The Director’s Cut - A DGA Podcast

Director Lee Daniels discusses his new film, The United States vs. Billie Holiday, with fellow director Michael Schultz in a spoiler-filled virtual Q&A. The film follows the career of legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday as she is targeted by the Federal Department of Narcotics with an undercover sting operation led by Black Federal Agent Jimmy Fletcher, with whom she had a tumultuous affair.

Director Miranda July discusses her new film, Kajillionaire, with fellow director Greta Gerwg in a spoiler-filled virtual Q&A. The film follows two con artists who have spent 26 years training their only daughter to swindle, scam, and steal at every opportunity. During a desperate, hastily conceived heist, they charm a stranger into joining their next scam, only to have their entire world turned upside down.

Director Sam Levinson discusses his new film, Malcolm & Marie, with fellow director Derek Cianfrance in a spoiler-filled virtual Q&A. The film takes place as Malcolm returns home with his girlfriend Marie following a celebratory movie premiere. Their evening soon takes a turn as revelations about their relationships begin to surface, testing the strength of their love.

Director Eliza Hittman discusses her new film, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, with fellow director Greta Gerwig in a spoiler-filled virtual Q&A. The film tells the story of Autumn and Skylar, cousins and inseparable best friends who are navigating adolescence in rural Pennsylvania. When Autumn finds herself pregnant and hemmed in by conservative legislation, the duo board a bus bound for New York to find the help she needs.

Director Ramin Bahrani discusses his new film, The White Tiger, with fellow director Scott Cooper in a spoiler-filled virtual Q&A. Based on a bestselling novel, the film follows the rise of a poor Indian villager who wrangles his way into a job as a driver for a wealthy couple who have just returned from America. After a cruel betrayal, he rebels against a rigged and unequal system to rise up and become a new kind of master

Director Andrew Heckler discusses his new film, Burden, with fellow director Reinaldo Marcus Green in a spoiler-filled virtual Q&A.The film tells the true story an orphan raised within the Ku Klux Klan, who eventually becomes a local Grand Dragon. After his girlfriend persuades him to leave, the Klan seeks him out for vengeance, and a black congregation led by a benevolent reverend take him and his family in.

Director Paul Greengrass discusses his new film, News of the World, with fellow director John Madden in a spoiler-filled virtual Q&A. Set five years after the end of the Civil War, the film follows a veteran who sets out to return a 10-year-old girl to her family after she is taken by the Kiowa people. Their journey across the harsh plains of Texas soon turns into a fight for survival as the traveling companions encounter danger at every turn.

Director George C. Wolfe discusses his new film, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, with fellow director George C. Wolfe in a spoiler-filled virtual Q&A. Based on August Wilson’s Tony Award-winning play, the film captures the tensions and temperatures that rise over the course of an afternoon recording session in 1920s Chicago with the legendary “Mother of the Blues,” Ma Rainey.

Director Fisher Stevens discusses his new film, Palmer, with fellow director Kenneth Lonergan in a spoiler-filled virtual Q&A. The film tells the story of former high-school football star Eddie Palmer, who has returned to his Louisiana hometown to rebuild his life after 12 years in prison.

Director Aaron Sorkin discusses his new film, The Trial of the Chicago 7, with fellow director David Fincher in a spoiler-filled virtual Q&A. The film recounts the infamous and unfair trial of seven political activists after a peaceful protest turned into a violent clash with the police at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.