Sinners with Ryan Coogler and Rachel Morrison (Ep. 543)

The Director’s Cut - A DGA Podcast

Directors Guild of America

Tv & Film

4.6 • 806 Ratings

🗓️ 16 May 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Director Ryan Coogler discusses his new film, Sinners, with fellow Director Rachel Morrison in a Q&A at the DGA theater in Los Angeles. In the conversation, he discusses employing historical consultants to find authenticity in every niche of the film, how he collaborated with Composer and Executive Producer Ludwig Göransson to elevate the film with a distinct musicality, and how he came to the conclusion of using 70mm film to accentuate the sprawling, flat and isolating aspects of the southern setting. In this fusion of gothic horror and 1930s Mississippi history, the film follows twins Smoke and Stack, who plan to open a new juke joint in their hometown. But as the pieces come together and their opening night begins, they find themselves confronted not only by the dangers of Jim Crow-era southern life but also a lurking undead menace. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/events/2025/june2025/sinners_qna_0525

Transcript

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0:00.0	You know, one thing we would talk about the movie, I wanted the movie to feel like a full meal.
0:04.6	You know, I knew it was going to be in conflict with the concept of genre, but I also knew that,
0:10.3	you know, all of these characters that you were going to meet were going to die supernaturally
0:15.4	horrific deaths. I knew that that was going to happen, you know, and I knew that if we did our jobs,
0:20.3	right,
0:21.1	audiences would fall in love with these characters.
0:23.3	And so I wanted to have a scene that
0:27.0	could balance the supernaturally horrific things
0:29.0	that are coming with something that's supernaturally beautiful. Hello, and welcome back to the Directors' Cut, brought to you by the Directors Guild of America.
0:55.2	In this episode, twin brothers returned to their hometown to start a business, only to discover dark forces awaiting them, and director Ryan Coogler's supernatural horror, sinners.
1:06.8	In this fusion of gothic horror in 1930s Mississippi history, the film follows twins Smoke
1:12.7	and Stack who plan to open a new juke joint in their hometown.
1:17.2	But as the pieces come together and their opening night begins, they find themselves confronted
1:21.3	not only by the dangers of Jim Crow era Southern life, but also a lurking undead menace.
1:28.7	In addition to centers, Kugler's other directorial credits include the feature films,
1:33.3	Black Panther, Black Panther Wakanda Forever, Creed, and Fruitvale Station.
1:42.1	Following a screening of the film at the DGA theater in Los Angeles, Coogler spoke with director Rachel Morrison about filming centers.
1:50.0	Listen on for their spoiler-filled conversation.
1:56.4	Thanks, everybody.
2:04.9	Thanks, you guys.
2:07.0	You guys, while you're in a clapping mode,
2:08.9	you guys got to see a 70 millimeter print,
	...

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