Special Episode: Sundance 2022- God’s Country director Julian Higgins, writer Shaye Ogbonna and cinematographer Andrew Wheeler

God's Country, starring Thandiwe Newton, is about Sandra, a Black
woman college professor living alone who is dealing with the recent
loss of her mother and the subtle and not-so-subtle racism and
sexism in a cold, remote Western town. Two hunters boldly start
trespassing on her property, and when she asks them to stop, it
begins a tense and escalating clash of uncompromising aggression by
both parties. Director Julian Higgins and cinematographer Andrew
Wheeler had previously made God's Country as a short in 2014, based
on the short story Winter Light by James Lee Burke. When Julian
began thinking about turning the story into a feature, he connected
with writer and fellow AFI graduate Shaye Ogbonna to reimagine the
story with a Black woman rather than a white man as the central
character. As co-writers, Shaye and Julian had long conversations
about what they valued and cared about in their own lives. They
wanted to take a big bite out of contemporary themes of racism and
sexism and still tell a contained thriller story. Together, they
wrote and reworked the script for months, knowing they wanted to
show everything on the screen with little dialog. They wanted the
audience to feel the tension escalate as the movie builds to what
feels like its inevitable conclusion. Envisioning this
inevitability and seeing everything happen rather than telling
through dialog meant knowing exactly where to place the camera.
Cinematographer Andrew Wheeler was involved right from the
beginning, which helped everyone maintain the same vision. Julian
listened to Andrew's instincts and suggestions, so the whole
process was very collaborative. Andrew also lives in Montana, where
the film was shot, so he is intimately familiar with how to
photograph those surroundings. He expressed Sandra's extreme
aloneness in long shots against the mountains and snow, or gazing
out from her house onto the vastness of the landscape. Andrew felt
that he was able to put his time and best work on the screen. God's
Country premiered at the Sundance 2022 Film Festival and is seeking
sales and distribution. Find director Julian Higgins:
https://julianh.com/gods-country Instagram: @filmjulian Find writer
Shaye Ogbonna https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4252592/ Twitter:
@ShizzleObizzle Find cinematographer Andrew Wheeler:
http://www.wheelsdp.com/ Instagram: @wheels41215 Find out even more
about this episode, with extensive show notes and links:
http://camnoir.com/specialgodscountry/ Sponsored by Hot Rod
Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com The Cinematography Podcast website:
www.camnoir.com YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook:
@cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz