The Director's Cut - A DGA Podcast

Director Destin Daniel Cretton discusses his new film, Just Mercy, with fellow director Anna Boden. Based on a true story, the film follows young lawyer Bryan Stevenson's effort to overturn the murder conviction of Walter McMillian, who was sentenced to die for the murder of an 18-year-old girl despite ample evidence proving his innocence. Please note spoilers are included. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2020/Feb2020/JustMercy_QnA_1219.aspx

Director Sam Mendes discusses his new film, 1917, with fellow director Ed Zwick. The film follows two young privates fighting with British forces during the First World War. They are given the impossible mission of delivering a message into enemy territory to prevent 1600 men, including one of the soldier's brothers from walking into a deadly trap. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2020/Feb2020/1917_QnA_1219.aspx

Directors Josh and Benny Safdie discuss their new film, Uncut Gems, with fellow director Kenneth Lonergan. The film stars Adam Sandler as Howard, a charismatic New Yorker who is always on the lookout for the next big score. His latest scheme is a precarious high-wire act, balancing business, family, and encroaching adversaries on all sides in his relentless pursuit of the ultimate win. Please note spoilers are included. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2020/Jan2020/UncutGems_QnA_1219.aspx

Director Rian Johnson discusses his new film, Knives Out, with fellow director Denis Villeneuve. The film is a whodunit, following debonair detective Benoit Blanc's investigation of the death of renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey. With suspects aplenty in Thrombey's dysfunctional family and devoted staff, Blanc must wade through a sea of red herrings to uncover the truth. Please note spoilers are included. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2020/Jan2020/KnivesOut_QnA_1119.aspx

Director Kasi Lemmons discusses her new film, Harriet, with fellow director Rick Famuyiwa. The film tells the extraordinary true story of Harriet Tubman, an enslaved person who escaped her captors. After finding liberty in the North, Tubman then risked her freedom and her life to return to the South, and relied upon her courage, ingenuity and tenacity to free hundreds of others and change the course of history. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2020/Jan2020/Harriet_QnA_1119.aspx

Director Marielle Heller discusses her new film, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, with fellow director Tamara Jenkins. The film retells the story of the real-life friendship between television icon Fred Rogers and journalist Tom Junod. The story fictionalizes Juno as a skeptical writer named Lloyd Vogel, who is assigned to do a story on Mr. Rogers. Vogel is ultimately swayed as Rogers' kindness triumphs over his cynicism and he learns about empathy and decency from America's most beloved neighbor. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2020/Jan2020/ABeautifulDayintheNeighborhood_QnA_1119.aspx

Director James Mangold discusses his new film, Ford v Ferrari, with fellow director Doug Liman. The film follows American car designer Carroll Shelby and driver Ken Miles who battled corporate interference, the laws of physics and their own personal demons to build a revolutionary race car for Ford and challenge Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2020/Jan2020/FordVFerrari_QnA_1119.aspx

Director Jay Roach discusses his new film, Bombshell, with fellow director Leslye Headland. Based on the real-life scandal, the film follows the group of women at Fox News who exposed the toxic atmosphere of harassment at the network and took down CEO Roger Ailes. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2020/Jan2020/Bombshell_QnA_1119.aspx

Director Todd Haynes discusses his new film, Dark Waters, with fellow director Gus Van Sant. Inspired by true events, the film tells the story of an environmental defense attorney who uncovers a dark secret hidden by one of the world's largest corporations and risks his own career and family to bring justice to a community dangerously exposed for decades to deadly chemicals. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2020/Jan2020/DarkWaters_QnA_1119.aspx

Director Scott Z. Burns discusses his new film, The Report, with fellow director David Mackenzie. The film tells the true story of Senate staffer Daniel Jones, who was tasked by his boss, Senator Dianne Feinstein, to lead an investigation of the CIA's Detention and Interrogation Program created in the aftermath of 9/11. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2020/Jan2020/TheReport_QnA_1119.aspx

Director Noah Baumbach discusses his new film, Marriage Story, with fellow director Ben Stiller. The film stars Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson as a stage director and an actor who are struggling through a coast-to-coast divorce that pushes them to their personal and creative extremes. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2019/Dec2019/MarriageStory_QnA_1119.aspx

Director Alma Har'el discusses her new film, Honey Boy, with fellow director Boaz Yakin. Starring Shia LaBeouf in a story inspired by his own real-life childhood, the film follows a young actor into early adulthood as he navigates a difficult relationship with his father and struggles to deal with his mental health. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2020/Jan2020/HoneyBoy_AlmaHarel_QnA_1119.aspx

Director Edward Norton discusses his new film, Motherless Brooklyn, with fellow director Mike Binder. Based on the novel by JOnathan Lethem, the film follows Lionel Essrog, a private detective with Tourette's syndrome who uncovers a web of corruption in 1950s New York while investigating the murder of his mentor. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2019/Dec2019/MotherlessBrooklyn_QnA_1119.aspx

Director Melina Matsoukas discusses her new film, Queen & Slim, with fellow director M. Night Shyamalan. The film follows Queen and Slim, whose first date takes an unexpected turn when they are pulled over for a minor traffic violation. After the situation escalates and Slim shoot the police officers in self-defense, the couple become unwitting outlaws and a viral symbol of trauma, terror and pain for people all over the country. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2019/Dec2019/QueenSlim_QnA_1119.aspx

Director Alex Gibney discusses his film, Citizen K, with fellow director Matthew Heineman. Photographed on location in the UK, Russia and Germany, the documentary follows Mikhail Khodorkovsky, one of the richest men in Russia who became known as the world-famous dissident "Citizen K" when he was imprisoned after a series of theatrical trials orchestrated by Vladimir Putin. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2019/Dec2019/NYDocSeries_CitizenK.aspx