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“The Odyssey” artisans — costume designer Ellen Mirojnick, production designer Ruth De Jong and editor Jennifer Lame — are set to receive the Variety Creative Collaborators award at Virginia’s Middleburg Film Festival
in October.
As go-to artisans of Christopher Nolan, the trio will be recognized for their work on his films “Oppenheimer” and “The Odyssey.”
Susan Koch, Middleburg Film Festival executive director, said, “‘The Odyssey’ is an astounding artistic and filmmaking achievement and we couldn’t be more excited to welcome to Middleburg three of Christopher Nolan’s closest collaborators – Ruth De Jong, Jennifer Lame and Ellen Mirojnick – to give us insight into their process and craft, including how they brought Nolan’s incredible vision to the screen. We’re proud to continue our partnership with Variety in honoring the greatest filmmaking collaborations.”
To create the world of “The Odyssey,” Nolan turned to his most trusted collaborators. De Jong, who was nominated for an Oscar for her work on “Oppenheimer,” was one of the first department heads the filmmaker sought out after completing the screenplay. De Jong was tasked with finding real-world locations, which ultimately brought the film to life across six countries: Morocco, Greece, Italy, Iceland, Scotland and the United States. The production shot on soundstages in Los Angeles.
Mirojnick, whose credits include “Basic Instinct” and “Fatal Attraction” was reunited with Nolan for the film. The numbers alone are staggering — she created over 5,300 costumes and needed a team of 175 artisans.
Lame, who won her first Oscar for “Oppenheimer,” faced several challenges in her role as editor. Since the epic was shot using Imax cameras entirely on 70mm film, it needed to come in at under three hours due to the physical limitations of the Imax platter — a three-hour movie fills this platter to its outer edge, leaving no clearance next to the central control arm. In addition, Lame delivered weekly cuts, closely collaborating with Nolan, producer Emma Thomas and composer Ludwig Göransson, who delivered the film’s score. In the end, Lame cut a total of 2 million feet of exposed film, with “The Odyssey” coming in at 172 minutes.
The conversation will be moderated by Variety’s senior artisans editor, Jazz Tangcay, on Oct. 16. The talk will look at their collaboration and serve as a career retrospective.
At the festival, Tangcay and Variety’s chief awards editor, Clayton Davis, will also host their annual Coffee and Contenders conversation on the state of the awards race.
The festival’s slate will be released shortly. Past festival honorees include Edward Berger, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Kenneth Branagh, Noah Baumbach, Sofia Coppola and Damien Chazelle.
The Middleburg Film Festival runs from Oct. 15 through Oct. 18.
