The Breakout Film at Sundance About Trans Sex Workers Was Shot on an iPhone

By Jamilah King Jan 30, 2015

"Tangerine" is the movie that everyone’s talking about at this year’s Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Some of it has to do with its storyline: It’s a narrative film that looks at the decidedly unglamorous life of transgender sex workers in Hollywood. But much of the intrigue surrounding the film also has to do with the recent revelation that writer and director Sean Baker shot it entirely on an iPhone5S. "It was surprisingly easy," Baker told reporters. "We never lost any footage."

Here’s more from The Verge:

At first, the cast wasn’t convinced shooting with the iPhone would work. "I had some hesitancy about it, more out of pride," says James Ransone, who plays Chester, the pimp at the center of Tangerine‘s love triangle. "I’m like, Jesus Christ, man, I was on The Wire. I’ve ended up in iPhone movies!" But Ransone came to appreciate the flexibility of the device. "There’s a lot that can be done with an iPhone."

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