‘Cameraperson’ Kirsten Johnson’s Movie Shortlist

Handpicked streaming recommendations from the cinematographer/director

This month we welcome two new “Shortlisters,” our handpicked group of experts and movie insiders who help recommend films on Tribeca Shortlist. Along with actor/producer Tony Goldwyn, we’re pleased to introduce cinematographer/director Kirsten Johnson’s Shortlist picks.

“Find stories that you never imagined. That is one of the great pleasures of cinema.” — Kirsten Johnson

Johnson has been working in the business for over twenty-five years, acting as “cameraperson” on films like Fahrenheit 9/11 and the Oscar®-winning Citizen Four. This year, Johnson directed an incredible documentary memoir, Cameraperson, comprised of extra footage from her vast career, presented without narration. The film took the festival circuit by storm, and we’re proud to have her on our purple Tribeca Shortlist couch talking about the movies she loves.

In her Shortlist, What a Cameraperson Watches, Johnson talks about four films she greatly enjoys now available to stream on Tribeca Shortlist. With her years behind the lens, Johnson provided an entirely new and unique look at these films.

She praises her first pick, the documentary William S. Burroughs: A Man Within from director Yony Layser, for staying thoroughly entertaining and enlightening throughout. “Everything everyone says,” Johnson explains, “you want to hear. And there are a couple of interviews where you can’t believe you’re hearing that person saying that thing.”

For a movie with a lasting impact, Johnson recommends a film by Ken Loach about the Irish Civil War. “I saw The Wind That Shakes the Barley in 2006, and I still think about it sometimes, ten years later.”

In an effort to de-center yourself, and remember that your world view isn’t the only view, Johnson recommends a comedy from Lebanon, Nadine Labaki’s Caramel. “To be thrown into this sort of crazy scene in a Beirut hair salon… that’s what made me want to watch Caramel.”

And finally, Johnson suggests viewers check out Kasi Lemmons 1997 drama, Eve’s Bayou, a touching, brilliantly acted film about growing up in the south. “Samuel L. Jackson’s performance in the film keeps creeping up on you.”

Watch all of Kirsten Johnson’s Shortlist recommendations in the playlist above, and then click below to stream the four movies on Tribeca Shortlist.