mini every year — what’s fascinating is how each film creates its own visual universe and camera language.

Cinematographer Rufai Ajala told IndieWire that the core goal for “Mad Bills To Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo)” was to create “a beer bottle left at a party approach” for director Joel Alfonso Vargas’s grounded story set in the Bronx. Meanwhile, Marcel Zyskind’s mandate for “The Ugly Stepsister” was to craft a visual style influenced by Eastern European fairy-tale cinema from the ’60s and ’70s — which meant using plenty of Vaseline, in addition to the ALEXA 35. Often, there’s a story of incredible perseverance behind the filming, as with “All That’s Left of You,” where cinematographer Christopher Aoun shot for 54 days over one year instead of seven weeks, in five different territories, to bring director Cherien Dabis’s generation-spanning story of a Palestinian family to life.

More from IndieWire

• 'Dead Lover' Review: This Campy Lo-Fi Frankenstein Riff Remains Stuck in One Comedic Register

• Glenn Close, James Mangold, and Marielle Heller Are 'Totally in Awe' of Sundance's Michelle Satter

• 'Rabbit Trap' Review: Dev Patel Communes with Nature in a Trippy Horror Movie About the Power of Sound

Below are the responses from DPs of narrative features playing at Sundance. There’s both wonderful experimentation and wonderful continuity — cinematographer Pete Ohs relied on his Canon 5D Mark III, which he’s owned since 2012, to shoot “Obex” — embedded in the cinematographers’ answers for 2025, and fascinating use cases for everything from the Sony Venice 2 to a Bolex. You can also check out our cinematography survey on the 2024 Sundance documentary features.

Films appear in alphabetical order by title.

Best of IndieWire

• The 25 Best Sci-Fi TV Series of the 21st Century, Ranked

• The 15 Best Thrillers Streaming on Netflix in January, from 'Fair Play' to 'Emily the Criminal'

• The Best Modern Westerns, from 'The Power of the Dog' to 'Killers of the Flower Moon' to 'The Hateful Eight'

Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.