‘Hamnet’ Director Chloé Zhao Says She Is “Exploring” Making A Doc For Her Next Feature

In a conversation with prolific Japanese filmmaker Hirokaza Kore-eda at the ongoing Tokyo Film Festival, Hamnet director and Oscar-winner Chloé Zhao says that she is exploring making a documentary for her next feature but admits that the genre will take a whole different level of courage.

“I think documentary filmmakers are very brave,” said Zhao. “I’m exploring making one now, but it’s safer for me to make fiction.”

She also pointed out that marginalized communities in America have often been objectified or shot in unflattering light in documentaries, historically — another contributing factor to her apprehensiveness to make a doc.

“Marginalized communities, like in the reservations or those who live in their vans on the fringes in society, they are studied as a subject or a social issue,” said Zhao. “Often, these cameras are rough and filmed under very unflattering light. But if you’re with them, in their lifestyle,…