Artur, genre cinema often demands sustained tension—sometimes without a break. How do you maintain that pressure while avoiding cluttered or overly exaggerated visuals?
If I understood the question correctly, I try to build the tension or the film’s dynamic through rhythm and light, making sure not to overload the frame and still achieving the result we’re aiming for.
“The Headless Horseman” is a film where the frames create the atmosphere. What is your contribution to that atmosphere—what was your primary tool: light, movement, or framing precision?
You’ve partly answered the question yourself—yes, light was one of the key tools in The Headless Horseman through which we were able to build the film’s atmosphere and mood. If we succeeded, it’s thanks to the collaborative work of the director, cinematographer, production designer, and the rest of the team.
The film contains a number of visual metaphors. How did you communicate the theme of absence through visual language—without words or overt meaning? What was the collaboration with Ovsanna (the director) like?
Everything was done with great subtlety—shadows, empty spaces, slow movement—to convey that sequence of visual metaphors on screen. Working with Ovsanna was a free and trust-based process.
What were the most technically demanding moments in this film? Was there a scene that, for you personally, felt like a duel—with the frame, the conditions, or even with yourself?
I remember a scene where the camera had to follow the protagonist in a single take—from the building entrance to the living room—without showing any faces, even though it was a crowded scene. That made things technically complex. A similarly challenging setup was inside a bus.
What do you seek in short films that perhaps isn’t present in features? Do you feel freer in this format, or are you more critical of every detail?
Short films offer more freedom for creative self-expression, which is often more limited in the commercial feature films I’ve worked on. But I’ve also made auteur feature films where that creative freedom is much broader—similar to short films. I wish there were more such opportunities.
What do you see as the weak points in cinematography education today? What do beginners tend to overlook the most?
From my experience, film schools should be better equipped with the technical tools used in today’s film industry, and they should create more opportunities for students to gain hands-on experience on actual film sets.
And now that you’ve received the Guild award for a short film, what do you see as your next step?
Regardless of awards, a cinematographer must constantly evolve throughout their entire career.
