A Lien was a Nominee for Best Live Action Short at this years Academy Awards. An acclaimed and celebrated film that played many festivals last year. It was directed by David Cutler-Kreutz and Sam Cutler-Kreutz and starred Victoria Raterman, William Martine, and Koralyn Rivera as a young family dealing with a dangerous immigration process. It was executive produced by Academy Award Winner Adam McKay. Cinematographer Andrea Gavazzi filmed it on an Alexa SXT and ZEISS Superspeed with an immediacy that matched the subject matter. Gavazzi recently spoke to Immersive via Zoom.
[This conversation has been edited for clarity and context]
How did you get involved with this project?
I have been working with Sam Cutler-Kreutz on commercials and music videos on and off for years. At first, we worked on very low-budget material where you wear many hats, so we spent a lot of time together. Recently, he partnered with his brother David, and they came to me with the script for A Lien. I loved it right away.
I’m an immigrant in the U.S., and I couldn’t believe that this was real. The predatory practice of calling someone in for a green card appointment and then deporting them was developed into a narrative with these three characters based on a New York Times article about this practice.
What was it like working with these directors as a duo?
This was my first time working with David, who is still an elementary school teacher. It was amazing working with both of them because they have different strengths. Sam is more practical, beside me by the camera, talking about the feelings, lighting, and movements. David is more in tune with the production side and talking with the actors. Both were problem solvers and enabled us to tackle more than the budget allowed.
One thing I liked from a cinematography angle is the camera’s always moving. How did you decide how the camera would move…
From the beginning of the film, it’s all handheld. My idea was to jump right into it, feel uneasy, and tease that something was going to happen. Despite being handheld, it’s pretty static. We don’t really track anyone at first, but as the story picks up with Oscar being followed and his wife Sophia, trying to find her husband and daughter, we follow more intently.
That’s when it gets frantic…
In the second half, I ran with the camera as her POV. Then, I would shoot the actor running, and in the edit, they merged it. I really like the film Keane by Lodge Kerrigan, about a father who loses his daughter in a train station and keeps coming back to the station for years, trying to find her.
Keane was shot by a cinematographer I know very well, John Foster. I really liked the rhythm and anxiety of this film. It felt like a documentary, in a way, but there is still purposeful poetic language in it.
It reminded me of films by The Dardenne Brothers, especially their earlier ones. What sort of challenges were there? Was that an actual government office or just that office?
We used our limitations to our advantage because when we scouted it, I was framing shots. I knew which camera and lens I wanted to use to show that it was a government building from the color palette of the walls, knowing we didn’t have the budget to repaint anything.
The location was a school, and we just used certain areas. The interior office interview was shot at a government building in Long Island, NY. So that was the only scene not at the same location; everything else was shot in New Jersey in the school.
Do you have any favorite moments or favorite shots?
I think the shot that became the poster of the film is when Victoria is looking behind when ICE arrives. When that moment happened, we all knew it would be the poster. Her performance and the expression she made were very powerful.
What has this experience been like? What was it like working on an Oscar-nominated short?
It’s beautiful and surreal. I’m from Brazil, and I’m very proud of the attention my native country has gotten this year with the Brazilian film I’m Still Here. I’ve had many interviews and conversations with people from Brazil who have been very supportive.
A Lien is streaming on Vimeo.
