We interviewed cinematographer Paula Huidobro, who worked on CODA, Siân Heder’s successful crowdpleaser which took home the main awards at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.
Born in 1980, in Mexico City, Paula Huidobro has attended the London Film School, and the American Film Institute, before working as director of photography on multiple projects, including Million Dollar Arm (Dir. Craig Gillespie, 2014) or Katie Says Goodbye (Dir. Wayne Roberts, 2018). Early on in her career, Paula Huidobro started collaborating with director Siân Heder, such as in Mother (2006), a short film which received the 3rd Cinéfondation Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
In 2021, Paula Huidobro is credited as director of photography in CODA, the US remake of Eric Lartigau’s La famille Bélier (2014), written and directed by Siân Heder, and starring Emilia Jones as the leading character, along with Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur, and Daniel Durant. Filmed in Gloucester, Massachusetts, in the United States, CODA had its world premiere on January 28, 2021 at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, where it got acquired by Apple for a festival-record $25 million. The film was released in theaters and through the Apple TV+ streaming service on August 13, 2021.
We were delighted to chat with cinematographer Paula Huidobro about her work on CODA, her visual choices, and her collaboration with director Siân Heder.
Acknowledgements: Paula Huidobro, Emily Lu Aldrich, Ivy Martinez.
