Bradford Young, ASC- PART 1: Selma, directors Dee Rees and Ava DuVernay, Pariah, Mississippi Damned, A Most Violent Year, bringing his personal voice to filmmaking

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 77: Bradford Young, PART 1
Oscar-nominated cinematographer Bradford Young feels every story
has a personal connection to tell and translate through the
language of images. As an African American, telling the story of
Selma was very important and close to him. He'd heard the story of
Dr. Martin Luther King's march from Selma and the fight for civil
rights from his aunt and grandparents as a kid. He sees the essence
of his existence coming from those struggles. Growing up, at first
Bradford thought he'd go into the family mortuary business. But he
always felt drawn to the arts and his father encouraged him to
pursue it as a career. He went to Howard University to study
journalism and soon switched to film. Bradford attended graduate
school with director Dee Rees who hired him to shoot her film
Pariah, which went to Sundance and won multiple awards at film
festivals. But small independent films with black voices don't get
a lot of mainstream attention, and he was told his reel didn't have
enough “scope” to get bigger jobs. When seeking an agent, Bradford
was told his talent for cinematography was seen as a “fluke.” He
found he had to be resilient and continue to tell his own story
through his work with diverse filmmakers. Ava DuVernay was familiar
with his work and hired him to shoot her film Middle of Nowhere and
then Selma, about the march from Selma to Montgomery to secure
equal voting rights for African Americans in 1965. For Bradford,
the cultural resonance of Selma was not the Oscar nomination, but
that Ava DuVernay, a black woman director, was seen with respect
and shown to be an important and powerful voice in Hollywood.
Listen for Bradford Young Part 2- coming next week! He talks about
Arrival, When They See Us, Solo: A Star Wars Story and much more.
Find Bradford Young https://luxartists.net/bradford-young/ You can
stream When They See Us right now on Netflix.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHbOt2M8md0 You can find Selma
streaming on Amazon, Vudu, or iTunes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6t7vVTxaic Bradford Young was
featured in the May 2020 issue of American Cinematographer.
https://ascmag.com/magazine-issues/may-2020 Find out even more
about this episode, with extensive show notes and links:
http://camnoir.com/ep77/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras
www.hotrodcameras.com Website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod
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