Filmmaker, cinematographer, and editor Pablo Álvarez-Mesa returns to UnionDocs with a workshop exploring the dynamic interplay between cinematography and editing in nonfiction filmmaking. Through screenings, discussions, and hands-on exercises, we’ll examine how the space between shots—what’s captured, omitted, and arranged—shapes cinematic meaning.
Designed for cinematographers, editors, and artists working with the moving image, this three-day intensive delves into how shooting anticipates the edit and how the edit reshapes a shot’s intent. How do different shooting styles—handheld, static, aerial—affect temporality, mood, and power dynamics? What ethical considerations arise in these choices, and how can editing mitigate the often extractive nature of documentary cinematography?
We’re thrilled to welcome guest artists Lai Yi Ohlsen, Derek Howard, and Andrea Bussmann, who will share their own approaches to these ideas. Alongside their insights, we’ll engage with works by Maya Deren, Jonas Mekas, Mona Hatoum, Laura Mulvey, Alexandre Larose, Phil Solomon, Ute Aurand, Stan Brakhage, and Kenneth Anger—exploring how artists across disciplines use fragmentation, rhythm, and duration to evoke presence, intimacy, and memory.
Participants are encouraged to bring a project-in-progress for feedback, making this a space for active exchange and experimentation. By the end of the workshop, participants will gain a deeper awareness of how cinematography and editing shape one another—how decisions behind the camera resonate in the edit, and how the editing process, in turn, redefines the meaning and rhythm of filmed images.
