Captions Will be Needed is filmmaker Natalia Almada’s cinematic response to living with a rare cancer that has reconfigured her relationship to time.
About The Team
Natalia Almada: Director/Producer
2012 MacArthur “Genius” fellow and two-time recipient of the Sundance Documentary Directing Award for El General in 2009 and Users in 2021, Natalia Almada's directing credits include–Todo lo demás (New York Film Festival 2016), El Velador (Cannes 2011), Al Otro Lado (Tribeca 2005) and All Water has a Perfect Memory (Sundance 2002). She lives in Mexico City and San Francisco.
Josh Penn: Producer, USA
Josh Penn is a producer with the Department of Motion Pictures. He has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, Outstanding Producer at the Producer’s Guild Awards and won a Peabody Award. He has premiered a dozen projects at Sundance since 2012, garnering 5 awards from the festival. He produced BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD, (Sundance Grand Jury Prize, Cannes Caméra d’Or, and four Oscar nominations), MONSTERS AND MEN (Sundance Special Jury Prize), the series PHILLY D.A. (Gotham and Peabody Award Winner), Users, 32 Sounds, A THOUSAND THOUGHTS, WENDY, and FAREWELL AMOR, among others.
Esther Robinson: Producer, USA
Esther Robinson has worked on behalf of America's artists for over 20 years as a foundation program officer, technology entrepreneur, non-profit leader, and film producer/director. Her critically acclaimed directorial debut A Walk into the Sea: Danny Williams and The Warhol Factory took top prizes at The Berlin, Tribeca and Chicago film festivals. Her recent producer credits include: The Velvet Underground by Todd Haynes, Through The Night by Loira Limbal (PBS/POV 2021), the Academy Award Nominated film Strong Island by Yance Ford, and Memories of a Penitent Heart by Cecilia Aldarondo.
Kirsten Johnson: Cinematographer
Kirsten Johnson’s next project is a scripted feature based on the biography of Susan Sontag. Her previous film, Dick Johnson is Dead received the Jury Prize for Innovation in Nonfiction Storytelling at Sundance 2020. It won the Primetime Emmy for Directing, made the Oscar shortlist and is distributed by The Criterion Collection. Her previous film, Cameraperson was also shortlisted for the Academy Award. Her camerawork appears in Academy Award winner Citizen Four, The Invisible War, and Winner Fahrenheit 9/11. She is one of the only 5% of women members of American Society of Cinematographers.
Nels Bangerter: Consulting Editor
Nels Bangerter is the award-winning documentary film editor of 32 Sounds, Cameraperson, Let the Fire Burn, Dick Johnson is Dead, and The Hottest August. He has been nominated for two News & Documentary Emmys, he is a two-time winner at the Cinema Eye Honors for Best Editing, and he has won four International Documentary Association awards. Nels has also been an advisor at the Sundance Edit Labs, as well as for Firelight Media, SFFILM, BAVC, and Film Independent.
