Zhao: ‘Hollywood Is Not Very Good at Preserving the Language of Ambiguity,’ Neurodivergence Is ‘Superpower’ in My Filmmaking’
During a conversation at London Film Fest on Sunday, Oct 12, Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao got candid about the difficulty of financing films, how neurodivergence has impacted her storytelling.
Zhao’s devastating historical drama Hamnet — about the personal tragedy that led to the creation of William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” starring Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley — held its European premiere at the festival on Saturday night, where it was welcomed emotionally–and surprise appearance from producer Spielberg.
Zhao said the experience made her “very passionate about rediscovering and remembering some older ways of storytelling that have been forgotten in our society.”
Zhao acknowledged that it’s oftentimes difficult to get stories like these financed for the big screen. Though profiting from a film is not her end goal, the filmmaker acknowledged that “money is really important.”
“Maybe it’s because I’m Chinese, I don’t know what is it, but I’m so afraid of owing people money. I don’t like it. I don’t like being in debt. I want the people who put the money into my films to get the money back,” Zhao said. “I don’t believe that my vision and whatever importance of my film should make people lose money. It’s just not for me. I try really hard to get financiers or studios to say, how much are you comfortable giving me so that you can survive as a company, please. And then I’ll do it within that. So I think it’s really helpful because limitations, I promise, are your best friend.”
“We’re all on the spectrum of something. Everyone’s brain is so different, so unique — nature and nurture combined. I find that I question sometimes, is it that I am the not typical one, or has our world become a little too inhabitable? Is it too loud, is it too bright, is it too fast?” she said. “I try to not think of it as less or different, but think about if I tune into how I function, then I’m going to create a world, not just on camera, but also off camera that is going to be healthy for me. Those who gravitate towards me like that about me, so that’s probably what they enjoy as well.”
The emotionally raw Hamnet world premiered at the Telluride Film Fest last month, where it made huge splash and sparked Oscar buzz, and went on to win the People’s Choice Award at TIFF.
Zhao broke through with her 2020 drama “Nomadland,” starring Frances McDormand, which won the Oscars for best picture, director, and actress.
The directing winmade Zhao the first woman of color to win in the category.
“Hamnet” is her latest film after directing the Marvel movie Eternals in 2021, which was disappointing.
“Hamnet” will receive limited theatrical release in the U.S. from Focus Features beginning November 27 before expanding wide on December 12.
