From ‘West Side Story’ to ‘Dune,’ Established Directors Delve Into Uncharted Territory for Oscar Recognition

variety.com:

Paul Plunkett An assembly line follows a simple formula. Use the most efficient way to mass-produce something and repeat. Some filmmakers can get away with that approach for a time.

The ones who challenge themselves to work outside their comfort zones add skills to their tool kits, and, not coincidentally, often find themselves in the mix when awards season rolls around.Steven Spielberg has directed dozens of films in many genres, but this year’s “West Side Story” adaptation marked his first movie musical.

Even for a director who has brought aliens, dinosaurs and the invasion of Normandy to the screen, the project spurred anxiety. “Fear is my fuel and confidence is my enemy,” Spielberg told the Guardian about the project. “If I’m on my heels, I get better ideas than, let’s say, coming in to do the sequel to ‘Jurassic Park.’” That fear of working in uncharted waters helped Siân Heder as she approached writing and directing “CODA,” an English-language adaptation of the French film “La Famille Bélier,” which tells the story of a hearing girl who is a child of deaf adults.“I find that being outside of your comfort zone means you’re pushing yourself as an artist,” Heder tells Variety. “If I felt safe making a movie, I think I might not be making something interesting.”Heder learned American Sign Language (ASL) to prepare to work with her cast, a leap of faith with no certainty as to where she would land.“I was very fearful about having to use an interpreter to direct because it’s such an intimate relationship and having another person in the middle of that felt like it would dilute that connection,” she says “Finding a new way to establish that connection with my actors and guide a performance was really a beautiful way to.