By Katie Chambers
The wildly inventive 2023 Sundance Film Festival feature film Landscape with Invisible Hand follows Adam, a teenage artist coming of age in the aftermath of an alien takeover. The Vuvv, a species of hyper-intelligent extraterrestrials, brought wondrous technology to Earth, but only the wealthiest can afford it. The rest of humanity, their livelihoods now obsolete, have to scrape together money to survive. Then Adam and his budding love interest come up with an ingenious way to get rich quick.
Based on the novel by M.T. Anderson, the genre-bending sci-fi dramatic comedy with a YA twist directed by Cory Finley will come out as a limited release August 18, 2023.
NYWIFT member Nitasha Bhambree helped bring the fantastical story to life as the Stunt Coordinator for the film. Since graduating New York University with a focus in dramatic performance and film studies, Nitasha has been employed in the entertainment industry for over 20 years. While living in Los Angeles she produced two feature length action films, TKO and Game Over.
Upon returning to New York, Nitasha became one of the top stunt women in the region. She regularly stunt doubles lead actresses in various TV shows and films, and has performed stunts in big budget features such as Joker, The Dark Knight Rises, Spider-Man and A Wrinkle in Time. She was a participant in the Emmy win for Outstanding Stunt Coordination for NBC’s The Blacklist. Nitasha has stunt coordinated features and TV series for Netflix, Disney, MGM, A24, NBCU, Hulu, HBO Max and Starz/Lionsgate, and was a stunt coordinator on the Marvel/Netflix series Jessica Jones. Nitasha most recently second unit directed and stunt coordinated the critically acclaimed Peacock series A Friend of the Family.
She spoke to us about working in the sci-fi genre, her favorite scenes, and her upcoming projects.

NYWIFT member Nitasha Bhambree
Congratulations on your Sundance premiere! What does inclusion in Sundance mean to you?
It’s exciting when a film you worked on gets accepted to one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world. It brings a level of accreditation to the project just by being included in the festival lineup, and it also gives the film greater exposure to audiences worldwide.
How did you get involved with the film?
I submitted my resume to the producers of the film which led to an interview with the director and writer, Cory Finley, who I worked with before on Bad Education. But I didn’t know this was his project until the interview. Cory is really great to work with so I was excited to learn that. He truly collaborates with everyone on the crew and is very considerate of each department’s needs.

A still from Landscape With Invisible Hand by Cory Finley, an official selection of the Premiers program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Have you worked in the sci-fi genre before? Are you a fan? Although in many respects this is just as much a YA story as a sci-fi story!
I have worked on sci-fi projects before. It’s a fun genre, especially for stunts. There are no limits to what the imagination can conjure up! And you’re right, this is very much a YA story as well. The film does a great job of playing the YA story against the backdrop of the sci-fi reality of their world.
Without giving much away… the CGI aliens are a big part of the movie and fully integrated into an otherwise “normal” seeming Earth. What are some of the strategies when working with CGI characters (and very oddly shaped ones at that) that will be added in post?
I actually was not involved in the scenes with the aliens because it was all done as VFX in post. But generally speaking, we often use wire work and motion capture for creature work that will be converted into CGI. For large or unusual shapes, stilts, posts, and other objects can be used for reference points and to help actors with eye lines and to better visualize what their co-actors will look like.

A still from Landscape With Invisible Hand by Cory Finley, an official selection of the Premiers program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute
What was your favorite moment shooting the film? And the biggest challenge?
My favorite moment was when we were shooting the sequence when Adam, played by Asante Blackk, exits the shuttle, collapses and his mother and sister, played by Tiffany Haddish and Brooklynn MacKinzie, come out of the house to welcome him back home. Not only was it an emotional scene, but Asante is such a great physical actor which he proved throughout production. The scene was lit and shot beautifully. When it all came together it felt magical.
Often times the biggest challenge can be having actors perform their own stunts, such as a prat fall or a fight, because they are not trained as stunt performers are and have to learn certain skills quickly. But all of the actors who did their own stunts on the film picked up the physicality very quickly.
What kinds of projects excite you?
I’m really drawn to projects that showcase an underdog character who comes out on top in the end. But in general, working on a production with a great story and crew make the experience enjoyable.
What is next for you?
I am currently coordinating a feature in NYC. My business partners and I are also in the process of raising funds for our next feature film which my husband, Declan Mulvey, and I wrote and will co-direct. Over the summer we are planning on shooting a short as well. So we have a lot going on and are excited for what’s to come!
Follow Nitasha Bhambree on Instagram at @NitashaBhambree.
Related Posts
Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Aisha Amin
Welcome to NYWIFT, Aisha Amin! Aisha is an NYC-based writer and director. As a director, her work expands across narrative, documentary, and experimental forms to tell authentic stories built from real experiences. Her past film projects have explored and highlighted overlooked communities particularly in New York City, including formerly incarcerated mothers and communities struggling with the presence of gentrification in their neighborhoods. Amongst her directing, Aisha is an emerging screenwriting and was selected to participate in Cine Qua Non’s 2022 Screenwriting Lab. She is a 2022 recipient of NYFA’s Tomorrowland Grant and a 2021 recipient of the NYFA Women's Fund grant. She was a recipient of the 2019-2020 Sally Burns Shenkman Woman Filmmaker Fellowship at the Jacob Burns Film Center where she directed two short documentaries. She is also a recipient of The Shed's Open Call Fellowship where she expanded her film practice to installation art. Aisha spoke to us about her favorite styles of storytelling, the intersection of narrative and documentary, and her latest projects.
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Lorena R. Valencia
Welcome to NYWIFT, Lorena R. Valenica! Lorena R. Valencia is a Mexican writer-director based in New York. Her directorial debut and MFA thesis film, Cuanacaquilitl (Dandelion), received the 2022 National Board of Review Student Award and is an Official Selection in several international film festivals, including the Morelia International Film Festival, the Atlanta Film Festival, the New York Latino Film Festival, and the NewFilmmakers Los Angeles Film Festival. Lorena is passionate about both narrative and documentary storytelling and is interested in addressing issues such as reproductive rights, identity, and belonging. Currently, she is directing Mi Ranchito, a documentary short film that explores resilience and love for the land, while she is developing her debut feature film, Mayahuel. Lorena spoke to us about inspiring empathy through storytelling, the overlap of narrative and documentary filmmaking, and her latest projects.
READ MORENYWIFT at DOC NYC: In Conversation with Emily Sheskin
NYWIFT Member Emily Sheskin’s return to DOC NYC 2023 is particularly meaningful. In 2017, she attended the festival with her short film Girl Boxer, about a 10-year-old champion female boxer and her adoring father. Six years later, Sheskin returns with a feature-length film following the same family, now facing an entirely new set of challenges. In Jesszilla, New Jersey’s own Jesselyn Silva, a three-time national boxing champion, is on her way to superstardom, dominating the junior ranks at the age of 15. With her every step of the way is her father, Pedro, a single parent who helps her navigate coaches, training schedules, and the angst of teenage life. When a devastating diagnosis threatens the father-daughter tandem, the pair turn to each other to fight their greatest opponent yet: cancer. Director and Executive Producer Emily Sheskin spoke to us about her unique journey following this family.
READ MORENYWIFT at DOC NYC: In Conversation with Ilja Willems
NYWIFT member Ilja Willems heads to the 2023 DOC NYC Festival with not one but two exciting new short films. Friendly Fridges shows how the new heart of the community is popping up in every neighborhood—in the shape of refrigerators. And When the grass must go follows a landscaper from Nevada who is removing grass lawns under a first-of-a-kind state law that will save water during an ongoing drought. Willems spoke to us about how these two disparate films align with her creative sensibilities, the joy of screening in NYC, and more!
READ MORE
Comments are closed