Every year, the Directors Guild of America round up their own nominees for the Academy Award for Best Director and sit them down for a collective interview. Recently, they have started recording these hours-long talks and releasing them to the public, providing us with lots of insights to filmmaking, the directors’ lives and methods, and the movies up for awards.
The Oscars themselves are a bit messy this year, with hashtags like ‘Oscars So White’ and ‘Oscars So Male’ trending and a lack of host for the first time in ages. But we always knew it was just Hollywood celebrating themselves and living for the drama they create; at least we get some good movies out of the deal.
This year, the 2.5-hour interview includes Bradley Cooper (“A Star Is Born“), Alfonso Cuarón (“Roma“), Peter Farrelly (“Green Book“), Spike Lee (“BlacKkKlansman“), and Adam McKay (“Vice“), with DGA moderator Jeremy Kagan. Though it was Alfonso Cuarón who would go on to achieve the official nomination, all these brilliant minds behind the brilliant movies of this year have valuable insight that they share in this video.
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In the video, the actor turned director Bradley Cooper discusses his process in recreating, for the fourth time, the classic “A Star Is Born,” and what it’s like working both behind the camera as the director and in front as the lead. Spike Lee offers his insight as well, though his film “BlacKkKlansman” was rumored to have almost not made the cut because of its racial themes. Alfonso Cuarón, too, brings his compelling ideas to the video on his methods.
The 2019 Oscars will premiere on February 24, 2019. You can watch the DGA conversation here: