Reflecting on her own journey behind the camera, the director of photography offers words of encouragement to the next generation of cinematographers.
Cinematographer Anka Malatynska realised early on that images captured through a lens could provide a passport to the wider world. She built her craft in documentaries before breaking into narrative work, where her credits include the Steve Buscemi-directed feature The Listener and television series such as I Know What You Did Last Summer and Rescue: HI-Surf. Along the way, she garnered further attention when, in 2020, she was named one of Variety’s “10 Cinematographers to Watch.” In this video, Malatynska traces her journey to the profession, reflects on cinematography’s evolving visual language, and shares advice for filmmakers looking to build their own path in the craft.
The Path to Cinematography
Reflecting on her decision to become a cinematographer, Malatynska muses, “I feel like it was a dream that was dreaming me before I dreamed it. I was actually born in Poland, and our family from abroad would send us National Geographic magazines, and that idea that photography was a ticket to the world was planted for me very early on.”
Before she stepped behind the camera, Malatynska shares that she initially envisioned working in front of the lens. “For a while, I was an actress,” she says. “When I was 13, I got an agent, and I heard her making a deal about somebody, and it sounded like selling objects or like a piece of meat. I remember to my 13-year-old self it just was like, ‘I don’t ever want to be a part of this business.’ That afternoon, I told my mom, ‘I’m never doing acting again.’”
With that pivot, she continues, “I actually got really into math and science. My mom was a scientist. They had a darkroom in her lab. I started taking pictures, and I started learning how to develop those pictures.” Still photography led to documentaries and eventually narrative cinematography. “Now,” Malatynska says, “it feels like the place where the world makes sense.
“My first big break,” she adds, “I remember it because it was in 2019 when I was offered Monsterland. That really launched me into the next seven television series that I did. But I had actually already been shooting and in the craft for close to 15 to 18 years.”
Creating Opportunities
Malatynska is optimistic about the state of cinematography and the opportunities that aspiring filmmakers can forge for themselves. “I think we’re in a really interesting time,” she says. “I think the craft is growing. We’ve grown out of close-up, medium shot, wide shot. I think there’s a lot of really exciting things going on in modern cinematography.
“I would say to young filmmakers, ‘Don’t wait for somebody to hire you. Make your own work if you’re not being hired,’” she continues. “The people who are rising now, there’s more opportunities than ever before to develop your craft because you can develop your craft shooting things for social media, you can be your own director and cinematographer. That would be one of the biggest pieces of advice when you’re starting out: Just keep shooting everything that you can. Keep telling stories from the heart.”
A Great Adventure
Thinking back to her earlier years in the profession, Malatynska shares, “I wish I knew how far along I already was. For instance, when we graduate film school, it seems like, ‘Oh man, I have to learn for all these years and apprentice.’ And what a lot of film students don’t know is that that moment that you’re graduating film school is actually a really incredible portal of opportunity, and if you have the maturity to understand that, then you can seize that opportunity.
“I was in Variety‘s ‘10 Cinematographers to Watch,’ and I actually didn’t even know internally what a big deal that was,” she says. “I didn’t know that I was already at a certain level. So it’s like, to know to believe in your work and to believe in your voice, and that there actually is a place that you get to when you’re ready.”
Ultimately, Malatynska views her work as a cinematographer as “such a great adventure. Every time, you’re doing something new, the constant learning, being inspired by other filmmakers. It’s like going to camp with your friends every time.”
Originally published on panavision.com
