In this interview, Mstyslav Chernov discusses how he transformed war reporting into immersive cinema in 2000 Meters to Andriivka
Cinematography
Joel DeMott, renowned cinema vérité filmmaker, died on June 13, 2025. DeMott is best known for her films Seventeen (1983), which she co-directed with Jeff Kreines, and Demon Lover Diary (1980). Alongside Kreines, DeMott created a model of intimate cinema vérité filmmaking that has inspired countless filmmakers.
Cinematographer Iris Ng seeks meaningfulness in her experiences on set, on and off-camera.
In 2024, 7 million livestock died in Mongolia due to what some say was the country’s harshest winter on record. Australian filmmaker Kasimir Burgess witnessed the disaster firsthand while making his third feature documentary, Iron Winter. The film documents two young herders, Batbold and Tsagaanaa, upholding a rural Mongolian tradition of winter herding—protecting horses from severe dzud and wolves by amassing them by the thousands and migrating for several months in search of better pastures. Ahead of its world premiere, over a video call Burgess shared with Documentary the appeal of the winter herding story, the challenges involved in telling it, and his hopes for what audiences take away from the film.
Cinematographer and director Zac Manuel captures reality without the barriers of bulky equipment.
Victor Tadashi Suárez’s essential tools span run-and-gun shoots to intricate sound stages.
Shooting Faya Dayi without a crew in rural Ethiopia, where walking long distances was the only way to arrive at my locations, taught me something
In 2014, Claude Motley got shot in the face during an attempted car-jacking in Milwaukee. The shooter was 15-year-old Nathan King. A few days later
In our bid to make this 40th anniversary issue somewhat of a time capsule, we asked our members to send in photographs—new and old—with the cameras
Dear beloved IDA, You are 40 years old! How time flies. Time, consciousness, and cinema are like friends who hold mirrors up for each other. As I am