A Thousand Miles and A Good Eye

Interview and Photographs by Rose Di Nardo

Cinematographer and director Auden Bui shares the story of her career, biggest influences, and being zen in Antarctica.

Los Angeles, USA

YOU’RE BOTH A DIRECTOR AND CINEMATOGRAPHER, WHAT HAS YOUR JOURNEY BEEN LIKE? WHICH DO YOU PREFER MORE?

I got my Bachelors in film studies and my masters in film production at USC where I focused on directing and writing. Cinematography came about when people started asking me to shoot their projects in film school. I suppose they thought I had a good eye. It must be from my experience as a photographer. I continued down that path post graduation when all the job offers I had were for cinematography. Now my focus is back on directing but I still shoot projects that speak to me. I would like to direct and shoot my own feature one day, definitely not the first one but perhaps the second or third.

WHAT PROJECTS ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON?

I'm currently writing several scripts.

TELL US A FAVORITE STORY THAT STANDS OUT TO YOU FROM YOUR EXPERIENCES ON SET.

We were on a shoot in Foshan, a small city in China. It started raining so everyone was seeking refuge underneath the awnings of this fake Shanghai street, some were smoking while others took in the brief relief from the heat. Not a particularly exciting story but I remember feeling quite present and alive at that moment.

YOU’VE TRAVELED TO SEVEN DIFFERENT CONTINENTS, WHAT HAS BEEN ONE OF YOUR FAVORITE PLACES TO GO AND WHY?

Of course Antarctica. You reach a new level of zen there. All your problems are literally thousands of miles away.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BIGGEST INFLUENCES TO YOUR WORK?

Park Chan Wook, Kubrick, Helmut Newton, Rodney Smith, Billy Wilder, Alexander Dumas, David Lean, Woody Allen, Orson Welles, Lee Chang Dong, Edward Yang, Ozu, Antonioni, Kieslowski

WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU?

I'm going to Egypt to do a half marathon! Careerwise, finish writing my scripts, land my first television directing gig, then try to make my first feature.