Let’s explore the cameras behind Sundance Film Festival 2021 which is the largest and most important independent film festival in the world. Our conclusions: The ARRI ALEXA Mini maintains its domination across meticulous filmmakers and the BMPCC (Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera) chimes-in with its 4K and 6K versions. Check out the charts below.

The cameras behind Sundance 2021

The Sundance Film Festival includes competitive categories in documentary and dramatic films, both feature-length and short films, in which awards are given. This very important independent film festival constitutes an engine that drives our industry forward. As opposed to our diverse cameras surveys, this might be the most interesting as it shows the cameras that were chosen by true visionaries to tell their stories, compared to high-budget projects that are made for financial reasons.

Sundance 2021: Films and cameras

This list shows the cameras that shot 33 narrative feature films premiering at this year’s festival (Sundance 2021). The data is based on the IndieWire cinematography survey (Check IndieWire’s article to read more about the creation process of those films). The chart is underneath this list.

1. Censor. DP: Annika Summerson. Cameras: ARRICAM LT, ARRICAM ST, Sony VENICE
2. CODA. DP: Paula Huidobro. Cameras: Sony VENICE
3. Coming Home in the Dark. DP: Matt Henley. Cameras: ARRI ALEXA Mini
4. Eight for Silver. DP: Sean Ellis. Cameras: ARRICAM ST, ARRICAM LT
5. El Planeta. DP: Carlos Rigo Bellver. Cameras: Blackmagic Pocket 4K
6. Fire in the Mountains. DP: Dominique Colin. Cameras: ARRI ALEXA Mini
7. First Date. DP: Manuel Crosby. Cameras: Blackmagic Pocket 4K
8. Hive. DP: Alex Bloom. Cameras: ARRI ALEXA Mini
9. Human Factors. DP: Klemens Hufnagl. Cameras: Sony F55
10. I Was a Simple Man. DP: Eunsoo Cho. Cameras: ARRI ALEXA Mini
11. Jockey. DP: Adolpho Veloso. Cameras: ARRI ALEXA Mini
12. John and the Hole. DP: Paul Özgür. Cameras: ARRI ALEXA LF
13. Judas and the Black Messiah. DP: Sean Bobbitt. Cameras: ARRI ALEXA LF, ARRI ALEXA Mini LF
14. Knocking. DP: Hannes Krantz. Cameras: Sony FS7
15. Luzzu. DP: Léo Lefèvre. Cameras: ARRI ALEXA Mini
16. Ma Belle, My Beauty. DP: Lauren Guiteras. Cameras: ARRI AMIRA
17. Marvelous and the Black Hole. DP: Nanu Segal. Cameras: ALEXA Mini
18. Mass. DP: Ryan Jackson-Healy. Cameras: ARRI ALEXA Mini, ARRI ALEXA SXT
19. Mayday. DP: Sam Levy. Cameras: ALEXA Mini
20. Mother Schmuckers. DP: Sylvestre Vannoorenberghe. Cameras: ARRI Amira, Canon C300 Mark II
21. One for the Road. DP: Phaklao Jiraungkoonkun. Cameras: ARRI ALEXA​ Mini​ LF
22. Passing. DP: Edu Grau. Cameras: ARRI ALEXA Mini
23. Pleasure. DP: Sophie Winqvist Loggins. Cameras: ARRI ALEXA Mini
24. Prime Time. DP: Michał Łuka. Cameras: ARRI ALEXA Mini
25. Prisoners of the Ghostland. DP: Sohei Tanikawa. Cameras: ARRI ALEXA Mini, ARRI ALEXA SXT
26. R#J. DP: Diego Madrigal. Cameras: Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K
27. Son of Monarchs. DP: Alejandro Mejía. Cameras: ARRI ALEXA Mini, Canon C300 Mark II
28. Strawberry Mansion. DP: Tyler Davis. Cameras: ARRI AMIRA
29. Superior. DP: Mia Cioffi Henry. Cameras: ARRI 416
30. Together Together. DP: Frank Barrera. Cameras: ARRI ALEXA Mini
31. Violation. DP: Adam Crosby. Cameras: Blackmagic Ursa Mini Pro G2
32. We’re All Going to the World’s Fair. DP: Daniel Patrick Carbone. Cameras: ARRI ALEXA Mini
33. Wild Indian. DP: Eli Born. Cameras: ARRI ALEXA Mini

Camera chart of Sundance 2021

Explore the chart below based on that data (Credit: Y.M.Cinema Magazine):

Insights

Generally speaking, there’s no news under the sun. ARRI rules with its Mini. This fact has also occurred on Sundance 2019 and Sundance 2020 camera surveys. Furthermore, a few film cameras were totally expected. However, there’s a nice surprise to explore the BMPCC (Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera) starring in that chart. The great BMPCC was used on three films (“First Date”, “R#J” and “El Planeta”) with a combination of some high-end glass (Cooke Anamorphic and Angenieux Zoom). In that case, the DP did some smart decisions investing in lenses rather than cameras. Talking about lenses, stay tuned as our next chart that will be focused on the glass behind those films.