Maggie Olkuska, DFF
Director of Photography

I’ve been fortunate enough to work with Maggie on a couple of projects. When we did the film about the city of Odense she somehow read my mind and instantly knew what I wanted. I felt we created a magical work flow with love and respect for each other. 

She is a very powerful, strong and independent woman who observes the different things and shoots material that is beyond beautiful and that I’d never dared dream of. Now I dream. 
I can’t wait until our next collaboration. 

Med venlig hilsen / Kind Regards 
Søren Grau, Film Director

www.soerengrau.dk

Working with Maggie is an eye-opening experience. After all kinds of projects, working with everyone from inexperienced students to renowned masters of their craft I've only once been so surprised at how "in the moment" a camera operator can be. She's present, she's THERE, in her own incredibly focused headspace, making it look sooo easy, no matter if it's a static establishing shot or a tight, multi layered action sequence. Maggie hits the mark every time.

Adrian Grotyński, Focus Puller, "Last Whistle" short film, Poland 2019

Photo and film session review

"The photo session with Maggie was such a unique experience. It was important to me to convey the authentic, gentle, delicate, soft texture of the somatic therapy approach I offer to my clients. I made a decision that every stage of my journey in inviting clients into my space will be a reflection of my way of accompanying them on their path back to their inner home, their SELF. 

Maggie created an incredibly safe, balanced space for me to remain in contact with myself and my instinct throughout the entire process. This way we could capture me in my heart space, in my playfulness, in my creativity. Maggie was very caring, making a lot of effort in guiding, supporting, communicating, collaborating and sharing inspirations. This wasn’t just a photo session to me, it was a deeply enriching stage in my journey where I stepped into my path  with even more clarity, certainty, stronger sense of grounding and rooted a little bit deeper into my life calling. 

Maggie went above and beyond in asking just the right questions to get to know me, my company and my intentions for the session. These questions inspired me to delve into self-inquiry which brought unexpected reflections and helped me move forward in pursuing my dream and my gift to share with the world. By the time we started taking photos, I'd developed a full-bodied trust in the process and I am now in awe of the content we brought into being. Maggie, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the magic we co-created. You are an inspiration. 

My soul was touched by your sensibility, sparkle, presence, mindfulness, talent and heart. "

Sara  K. from "This is me therapy", Somatic and Inner Child Therapist, a client of my Photo and film session, Copenhagen, 2024

On my latest film “Forestillinger om min far”, I had the great pleasure to work with Maggie Olkuska who worked as the DoP on the film. Throughout the production Maggie offered the film her great sensibility, her passion as well as her very professional overview and clarity. During pre-production we worked close together developing the visual style for the film and Maggie always brought me surprises and new visions.
The topic of the film is personal and very close to me. Therefore I am grateful for the sensibility and care Maggie showed towards the cast, crew and towards myself - She really made me feel I had an ally on set.
At the same time she managed to capture the complex psychology of the characters of the film. Working with only two characters improvising in a white room, it is stunning how muchlive and feeling she was able to put into every frame. I also want to mention how much Maggie has contributed to the post production of the film. She has given her indispensable insights and thought on rough drafts and in color grade -not out of obligation but out of a genuine interest and involvement.

I would recommend working to with Maggie to anyone who wants to create great visuals and at the same time have compassion, energy and sensitivity on set.

Emil Nørgaard Munk, film director
Don’t Think Twice Film 
www.dont-thinktwice.com

I worked with Maggie on my debut feature film When the Sun Shines which was released back in 2016, made on a shoestring budget of 40.000usd and with a very limited pre-production. 

Maggie did a terrific job at creating a tone and voice for the film and capture the human details with precision and care. Maggie is extremely intuitive and observative which can we been in her images. She listens and she sees. Before shooting each scene, she would ask me to read the scene aloud and continue to talk about the purpose of itfor a while. When she felt she understood the purpose of the scene, we would block it. I feel like this step of understanding the actual purpose of the story told is an often-missed step for a lot of DOPS and I’ve found it very difficult to find anyone ever since who has paid as much attention to the actual story told. Not just the beauty of the shot. 

Mood was important. Before each scene we would invite everybody, who was going to be present on set during shooting to sit with us for a while before shooting. We would sit and listen to some music while trying to dive into the scene emotionally. Even the boom-operator. What we found with that approach was a great deal of respect for each scene that allowed for deeper focus. It was also terrific for all the people who didn’t participate as they seemed more respectful of the set as it became almost a sacred place. 
Maggie is very sensitive, professional and deeply motivated. She’ll find the “human” in every story she tells. 

Writer & Director 

Frederik Barington 

Maggie was the director of photography of the hybrid film Imagining my father (Forestillinger om min far) from the development to the finishing phase of production. 
My experience with working with Maggie is very positive. She is a trustworthy and considerate colleague, because she has a way of making other people feel understood and seen. She is an attentive listener who brings her utmost attention into a creative process while sharing and developing visual expressions with others. She works hard on digesting the information at hand and transforms it into advanced visual communication.      
On set Maggie has transformative abilities. As a DoP she has her whole attention on the creation of the pictures but if the situation gets a little demanding in other areas she is the woman to optimise the conditions by using just the correct words to make the production run smoothly again. She has a strong intuition that guides her towards a fruitful collaboration with other colleagues on set. Maggie shows patience and kindness even in the most pressured situations.  
Maggie’s technical knowledge was an important value in our project, as she was articulate in explaining how we could use the various options of different lenses, lighting and camera equipment to help us create the right feeling in the story. My experience with Maggie is that she could foresee any possible challenge and prevent it from happening by being very confident in taking the right decision. 

I warmly recommend working with Maggie as high ambition, profound understanding of people and unique sensitivity to everything an eye can grasp come included with her passionate work.  

Kind regards
Selma Jusufbegovic
Producer / Don’t Think Twice Film