Janus Films Picks Up Kirsten Johnson's Award-Winning Documentary 'Cameraperson' – Exclusive

Janus Films have acquired all North American rights to Kirsten Johnson’s highly acclaimed first-person documentary “Cameraperson,” which debuted earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival. The film has enjoyed a hearty festival run since its premiere, including serving as the closing night selection at New Directors/New Films and accolades at Full Frame Film Festival, the San Francisco International Film Festival, the Montclair Film Festival and the Sarasota Film Festival.

The documentary uses Johnson’s extensive work as a cinematographer for the past 25 years, including lensing films such as “This Film Is Not Yet Rated,” “Lioness” and “Citizenfour,” to put together a deeply felt feature that blends her professional experiences with her personal life, all explored through her own camera and footage.

READ MORE: Review: ‘Cameraperson’ is a Transcendent Documentary Experience

Of the acquisition, Janus Films’ Peter Becker commented, “‘Cameraperson’ will change the way you see documentaries forever. Quietly, persistently, Kirsten Johnson reveals that even in the most objective-seeming footage there is a hidden life being lived behind the camera, an emotional story that ranges from delight to horror, one that has never been told with such elegance and poignancy. Juxtaposing moments that have transfixed her since the moment she first witnessed them, Johnson has made a riveting film that will stand the test of time.”

He added, “I feel sure that years from now we will look back on ‘Cameraperson’ as a classic, essential viewing for anyone interested in the way truth gets told on film.”



Johnson commented, “One of the reveals of making ‘Cameraperson’ is that each filmed moment is actually an on-going series of relationships. This extends into each time a film is watched by another person in a different place at a new moment in history. The legendary Janus Films has always understood why it matters so much to create and defend the possibility for revelatory films from everywhere to be discovered anew into the future.”

READ MORE: How ‘Cameraperson’ Filmmaker Kirsten Johnson Found Herself in Her Own Documentary

She continued, “That Janus Films has invited ‘Cameraperson’ into its family, and will treasure it, as it clearly does all of the extraordinary films in its catalog we are so proud to be in the company of, is deeply humbling. It is yet another affirmation of how film creates connection and revelation across space and time.”

The deal for the film was negotiated between Janus Films and Submarine Entertainment.

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