Malik Hassan Sayeed is DP on Guadagnino's ‘After the Hunt'

I did not expect Malik Hassan Sayeed to be the cinematographer on Luca Guadagnino’s “After the Hunt.” This might not be news to some, but I thought Sayeed had retired from cinema. To this generation, he’s probably best known for his cinematography on Beyonce’s 65-minute “Lemonade.”

Sayeed is an incredibly gifted DP who hasn’t lensed a feature film in over 25 years. He was one of Spike Lee’s go-to DPs in the ‘90s having photographed “Clockers,” “Girl 6,” and “He Got Game.” He was also the second unit director of photography on Stanley Kubrick's “Eyes Wide Shut.”

All this to say, Guadagnino recently started production on “After the Hunt” and a photo of the cast and crew was shared online, it included the main players, Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield, Chloë Sevigny, Ayo Edibiri, and Michael Stuhlbarg.

Amazon/MGM Studios are backing Guadagnino’s film which has script penned by Nora Garrett (‘Beirut”). A 2025 release is being eyed for the film.

“After the Hunt” is described as an “intense dramatic thriller” about a college professor (Roberts) who finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads when a star pupil levels an accusation against one of her colleagues, and a dark secret from her own past threatens to come to light. 

So, of all the project he’s had in development, this will be Guadagnino’s next film. He might shoot the Italian-set “Separate Rooms,” starring Josh O’Connor, in 2025. He’s also going to be very busy this fall as his much-anticipated William S. Burroughs adaptation, “Queer,” starring Daniel Craig, is set to premiere at Venice.

Guadagnino has a stack of other projects lined up as well, including an upcoming adaptation of “The Lord of the Flies” which has been in development for quite a few years now.