CHRISTINA IENNA is an award-winning cinematographer and filmmaker based in Toronto. She has an extensive background in commercial, documentary and narrative production. She also sits on the Board of the Canadian Society of Cinematographers.
In her fifteen years of industry experience, Christina has filmed all over North America with companies like TOURISM CANADA, AMAZON, LIFETIME, PIXAR, CBC, THE GLOBE & MAIL, VICE and UNIVERSAL MUSIC. She spent the early part of her career working in Alberta and British Columbia before moving to Toronto. Christina leads with great curiosity, finding stories in the small moments and details that make up the human experience.
Gemma's beautiful. There's something very evocative about it and really effervescent and, and of course, it's stunning to look at. When I first watched it, I was struck by the thematic similarities with your first film, which I didn't expect, because Handmade is a doc and Gemma is narrative. Can you speak a little bit about the connection between the two stories, and what draws you to these themes?
Well, I didn't notice that, but thank you. Is it because it's just like the actual creativity of being an auteur and creating everything from scratch?
It's the pursuit of excellence in that task. What is ambition? What is success? What is satisfying to oneself? Pushing oneself in that way?
I find that magnetic because I relate to it. I pursued a very male dominant career myself as a cinematographer. It was very difficult to do that type of craft, and you had to go at it alone, hoping that some people would mentor you along the way.
At the end of the day, it's really up to you to learn your craft and get good at it. I knew really early on that this is what I wanted, but I still had to take like a big windy loop to get there. And that's how I started directing, too. Because I had to produce my own content to show that I could shoot, and be as good a cinematographer as anybody else because no one was hiring me to do it.
Thematically, I explored the idea that we often pressure ourselves to be good at hobbies, but they don't need to be something that you're amazing at. They're just something that should bring you joy. A lot of people have this idea that their hobbies have to serve them in some kind of way. I think it's just supposed to be a cathartic thing, that you find comfort and creativity in, and without the pressure of everyday life, like making a paycheck from it.
There's a little undertone of ADHD, too, as I'm recently discovering my place on the spectrum. Many of us are trying a lot of things, discovering new hobbies, and never sticking with them because of distractions in our lives.
It's a little play on the commentary on mental health. If you want to be good at something, you have to stick with it a little bit. And sometimes people struggle with that as well.
I also liked the challenge of talking about [Gemma] as a person solely moving throughout the world, trying to figure out who she is without outer influence.
Still from Gemma
How has your extensive experience as a DP informed your approach as a director?
I think it's important, in whatever role you choose, to try a few roles, because you’ll have a deeper understanding of how your crew is functioning and telling the story from their point of view. That really helps me understand their creative process and their thinking.
As a DP, I'm editing in my head – I have editing experience too – I can visually see how a script is going to lay out when I'm reading it, [but I'm also getting different perspectives from different directors, too. A lot of directors don't get to see other directors at work the same way.
It's really interesting to do that flip in my brain when I'm doing both at the same time. I didn't have to go and have a conversation, I felt a little crazy. But it was quite funny. Because I was like, “oh, no, I have to do this shot, then I have to pick up this, and then this has to transition here.” I was able to move through things quicker, but at the same time, it is nice to have that partner to creatively split duties.
[Working with actors] was a challenge for me because I don't get to talk to the actors much as a cinematographer. That was a cool experience to have more one-on-one time and work through the process with my amazing actress, Talia, who just, oh my gosh, if we did not have her, I don't think the film would have happened because she was just ready to do whatever I told her to do. We literally threw tennis balls at her! But she wanted to go again, even though I already felt bad throwing tennis balls at her the first time. She brought so much energy throughout.
And my team was amazing, working with your friends is awesome. And the fun fact is, I had the crew bring in their own hobbies. So the set is littered with everyone's hobbies, as well.
What filmmakers have inspired you?
I have a laundry list. I'll list a few names in a minute, but for me, I like when, either as a cinematographer or director, the camera is truly part of telling the story, it's not a distraction, it's an asset.
Some of my favourites are Sarah Polley, Jordan Peele, Wes Anderson, Bong Joon Ho, Darren Aronofsky, Spike Lee, Coen brothers for directors, Roger Deakins, as you know, he is a god among us, a person of photographers. Him and his partner, James. A lot of people don't know this: James’ wife has a huge impact on his career because she takes care of a lot of his admin, and she goes to all his lens tests. I love that partnership between the two of them. And I'm kind of envious. I wish I had someone like that in my corner. Helping my career as a cinematographer so that I could just be a cinematographer and create.
Emmanuel Lubezki, Neville Kid who is really cool. He's shot a lot of projects that I love. Rachel Morrison, Susan Lavelle, Reed Morano, Hoyte van Hoytema, like, all these are incredible cinematographers that have shot epic films.
The partnership there in the storytelling is awesome. That's what I'm looking for as both a director and cinematographer is finding my own DP or my own director, to have a beautiful little courtship with and creating a film. It's a lot like dating.
Still from Gemma
What advice would you give to an emerging filmmaker just starting out?
If you're just starting out, the best thing you can do is be present and be observant and just absorb as much as you possibly can whenever you're able to get on a film set.
The biggest thing that's going to get you your next job is showing initiative and proactiveness. You don't need to know everything, but your attitude and your approach is what people are looking for when you're starting out.
Create your own opportunities and collaborate with other people that are also seeking to do the same. Find those people and make something, investing in people before gear is super important because those relationships are going to grow. As you grow and their success and their knowledge now becomes part of your success and knowledge and vice-versa.
And because you're new, this is the time to actually make mistakes and really learn from them, because the stakes are lower and you don't have a huge client or millions of dollars on the line. So you can mess around. You have that luxury that a lot of us that are working for a paycheck don't.
What is next for you?
I shot a few short narrative projects over the summer, so I'm waiting for those to be done so I can go into a color grade session with those. I'm [also] waiting to have a couple documentaries get greenlit. I’m really excited for some of those because there's a bit of travel involved and the topics are really cool, and a lot of them are very women centric. I can't talk about them, but I'm hoping to be able to share them in a few months once I start shooting.
Still from Gemma
Interview by Breakthroughs Board Member Michelle D'Alessandro Hatt
*This article has been edited for clarity