Cinematography in Canada Since 1957

#TamarraCanu #AssociateMemberCSC @tamarracanu.dop “I’m trying to make the corporate ladder a ramp.”
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A few years back I directed and DPd my second episode for Canada’s A Drag on @cbcgem . After months of complete burnout, I felt like I finally had the energy to try something new rather than stick to my everyday creative routine. The whole episode was shot in one day- a feat in itself. I picked up a tilt shift lens and set our main interview in their kitchen to highlight the gorgeous vintage features in Wheelz’ home. I was so pleased to see how the setting really grounded their story alongside the rest of our visuals which were jam packed with colour and contrast. At their next show, Hot Wheelz played the film to kick off the night. In my world, it’s rare to see any of my work shown in front of a live audience. To have a screening set up by our participant was a rewarding surprise! I watched as people reacted to the piece my small but mighty team made in a single day. The crowd hooted, hollered and laughed while I stood frozen at the back of the room. Held breath and goosebumps until the moment it ended- the room erupted in cheer just as Hot Wheelz started the show. Tears running down my face, I can only imagine the confusion of the people cheering next to me. Not knowing I played a part in the film at all- let alone watching it impact a room filled with people.
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Made possible by my super team:
Access Coordinator / Disability Story Consultant @carly.neis
Camera assist @cardhousedreamer
Sound @alynnetrue
Production Assistant Jakob Dahlgren

- last but not least the incredible team at CBC.

#TamarraCanu #AssociateMemberCSC @tamarracanu.dop
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Hi all! Your resident country bumpkin here thriving in the prairies, and I am so thrilled to be sharing my work with all of you- many of whom I truly admire. I’ve spent 14 years on this long, bumpy, dusty, dirt road and I’m proud of every moment. Most of my professional growth has been within documentary, slowly expanding into commercial and narrative mid-way through. My work; first and foremost, has taught me what it truly means to be present. To watch the world around me with one eye and my viewfinder with the other. Most of the time I have found that life is interesting enough to write itself if you know what to look for. That sometimes supporting and being there for our participants is more important and just as valuable as a stunning shot. Above all, being an observer in so many peoples lives brought me back to myself. Back to humanity. What a privilege it’s been. My work has taken me across the prairie provinces, the Arctic circle, throughout North America and overseas. Now today, it’s taken me here to you. So here we are, hosting the CSC instagram and we aren’t nervous at all… I am longwinded, I am intense, I am passionate. It can feel like a lot when we first meet. Sometimes I jumble my words because I get so excited to share, that they all come out at once. At least in person I also have maxed out charisma stats to back me up. Every shoot has a story and I feel compelled to share each one with you. I don’t necessarily sugar coat things (see previous comment about being intense). So buckle up and come along for the ride with me. I’ll do my best to keep it brief. Thank you @416cw for working so damn hard to make this work for me. It means the world.

@martinbuzora #CSCAssociateMember #martinbuzora

I’ve been lucky to work across many types of projects: horror, music videos, thrillers, Hallmark romances, documentaries and commercials. What I’ve noticed is how quickly people put you in a box based on what they’ve seen, or what’s easiest to categorize.

I’ve gone from filming documentaries in conflict zones to Hallmark romances back home within days. That contrast keeps me engaged and stops the work from feeling routine.

Hallmark romances get a bad rep, but I genuinely enjoy the cinematography that goes into them. Who wouldn’t want to go from filming dead elephants to gorgeous actors with lighting that looks like some kind of delicious cupcake? It’s therapeutic.

For me, these formats have never felt separate. It’s the same creative part of my brain each time trying to find the right feeling with fresh eyes. That variety is what keeps my interest in cinematography alive.

@martinbuzora #CSCAssociateMember #martinbuzora

I shot this during the 2019 Hong Kong protests - a time of profound change that marked a seismic shift not just in my own life, but across the world. It was the final chapter of a pre-COVID era, before everything changed for all of us.

What stays with me most was the sincerity of the people. There was a clarity and conviction in their voices that made it impossible for me to remain a bystander. I felt a responsibility to be there, to listen, and to try to carry their voices beyond the streets of Hong Kong.

With no funding, no backing, and no safety net of any kind, I got on a plane with nothing but a camera to document what I believed was a moment of global consequence. What followed was the most stripped-down documentary experience of my career - alone, guided by passion and instinct and a genuine desire to try and help the people I had come to care so deeply about.

Months of isolation, police arrest, interrogations, teargas and PTSD are not things they teach in film school. But I would still choose to be there again, because I was guided by my heart.

#canadiancinematographer

@martinbuzora #CSCAssociateMember #martinbuzora

Scenes from Kenya Wildlife Diaries, a series I directed for @lovenature and @smithsonian.

For nearly two years I lived out of a tent filming on the front lines of conservation in northern Kenya. I got to shoot on one of the early RED Dragon 6K cameras - a tough old powerhouse that never let me down and astonishingly never overheated, even when my brain did in the punishing equatorial sun. Dust found everything and keeping my lenses clean, sensors protected and gear functioning became a daily discipline inside my canvas tent.

Every sunrise brought new adventures and meant stepping into the unknown. No separation between life and work - just the story, unfolding in real time.

Those years didn’t just shape my work, they rewired how I see the world - and Kenya became my home.

Documentary Series: Kenya Wildlife Diaries
Network: @lovenature
Executive Producer: @michael.dalton_smith
Executive Producer: @craigcolby6
Editor: Owin Lambeck
Sound Editor: @georgefloressoundpost

Starring: @dr_mathew_mutinda_ @batian_kenya @iancraigkenya @lewaconservancy

@martinbuzora #CSCAssociateMember #martinbuzora

This breathtaking documentary series called “ENSLAVED” took us from Central Africa to the American South with the one and only @samuelljackson.

I’m forever grateful to have been part of telling a story of this weight and importance, and to have worked alongside such a deeply experienced group of cinematographers - @eladwink, Derek Rogers, and Paul Jenkins - as well as our exceptional underwater DP @richstevenson.uk and Italian aerial team at @drone_arezzo_italy.

We filmed across Central Africa, beginning in Gabon and continuing through Ghana - from dense jungle environments to the buzzing energy of Accra - under the fearless direction of @ricbienstock with a production team led by @tara.jan_. The journey then carried on into the United States with shoots in Nashville and Mobile, Alabama.

It was an intense and breathtaking experience - the kind that reminds you how much there is for us to learn, and how rare it is to be a part of stories that truly matter.

Production: @enslaveddoc
Executive Producers: @simcha_jacobovici @ltjackson_ @samuelljackson @ricbienstock Sarah Sapper Yaron Niski Eli Selden & Rob Lee
Producers: @golubev.felix @ricbienstock
Directors: @simcha_jacobovici @ricbienstock George Amponsah
Cinematographers: Derek Rogers, Paul Jenkins, @eladwink and @martinbuzora
Camera Assistant: @badassryanbuller
Underwater Cinematography: @richstevenson.uk
Divers: Kramer Wimberley, @alannahvellacott, Joshua Williams and Kinga Philipps
Aerial Cinematography: @drone_arezzo_italy

Behind the scenes photos by @remi_pognante_photos