King Hamlet, a new documentary that follows Oscar Isaac during the 2017 production of Hamlet at The Public Theater, is set to make its world premiere at this year’s Telluride Film Festival.
The film is directed by his wife, award-winning documentarian Elvira Lind. It captures the development and production of the Sam Gold-directed play as well as cover Isaac’s personal life. At the time, he was experiencing the loss of his mother, the birth of his and Lind’s first child, and their nuptials.
A few years ago, OP read an essay Lind wrote about documenting that time period (including link below) and how it started as just capturing the development of the play turned into recording their family during a time of both grief and joy. She explained she found out she was pregnant the same day Oscar found of his mother was ill.
“For the next year, only three things happen in our life. Hamlet, Oscar’s mom’s fight against an aggressive cancer, and the baby who had decided to join us in the midst of this turmoil,” she wrote.
Lind explained her thought process and why it seemed, at the time, the footage would never be made public.
“I ask so much of the people I film for my documentary films. I film my subjects in their most intimate moments. I barge into their lives and capture them while they are in the middle of making difficult life decisions, breaking up or about to make love,” she wrote. “And yet, when I point the camera in my own life’s direction, I am cowardly and can’t imagine sharing it with anyone. But, I guess, time will have to tell. The readiness is all.”
The film premieres at the Telluride Film Festival Friday with an encore showing Sunday.
