Director Chloé Zhao discusses her new film, Hamnet, with fellow Director Barry Jenkins in a Q&A at the DGA theater in Los Angeles. In the conversation, she discusses working with Writer Maggie O’Farrell and their different experiences with Shakespeare, collaborating with Cinematographer Lukasz Zal and how they captured images invoking the void, and her process of working with Actors to channel their unconscious selves in their performances.

Based on the novel by Maggie O’Farrell, the film follows Agnes and William Shakespeare as they live a pastoral life with their family. When their young son Hamnet dies, they both deal with the loss in their own respective ways, sowing the seeds for the creation of the classic play Hamlet.

See photos and a summary of this event below:

https://www.dga.org/events/2026/january2026/hamnet_qna_1125

The Director’s Cut - A DGA Podcast

Directors Guild of America

Hamnet with Chloé Zhao and Barry Jenkins (Ep. 586)

DEC 3, 202530 MIN
The Director’s Cut - A DGA Podcast

Hamnet with Chloé Zhao and Barry Jenkins (Ep. 586)

DEC 3, 202530 MIN

Description

Director Chloé Zhao discusses her new film, Hamnet, with fellow Director Barry Jenkins in a Q&A at the DGA theater in Los Angeles. In the conversation, she discusses working with Writer Maggie O’Farrell and their different experiences with Shakespeare, collaborating with Cinematographer Lukasz Zal and how they captured images invoking the void, and her process of working with Actors to channel their unconscious selves in their performances.

Based on the novel by Maggie O’Farrell, the film follows Agnes and William Shakespeare as they live a pastoral life with their family. When their young son Hamnet dies, they both deal with the loss in their own respective ways, sowing the seeds for the creation of the classic play Hamlet.

See photos and a summary of this event below:

https://www.dga.org/events/2026/january2026/hamnet_qna_1125