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This year’s Oscar nominations saw many brilliant editors who are women, from Sarah Broschard to The Fabelman family of Monica Willey for Warehouse. This table of fantastic women is shared by the editor of India’s brilliant entry at this year’s Oscars for Best Documentary, Charlotte Munch Bengtsen. Everything that breathes, directed by Shaunak Sen, against the backdrop of social unrest, tells the story of two brothers and their mission to save the birds of prey from Delhi’s skies. Charlotte’s notable filmography includes that of Joshua Oppenheimer The act of murder to The Truffle Hunters by Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw. Her skillful editing joins the world of the two brothers and its many contexts with invisible seams. Sen mentions“The logic of the editorial was not narrative but emotional.”
FII caught up with Charlotte to talk about her journey from dancer to editor and her subsequent experience in the documentary world. The following conversation is an abridged transcript of the same.
Q: You studied film editing at NFTS, UK after giving up your career as a dancer. How and why did you decide to switch?
Charlotte: It was a broken heart. I think at first I thought I could do both. Until I applied to film school and they said if you want to do this you have to make a decision – you can’t do both. Literally through dance I was introduced to the art of montage. My dance company needed a trailer made from a dance performance. Walking into the editing room and seeing the work in progress from the editor, I instantly fell in love with the art and knew I had to learn it.
At the time I was doing still photography on the side. I’ve always been looking to create movement – through editing I felt I could bring together all my skills from being a dancer and working with still photography. I had no time to waste, as I was already 33 when I made this decision, so I put my dancing career on hold, but somehow I still feel like I’m dancing when I edit. Being a student was again the most intense and exciting two years of my life, but also a time (when) I felt scared to death.
Q: What was your experience like in the early years of your career?
Charlotte: Before I graduated from NFTS in 2009, I had already been given the opportunity to edit the documentary A chorus of complaints with my friend, the director Ada B Soby, so I went back to Denmark. But soon after graduating I got a phone call asking if I was interested in coming to London for an interview with Joshua Oppenheimer. I said yes and got on the plane back to London.
“I came from dance where you were barely paid, so for me the transition to editing felt like gold. I was more upset about the disparity in power and pay across art forms, feeling like I was the same artist dancing or editing a film, but not valued equally in terms of pay in both fields.’
Charlotte Munch Bengtsen
I met Josh and was one of the editors of The act of murder was a blessing in my early years in editing, but also in terms of building a relationship with Josh as a mentor and dear friend. To this day, I have been fortunate to be able to consult him on many of my projects.
Read also: Women cut cinema: FII in conversation with five Indian editors
Q: Most of your famous edited films are documentaries – did you deliberately choose this as a particular field of work? What draws you to documentary editing?
Charlotte: It wasn’t a conscious choice to focus on documentaries from the start, as it turns out. I remember most of my classmates preferred fiction because it seemed that doing feature drama would provide more recognition as an editor. Things have changed with The act of murder I also believe in this regard to the popularity of the genre, reaching a wider audience.
I am drawn to documentary work because I enjoy the creative process of finding the story in the editing room. You work with structure, character arcs, plots, music, etc… I like to take ownership of the film, but in a way where I allow myself to be an interpreter of the directors’ vision and the material I’m given. I allow myself to work intuitively, I never try to impose an idea on a film, but I always try to listen to the authentic voice of the material. I believe this is a skill I have been able to use as a dancer, working on an emotional level.
Q: As an editor, did you feel there was a gender disparity in power and pay, especially in the editing department?
Charlotte: I believe I have been geographically spoiled as I have based most of my editorial career in Denmark. We are a small film community but very strong internationally. There has been a long list of strong female film editors such as To Lars von Trier editor Molly Malene Stensgaard. I came from dance where you were barely paid, so for me the transition to editing felt like gold. I was more upset about the disparity in power and pay across different art forms—I felt like I was the same artist, performing dance or editing a film, but I wasn’t valued equally as paid in both fields.
Q: The filmmaking process is predominantly populated by men. In your years as a film editor, what change, if any, have you observed?
Charlotte: Working in documentaries, you find more women than in feature films, both as directors, producers and editors. I’ve had a lot of female co-stars and I can’t say what a change there has been in the film as a whole.
Q: This is your first Indian project. How did you get involved with Everything that breathes? How was your experience?
Charlotte: Yes, this is my first Indian project. Contacted Rise Films in London when researching possible editors for Everything that breathes. shownak was watching From the Wild Sea by Robin Petre, who I had recently graduated from and felt drawn to the way we approached the human-animal relationship in the language of film. We had a zoom call and that was the beginning of our working relationship.
“I think it’s hard to generalize because both men and women can act very differently or the same, but … maybe female directors have more patience to be in the editing room day after day without having to do anything something else. During the editing period, the editing room becomes this intimate space where you share your personal stories and tune into each other emotionally, naturally there’s another kind of bonding.”
Charlotte Munch Bengtsen
It’s a bit more crowded in the editing room than what I’m used to, but it’s been an absolutely lovely process that soon felt like an extended family.
Read also: 5 Women Editors in Indian Cinema We Should Know About
Q: You have worked on documentaries all over the world, how do you adapt to the changing geopolitical context? What is your process of empathizing with the text?
Charlotte: I have made many documentaries that are socio-politically and geographically far away from me. I’m not afraid of it. I also think being involved and not having a lot of knowledge can be an advantage. This was also interesting for Shaunak (Everything that breathes) that I am not from India. Because I can’t afford to get sentimental without knowing the backstory. I just look at what I see on the screen, on the timeline that is presented to me – and dive in. After Shaunak and Vedant (second editor) came to Denmark, we slowly got to know each other more… you start exchanging stories. Political, cinema history – you slowly put the picture together.
Q: You worked with Robin Petre on Out of the Wild. Have you worked with other female directors? How different is your experience working with them?
Charlotte: I have worked with many female filmmakers, such as Ada B Soby – we have worked together on three feature documentaries; I’ve worked twice with Irish director Una Kearney and just last week I shot a new feature length documentary by Danish director Mette Karla Albrechtsen. Later this year I will be working with Elizabeth Lo from the US.
I think it’s hard to generalize because both men and women can act very differently or the same, but… maybe female directors have more patience to be in the editing room day after day without having to do anything something else. During the editing period, the editing room becomes this intimate space where you share your personal stories and tune into each other emotionally, naturally there’s another kind of bonding. However, I also experience this working with male directors, where the editing room becomes this safe place for thoughts that occupy your heart and mind.
Q: Do you think there’s a reason we’re seeing so many women inhabiting and excelling in the film editing department?
Charlotte: Back in the day, when you had to cut celluloid, you had to be very organized and neat – otherwise you’d lose your strips. I think maybe that’s something that speaks more to women.
Maybe that’s our nature too… we like to nurture and have patience and empathy for characters. I don’t think we have the same need to be in the spotlight, but we actually pride ourselves on pulling the strings behind the scenes.
Q: Editing as a profession is often invisible, especially if done well, to audiences and sometimes even critics. Does it manifest as a crisis in the profession?
Charlotte: I don’t see it as a crisis, that’s the nature of performing installation art, whether you’re male or female, and I also believe it’s a craft that attracts performers who don’t want to be at the forefront and who love to be the invisible artist behind the craft. You kind of have to be an extrovert to direct movies, not all of us are. I am often asked if I want to direct my own film. Absolutely not! I didn’t become a film editor because I have a secret desire to become a director, I’m only in it because of my love for the art of editing and the process of sculpting a film from the editing room.
If we can better understand the role of the editor – I think that’s important. It’s like I didn’t know what the role of an editor was before I walked into the room myself for the first time. I think this will happen slowly – as documentaries have grown over the last ten years, perhaps people will also begin to understand how they are intended.
Question: What kind of voice do you think an editor gives to a piece?
Charlotte: I can only speak from a documentary filmmaking perspective. The voice you provide is the tool through which you can interpret and translate the director’s vision into the film. Working on the Danish documentary scene or with international filmmakers — I have not experienced being patronized or ignored. Film editing isn’t about being technical, you’re a storyteller. Discussing narrative and structure, tone and rhythms will almost always have its challenging moments between you and the director… it’s part of the process of finding the film.
Read also: Through the lens of Preeta Jayaraman: One of India’s leading female filmmakers
Q: As a documentary editor, you work with real-time footage that includes a lot of violent and disturbing content. How does immersion in such images affect you? Do you have a “detox” process?
Charlotte: I’m not sure if I have a detox process that I use – maybe subconsciously I have my own methods. But I guess it’s a bit like I can’t imagine how you as a surgeon can be unaffected by having to cut a person open, see all the blood, etc. Yes, the first time you watch violent or disturbing content, you say “damn, I can’t do this” and maybe you should take some time for yourself or cancel the day off a little early, as was the case several times when I was working with footage from war zones in the documentary Military photographer. But then you also get used to and use your skills like a surgeon uses his to succeed in the operating room.
Q: Are there any female editors you look up to?
Charlotte: Yes, many both in the international scene and in the Danish scene – Molly Malene Stensgaard, Nana Frank, Asa Mossberg, Anne Osterud… I think the Danish scene of women editors is quite strong.
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