Sundance Ones to Watch: Editors
Five doc editors on the appeals and challenges of their latest docs
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5 Documentary Editors to watch at Sundance
The 2025 Sundance Film Festival has begun! I’m be there for the first half of the festival to bring you extensive coverage during and after. Follow Pure Nonfiction on Instagram to watch special guests takeovers from festival filmmakers including Violet Du Feng, Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady and more.
Last week, we started our Ones to Watch with Debut Directors and now we focus on editors chosen from docs playing across the Competition and Premieres sections:
2000 Meters to Andriivka directed by Mstyslav Chernov; edited by Michelle Mizner
Khartoum directed by Anas Saeed, Rawia Alhag, Ibrahim Snoopy Ahmad, Timeea Mohamed Ahmed, and Phil Cox; edited by Yousef Jubeh
The Perfect Neighbor directed by Geeta Gandbhir; edited by Virdiana Lieberman
Middletown directed by Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine; edited by Christopher Passig
Heightened Scrutiny directed by Sam Feder; edited by Emelie Mahdavian
Stay tuned as we bring your more highlights from Sundance.
Plus, on Monday, January 27 at 2:45pm MST at The Impact Lounge, I’ll be moderating a panel with filmmaker Adam Elliot and Switchboard Magazine Editor-in-chief, Celia Aniscovich about the magazines’ first programmed short, David Again, directed by Adam.
If you’ll be in Park City, reach out!
Amid the failing counteroffensive, a journalist follows a Ukrainian platoon on their mission to traverse one mile of heavily fortified forest and liberate a strategic village from Russian occupation. But the farther they advance through their destroyed homeland, the more they realize that this war may never end.
Why I connected to this story:
Like 20 Days in Mariupol that we collaborated on, 2000 Meters to Andriivka has some challenging, harrowing footage and themes. But the decision to focus on soldiers was immediately compelling. From an editing standpoint, I appreciated the potential for a film with such dynamic range. In some places, it’s loud and chaotic on the battlefield. In other moments, it’s quiet and slow, as you sit in a foxhole waiting for drones to pass. There’s tension and intimacy in both settings, but the tempo shifts. It was one of those quieter moments that I connected with the most while logging footage. Mstyslav Chernov and Alex Babenko are sitting with a soldier in a trench talking about cigarettes. It becomes a conversation about his worries and family at home. He asks Mstyslav not to make him look like a hero because he “hadn’t done anything yet.” Mstyslav then asks him this simple yet profound question in reply, and I remember having to catch my breath. Logging footage and stumbling upon moments like that are probably my favorite part of editing. Also, apart from subject matter, I was pleased to get to work with Mstyslav again. When you find a director who inspires and makes you a better editor, how can you say no?
Particular challenges when editing the film:
Besides the sheer volume of user generated content and helmet camera video which we worked to sort, translate, log and cut, there was the task of creating an overarching linear story from the material. From the start, Mstyslav had this inspiring concept of weaving two timelines. He and his colleague, Alex, travel through the forest with the brigade over the course of one day. Along the way, we’d jump back in time to witness battles that had taken place there in the weeks and months prior. We went through many iterations trying to achieve the right balance and amount of clarity, and are grateful to the friends, family, mentors and colleagues who screened and gave us feedback. Each time was an opportunity to discover what we might not be seeing, being so close to the film, and consider little tweaks. If you’re a filmmaker reading this, I’m sure you know the value of the people in your life who take the time to screen and give feedback. They’re a gift.
2000 Meters to Andriivka premieres on January 23, 5pm MST at The Ray Theatre
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