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Below, editors Inbal Lesner and Kim Roberts discuss their work on a Netflix documentary about Nancy Schwartzman’s Sundance premiere, Victim/Suspecther doc sequel Roll Red Roll. The film deals with alleged rape and sexual assault victims who find themselves on the receiving end of court charges when they are accused of making false accusations.
See all the answers to our annual Sundance Editor Interviews here.
director: How and why did you end up editing your film? What were the factors and qualities that led to your being hired for this job?
Lesnar: Nancy Schwartzman and I crossed paths briefly when we were both working in the sexual violence field about a decade ago, and I admired her innovative ideas. When I was first contacted about this film and scheduled a conversation with Nancy, I tried to do my homework the night before and catch up on her latest film, Roll Red Roll. It was late at night and I planned to watch the first 10 minutes, but I found it so fascinating that I couldn’t stop and watched the whole thing. I remember thinking that I wouldn’t change a single splice in this film, and so I was excited to work with her because I felt like she was going to challenge me to do my best work. I guess I was lucky there wasn’t a better one and I got the job!
Roberts: Inbal and I have worked together in the past and she approached me to join the team and help with the final part of the editing. I was very impressed with the reporter – her diligence and willingness to follow the stories wherever they lead.
director: In terms of the progression of your film from its earliest assembly to your final cut, what were your goals as an editor? What elements of the film did you want to improve, or keep, or remove, or completely redo?
Lesnar: I had the privilege of joining the project before Nancy started filming and had some time to review all the footage that Ray De Leon (the journalist protagonist) had collected in her initial reporting phase, including the video and audio of the police investigation , which became the heart of the film. I got to work with Nancy to extract the highlights from these lengthy police investigations and I helped her plan the use of these clips during the production – playing on Rae’s computer screen or iPad – to enhance the experience of watching an active investigation , which develops in reality – time. I wanted viewers to feel the same disbelief and outrage at these videos that I felt when I first watched them.
As we moved from assembly to final cut, my main challenge was to frame Rae’s investigation of these seemingly unrelated cases into a propulsive arc and let Rae lead us from one case to the next. It was also important to find the right balance between the survivors’ stories and Ray’s search for answers. I wanted viewers to be emotionally consumed by Rey’s search for answers, angry when doors slam in her face or people don’t return her calls, and excited when there’s a breakthrough. To this end, we wanted the investigative journalistic process, which can be quite tedious, to look and feel exciting in cinema, like a thriller.
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