SYNOPSIS
Two men return home from World War II to work on a farm in rural Mississippi, where they struggle to deal with racism and adjusting to life after war.
PANELIST BIOS
Rachel Morrison, cinematographer
Cinematographer Rachel Morrison has emerged as a refreshing young talent at the forefront of independent cinema, channeling the core emotion of each narrative she shoots into arresting imagery. Her work has a haunting quality at times and a beautiful elegance at others.
Morrison has lensed eight Sundance features over seven years including FRUITVALE STATION, which won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award in 2013. Other Sundance premieres include Dope for director Rick Famuyiwa and WHAT HAPPENED MISS SIMONE? directed by Liz Garbus, both of which went on to win several awards including a ‘Best Documentary’ Oscar® nomination for the latter.
Last year, Morrison re-teamed with Famuyiwa to shoot CONFIRMATION, the story of Anita Hill’s sexual harassment testimony against Supreme Court nominee Judge Clarence Thomas starring Kerry Washington and Wendell Pierce. The film premiered on HBO and was nominated for two Emmys® including ‘Best Television Motion Picture.’
Her other feature credits include LITTLE ACCIDENTS, starring Elizabeth Banks and Boyd Holbrook, Cake starring Jennifer Aniston and Anna Kendrick and ANY DAY NOW starring Alan Cumming and Garrett Dilahunt. She is currently reuniting with FRUITVALE STATION director Ryan Coogler, to shoot BLACK PANTHER for Marvel Studios.
Morrison believes in subjective and relatable storytelling and is especially drawn to honest and complex character dramas.
Morrison has a background in Photojournalism and completed a Master’s degree in cinematography at the American Film Institute. She has been nominated for two Emmys and received the Kodak's Vision Award at Women in Film annual Crystal + Lucy Awards, for her outstanding achievements in cinematography. She is based in Los Angeles, but travels the globe to tell stories through extraordinary images.
Mako Kamitsuna, editor
Born in Houston, Texas and raised in Hiroshima, Japan, Mako returned to the U.S. at the age of 16 to pursue her dream of becoming a film director. After earning a BA in Philosophy from Columbia University and MFA at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Film Program.
Represented by William Morris Endeavor (WME), Mako has edited Pariah (dir. Dee Rees) which opened 2011 Sundance Film Festival and is a winner of Independent Spirit Awards. In 2012 Mako edited HBO/Michael Mann's four-part mini-series documentary WITNESS. One of her episodes WITNESS: LIBYA premiered at Venice Film Festival and was nominated for Best Limited Series category at 2013 International Documentary Association (IDA) Awards. In 2013 Mako edited two features: WILDLIKE (dir. Frank Hall Green, starring Bruce Greenwood) and THE WORLD MADE STRAIGHT (dir. David Burris, starring Noah Wyle and Jeremy Irvine). In 2014 comes two more features: ANESTHESIA (dir. Tim Blake Nelson, starring Kristen Stewart, Glenn Close and Sam Waterston) and JACKIE & RYAN (dir. Ami Canaan Mann, starring Katherine Heigl), which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival and Venice Film Festival, respectively. That same year, Mako reunited with Michael Mann to edit his cyber thriller BLACKHAT starring Chris Hemsworth, Viola Davis and Wei Tang, released by Universal Pictures.
In 2015, Mako edited WE ARE X (dir. Stephen Kijak, produced by Oscar-winning producer John Battsek), a feature documentary on legendary Japanese heavy metal rock band X Japan. The film premiered at 2016 Sundance Film Festival in World Cinema Documentary Competition and Mako won Special Jury Award for Editing. In 2016, Mako has edited MUDBOUND, directed by Emmy-award winner Dee Rees (HBO's BESSIE) and starring Carey Mulligan, Jason Clarke, Garrett Hedlund, Mary J. Blige and Jason Mitchell. After its critically acclaimed premiere at Sundance 2017, the film was picked up by Netflix to be released in the fall of 2017.
Mako is currently editing LABYRINTH, directed by Brad Furman and starring Johnny Depp and Forest Whitaker.
As a writer-director, Mako earned fellowship from various prestigious institutions such as Film Independent's Project:Involve, American Film Institute's Directing Workshop for Women and Toronto International Film Festival's Talent Lab, where her short film THE LULL BREAKER earned Top Five Finalist laurel at RBC Emerging Filmmakers Competition. Her other award-winning short films includes: KATYA, a historical drama based on an actual Cold War Soviet submarine disaster K-129; and SHE, WHO EXCELS IN SOLITUDE, a period drama on Mercury 13, NASA's first female astronaut trainees in 1960. Both films were nominated in Best Fiction and Best Actress categories, respectively, at GrandOFF World Independent Film Awards in Poland.
In 2017, Mako was chosen as one of 25 emerging female directors by Twentieth Century Fox and AFI to participate in inaugural FOX Filmmaker Lab, a program designed to foster female directors to helm Hollywood studio franchise motion pictures.
Virgil Williams, Co-Writer/Executive Producer
MUDBOUND marks Virgil Williams’ first feature film as screenwriter. Williams has an extensive resume in television, having served as writer and producer on such acclaimed shows as ER, THE CHICAGO CODE and 24. Most recently, Williams wrote and executive produced for six seasons of the long running hit CBS show CRIMINAL MINDS. Earlier this year, he signed a two-year overall deal with Universal Television to develop new series for broadcast, cable and streaming services. Williams was born and raised in Chicago, and often applies his experiences growing up as a bi-racial kid in a city with a notoriously long history of racial tension to his scripts. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California.
Moderator - Roya Rastegar
