Lighting the Dark for the Front Room
Ava Berkofsky, ASC, illuminates a slow-burn thriller about a monstrous mother-in-law.
By Tara Jenkins
IndieWire
Ava Berkofsky has made a name working in TV, specifically in establishing the look for HBO’s “Insecure.”... The bold use of color... made the show a visual standout. With dir. Pippa Bianco’s “SHARE,” the rising cinematographer demonstrates an ability to bring the same distinct style to independent filmmaking.
The New Yorker
... Cinematographer Ava Berkofsky, creates a free-floating imagistic rapture of memory by way of sun, light, water, and gleam, with swooping and swirling camerawork. Throughout the film... the camera rushes ahead, plunges backward, and whirls and pivots with urgency... energizing familiar situations and feelings with a heightened and stylized visual rhetoric.
/Film
“Cinematographer Ava Berkofsky lends the film an aesthetic that seems as inspired by Andrew Wyeth Paintings and works of literature as it is by other movies.”...
HUFFPOST
Berkofsky has been integral to developing the show’s iconic visual style as director of photography since Season 2. In collaboration with “Insecure” director and executive producer Melina Matsoukas — whose TV shows, movies, music videos and commercials are known for their stunning visuals... From the luminous California sun to gorgeous color palettes, there’s no mistaking what an “Insecure” shot looks like.
Hollywood Reporter
... “the important elements were creating a look where at its core DNA, melanin is seen and celebrated through lighting and style, supporting the intimate exploration in the show... I thought of (the episode) as a piece of music being placed carefully together... It was just about finding the moments to create strong images and to let them hang in the air...
We Chat with the 2x Emmy-nominated cinematographer about the evolving visual language of INSECURE.
"Lowkey Lost"... is nominated this year for an Emmy in the category of Cinematography… A series noted for its lavish visuals, Berkofsky joined Insecure as director of photography… and helped to redefine what a half-hour series could look like, but also, how Los Angeles could be portrayed. She’s not here to shoot a sitcom. Ava’s here to reveal the city’s forever mutating canvas.
MIC
“When I was in film school, no one ever talked about lighting nonwhite people,” Berkofsky said in a phone interview with Mic.... In Insecure’s club scenes, dark-skinned protagonists like Yvonne Orji’s Molly continue to impress. You can thank Ava Berkofsky, the show’s director of photography, for that. Berkofsky was brought on for the show’s second season to give the show a more film-like look, which includes making black faces not only legible, but striking...
The Guardian
Never before has television looked so good. It’s hard to ascertain exactly when the paradigm shift began...It felt like there were these institutional pillars getting kcknocked over by these auteur film-makers, coming in and saying ‘We’re going to make a TV show however we want, and we’ll make it not feel like television at all. This was what Ava Berkofsky had in mind before she was hired to shoot the second season of Insecure...
Cinematography Salon
Ava Berkofsky, ASC, joins hosts Peter Pascucci and Ava Benjamin Shorr on the Cinematography Salon podcast to provide a view into their methodical approach to cinematography. Ava also speaks candidly about their experiences as a non-binary cinematographer and how that informs their desire to create inclusive work environments, all the while adhering to the demands of studio film and television projects.
