The 40 most promising New Directors
This is the list of new emerging filmmakers that promise a great future. These directors are chosen based on their outstanding creativity and the expectation that their upcoming film projects are creating.
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Harmony Korine was born in 1973 in Bolinas, California. His family moved to the east coast of the United States when he was five, and he spent his early years in Nashville, Tennessee, and New York. At the age of nineteen, he wrote the critically acclaimed screenplay Kids (1995) for director Larry Clark. At the time of release of Gummo (1997), he was at work writing a new feature and a 10-part decalogue called "Jokes," which is to be financed through French investors.- Director
- Composer
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Born in New York City and raised in Sunnyside, Queens and then Westchester County, Benh Zeitlin began his career as a film-maker at the tender age of 6 years when he and a friend made a Batman movie. He continued making films as a child before attending Wesleyan University, where he majored in film. After graduation, Benh spent a summer in Prague working with a prominent animation artist. Returning to the U.S., he worked in a private school in Manhattan helping elementary students create short films.- Director
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Eugene Jarecki is an Emmy and Peabody award-winning director of dramatic and documentary subjects who has twice won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, first in 2005 for Why We Fight (2005) and again in 2012 for The House I Live In (2012)
A public intellectual on domestic and international affairs, Jarecki has been named a Soros Justice Fellow at the Open Society Institute and a Senior Fellow at Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies. He has appeared on 'The Daily Show with Jon Stewart', 'Charlie Rose', 'The Colbert Report', 'FOX News', CNN, and many other outlets, while also being featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Financial Times, the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and GQ, among others. As founder and executive director of The Eisenhower Project, a public policy group dedicated to promoting greater public understanding of the forces that shape U.S. foreign and defense policy, he published the 2008 book 'The American Way of War: Guided Missiles, Misguided Men, and a Republic in Peril' (Simon & Schuster). He is also the creator of 'Move Your Money', an online video that sparked a national movement in 2010 to shift personal banking away from "too big to fail" banks into community banks and credit unions. To date, more than four million Americans have "moved their money."
Mentored in his youth by legendary filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles, Jarecki worked as a stage director before turning to film. When he was 21, his first short film 'Season of the Lifterbees' was selected for screening at the Sundance Film Festival. Since then, he has continued to receive wide critical acclaim as both a dramatic and documentary director in film and television. "Combining the skills of journalist and poet," writes Variety. "Eugene Jarecki sets the gold standard for political documentaries." Often motivated by his outrage at areas of corruption, exploitation, or injustice in contemporary life, Jarecki's films elegantly combine compassion with rigorous inquiry, weaving story, emotion, and penetrating analysis into a very human tapestry of unforgettable sounds and images.- Director
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- Actor
John Asher is an award-winning writer/director whose passion for storytelling through the lens was ignited in his early years. As a child, he inadvertently honed his craft by breaking his father's video cameras while attempting to capture epic shots. Dyslexia posed a unique challenge for John, pushing him to express himself visually, ultimately steering him toward his dream of becoming a director.
His journey into the world of entertainment began as an actor, seizing every opportunity to observe directors at work. The pivotal four years spent on "Weird Science" served as John's informal film school, laying the foundation for his future success.
At the young age of 24, John directed his first film, "Kounterfeit" (1996), featuring Oscar winner Hillary Swank. This was followed by "Chick Flick" (1998) and the Miramax production "Diamonds" (1999), starring Kirk Douglas and Dan Aykroyd-all accomplished before turning 30. His 2005 Sundance premiere, "Dirty Love," marked another milestone in his directing career.
Venturing into television, John helmed episodes of the Showtime series "Going to California" (2001) and the CW hit show "One Tree Hill" (2006). He also showcased his versatility directing LIVE comedy specials, including "Margaret Cho: PsyCHO" (Showtime), "Sebastian Maniscalco: Aren't You Embarrassed" (Showtime), and "Ralphie May: Unruly" (Netflix).
In 2013, John returned to filmmaking with "Somebody Marry Me," an innovative romantic comedy shot in one continuous take-a testament to his commitment to pushing creative boundaries. This was followed by "A Boy Called Po" (2016), a deeply personal exploration of autism inspired by John's son, Evan, who has been a profound influence on both his personal and professional life.
In 2017, John showcased his comedic flair with "TOOKEN," a spoof that hilariously lampoons the Taken franchise, starring Margaret Cho. His directorial journey continued with the family comedy "I Hate Kids" in 2019.
In 2024, John Asher continues his trajectory of captivating storytelling with his latest cinematic endeavor, "A Love Like This." A poignant dramatic romance feature with a stellar cast, staring Emmanuelle Chriqui and Hayes McArthur, who help bring John's vision to life.
John Asher's career is a testament to his unwavering dedication to storytelling, visual innovation, and the power of film to captivate and connect audiences. who knows what's next. One thing we know for sure, is you can't put Asher in a box!- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Jared Leto is a very familiar face in recent film history. Although he has always been the lead vocals, rhythm guitar, and songwriter for American band Thirty Seconds to Mars, Leto is an accomplished actor merited by the numerous, challenging projects he has taken in his life. He is known to be selective about his film roles.
Jared Leto was born in Bossier City, Louisiana, to Constance "Connie" (Metrejon) and Anthony L. "Tony" Bryant. The surname "Leto" is from his stepfather. His ancestry includes English, Cajun (French), as well as Irish, German, and Scottish. Jared and his family traveled across the United States throughout his childhood, living in such states as Wyoming, Virginia and Colorado. Leto would continue this trend when he initially dropped a study of painting at Philadelphia's University of the Arts in favor of a focus on acting at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
In 1992, Leto moved to Los Angeles to pursue a musical career, intending to take acting roles on the side. Leto's first appearances on screen were guest appearances on the short-lived television shows Camp Wilder (1992), Almost Home (1993) and Rebel Highway (1994). However, his next role would change everything for Leto. While searching for film roles, he was cast in the show, My So-Called Life (1994) (TV Series 1994-1995). Leto's character was "Jordan Catalano", the handsome, dyslexic slacker, the main love interest of "Angela" (played by Claire Danes). Leto contributed to the soundtrack of the film, and so impressed the producers initially that he was soon a regular on the show until its end.
Elsewhere, Leto began taking film roles. His first theatrically released film was the ensemble piece, How to Make an American Quilt (1995), based on a novel of the same name and starring renowned actresses Winona Ryder, Anne Bancroft, Ellen Burstyn, Jean Simmons and Alfre Woodard. The film was a modest success and, while Leto's next film, The Last of the High Kings (1996), was a failure, Leto secured his first leading role in Prefontaine (1997), based on long-distance runner Steven Prefontaine. The film was a financial flop, but was praised by critics, notably Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert. He also took a supporting role in the action thriller, Switchback (1997), which starred Dennis Quaid, but the film was another failure.
Leto's work was slowly becoming recognized in Hollywood, and he continued to find work in film. In 1998, everything turned for the better on all fronts. This was the year that Leto founded the band, Thirty Seconds to Mars, with his brother, Shannon Leto, as well as Matt Wachter (who later left the group), and after two guitarists joined and quit, Tomo Milicevic was brought in as lead guitarist and keyboardist. As well as the formation of his now-famous band, Leto's luck in film was suddenly shooting for the better. He was cast as the lead in the horror film, Urban Legend (1998), which told a grisly tale of a murderer who kills his victims in the style of urban legends. The film was a massive success commercially, though critics mostly disliked the film. That same year, Leto also landed a supporting role in the film, The Thin Red Line (1998). Renowned director Terrence Malick's first film in nearly twenty years, the film had dozens of famous actors in the cast, including Sean Penn, Woody Harrelson, John Travolta, Nick Nolte and Elias Koteas, to name a few. The film went through much editing, leaving several actors out of the final version, but Leto luckily remained in the film. The Thin Red Line (1998) was nominated for seven Oscars and was a moderate success at the box office. Leto's fame had just begun. He had supporting roles in both James Mangold's Girl, Interrupted (1999), and in David Fincher's cult classic, Fight Club (1999), dealing with masculinity, commercialism, fascism and insomnia. While Edward Norton and Brad Pitt were the lead roles, Leto took a supporting role and dyed his hair blond. The film remains hailed by many, but at the time, Leto was already pushing himself further into controversial films. He played a supporting role of "Paul Allen" in the infamous American Psycho (2000), starring Christian Bale, and he played the lead role in Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream (2000), which had Leto take grueling measures to prepare for his role as a heroin addict trying to put his plans to reality and escape the hell he is in. Both films were massive successes, if controversially received.
The 2000s brought up new film opportunities for Leto. He reunited with David Fincher in Panic Room (2002), which was another success for Leto, as well as Oliver Stone's epic passion project, Alexander (2004). The theatrical cut was poorly received domestically (although it recouped its budget through DVD sales and international profit), and though a Final Cut was released that much improved the film in all aspects, it continues to be frowned upon by the majority of film goers. Leto rebounded with Lord of War (2005), which starred Nicolas Cage as an arms dealer who ships weapons to war zones, with Leto playing his hapless but more moral-minded brother. The film was an astounding look at the arms industry, but was not a big financial success. Leto's flush of successes suddenly ran dry when he acted in the period piece, Lonely Hearts (2006), which had Leto playing "Ray Fernandez", one of the two infamous "Lonely Hearts Killers" in the 1940s. The film was a financial failure and only received mixed responses. Leto then underwent a massive weight gain to play "Mark David Chapman", infamous murderer of John Lennon, in the movie, Chapter 27 (2007). While Leto did a fantastic job embodying the behavior and speech patterns of Chapman, the film was a complete flop, and was a critical bomb to boot. It was during this period that Leto focused increasingly on his band, turning down such films as Clint Eastwood's World War 2 film, Flags of Our Fathers (2006).
In 2009, however, Leto returned to acting with Mr. Nobody (2009). Leto's role as "Nemo Nobody" required him to play the character as far aged as 118, even as he undergoes a soul-searching as to whether his life turned out the way he wanted it to. The film was mostly funded through Belgian and French financiers, and was given limited release in only certain countries. Critical response, however, has praised the film's artistry and Leto's acting.
He made his directorial debut in 2012 with the documentary film Artifact (2012).
Leto remains the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and main songwriter for Thirty Seconds to Mars. Their debut album, 30 Seconds to Mars (2002), was released to positive reviews but only to limited success. The band achieved worldwide fame with the release of their second album A Beautiful Lie (2005). Their following releases, This Is War (2009) and Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams (2013), received further critical and commercial success.
After a five years hiatus from filming, Leto returned to act in the drama Dallas Buyers Club (2013), directed by Jean-Marc Vallée and co-starring Matthew McConaughey. Leto portrayed Rayon, a drug-addicted transgender woman with AIDS who befriends McConaughey's character Ron Woodroof. Leto's performance earned him an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actor. In order to accurately portray his role, Leto lost 30 pounds, shaved his eyebrows and waxed his entire body. He stated the portrayal was grounded in his meeting transgender people while researching the role. During filming, Leto refused to break character. Dallas Buyers Club received widespread critical acclaim and became a financial success, resulting in various accolades for Leto, who was awarded the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture, Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role and a variety of film critics' circle awards for the role.
In 2016, he played the Joker in the super villain film Suicide Squad (2016).
Leto is considered to be a method actor, known for his constant devotion to and research of his roles. He often remains completely in character for the duration of the shooting schedules of his films, even to the point of adversely affecting his health.- Director
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- Director
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Ra'anan Alexandrowicz is a director, screenwriter and editor. He is known for the documentary The Law in These Parts (2011), which received the Grand Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival, a Peabody award, and numerous other prizes. His earlier documentaries, The Inner Tour (2001) and Martin (1999), were shown in the Berlin Film Festival's Forum section and MoMA's New Directors / New Films series. Alexandrowicz's single fiction feature, James' Journey to Jerusalem (2003), premiered in Cannes Directors' Fortnight and at the Toronto International Film Festival and received several international awards. Alexandrowicz's films have been released theatrically in the United States and Europe, and broadcast by PBS, ARTE, the BBC, as well as other television channels. He served several times as an editing advisor for the Sundance Documentary Fund and his 2020 film The Viewing Booth is supported by the Sundance Art of Nonfiction initiative.- Director
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- Producer
Brandon Cronenberg was born on 10 January 1980 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is a director and writer, known for Possessor (2020), Infinity Pool (2023) and Antiviral (2012).- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Xavier Dolan was born on 20 March 1989 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is an actor and producer, known for I Killed My Mother (2009), Tom at the Farm (2013) and Heartbeats (2010).- Director
- Producer
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Michael Sládek is an award-winning filmmaker whose recent feature-length films include Con Artist (New Yorker Films), BAM150 (Cinema Guild), and Devils Are Dreaming (Dances With Films, Jury Award). Sládek has also directed and produced multiple shorts, music videos, and web series, including the animated short We Live On Your Street (Slamdance Jury Award). A 2013 Acker Award recipient, he is a screenwriter and graphic artist/illustrator as well as a stage director. A once-and-future actor and member of SAG-AFTRA, Sládek serves as New York Rep for SAGindie, helping bridge the gap between indie films and union performers. He has worked as a freelance journalist for publications such as Mean Magazine, served as Filmmaker Coordinator for Tribeca Film Festival, as Talent Coordinator for MTV News, and as Personal Assistant to author Jamaica Kincaid. Hailing from Denver, Colorado and Southern California, Sládek studied theater and actor training in college.
Choosing only one favorite book about movies or moviemaking was tough for Michael, so he used the scientific method of looking at which of his many books on movies and moviemaking was the most tattered because of use. Therefore, his answer has to be Cassavetes on Cassavetes, which is basically a year of film school packed into one convenient collection of from-the-director's-mouth insights about the process and poetry of DIY filmmaking.- Actress
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Julie Delpy was born in Paris, France, in 1969 to Albert Delpy and Marie Pillet, both actors.
She was first featured in Jean-Luc Godard's Detective (1985) at the age of fourteen. She has starred in many American and European productions since then, including Disney's The Three Musketeers (1993), Killing Zoe (1993), Three Colors: White (1994), and the "Before" series, alongside Ethan Hawke: Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004), and Before Midnight (2013).
She graduated from NYU's film school, and wrote and directed the short film Blah Blah Blah (1995), which screened at the Sundance Film Festival. She is a resident of Los Angeles.- Sound Department
- Editorial Department
- Animation Department
Michael L. DePatie is known for Northern Exposure (1990), The Transformers: The Movie (1986) and Muppet Babies (1984).- Producer
- Director
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Ryan Kyle Coogler is an African-American filmmaker and producer who is from Oakland, California. He is known for directing the Black Panther film series, Creed, a Rocky spin-off and Fruitvale Station. He frequently casts Michael B. Jordan in his works. He produced the Creed sequels, Judas and the Black Messiah and Space Jam: A New Legacy. He is married to Zinzi since 2016.- Writer
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A director, producer, writer, marketer and film distributor, Ava DuVernay made her feature film debut with the documentary This is the Life (2008), a history on hip hop movement that flourished in Los Angeles in the 1990's. This was followed by series of television music documentaries which included My Mic Sounds Nice (2010) which aired on BET.
DuVernay's first narrative feature film, I Will Follow (2010), secured her the African-American Film Critics Association award for best screenplay. Her follow-up, Middle of Nowhere (2012) won the Best Director Prize at the 2012 Sundance film festival, making her the first African-American woman to receive the award.- Producer
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Born in San Francisco and raised in Oakland, Colin Trevorrow started making short films when he was 12 years old. He studied film and dramatic writing at New York University. After graduation, he wrote and directed "Home Base" a digital short that became one of the early viral successes on the internet. His first feature film, "Safety Not Guaranteed" was written by fellow NYU graduate Derek Connolly, who met Trevorrow while they were both interns on Saturday Night Live.- Producer
- Director
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James Ponsoldt was born on 5 September 1978 in Athens, Georgia, USA. He is a producer and director, known for The Spectacular Now (2013), The Circle (2017) and The End of the Tour (2015). He has been married to Megan Holloway since 25 September 2010.- Visual Effects
- Animation Department
- Director
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Producer
Matt Litwiller is known for Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (2014), Telescope (2013) and Down Below.- Writer
- Director
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Sebastián Silva was born on 9 April 1979 in Santiago, Metropolitan Region, Chile. He is a writer and director, known for Tyrel (2018), The Maid (2009) and Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus (2013).- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Christoph Rainer was born on 15 May 1985 in Klosterneuburg, Lower Austria, Austria. He is a director and writer, known for Pitter Patter Goes My Heart (2015), Requiem for a Robot (2013) and Drake (2006).- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Bong Joon-ho is a South Korean filmmaker. The recipient of three Academy Awards, his filmography is characterized by emphasis on social themes, genre-mixing, black humor, and sudden tone shifts. He first became known to audiences and achieved a cult following with his directorial debut film, the black comedy Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000), before achieving both critical and commercial success with his subsequent films: the crime thriller Memories of Murder (2003), the monster film The Host (2006), the science fiction action film Snowpiercer (2013), and the black comedy thriller Parasite (2019), all of which are among the highest-grossing films in South Korea, with Parasite also being the highest-grossing South Korean film in history.
All of Bong's films have been South Korean productions, although both Snowpiercer and Okja (2017) are mostly in the English language. Two of his films have screened in competition at the Cannes Film Festival-Okja in 2017 and Parasite in 2019; the latter earned the Palme d'Or, which was a first for a South Korean film. Parasite also became the first South Korean film to receive Academy Award nominations, with Bong winning Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay, making Parasite the first film not in English to win Best Picture. In 2017, Bong was included on Metacritic's list of the 25 best film directors of the 21st century. In 2020, Bong was included in Time's annual list of 100 Most Influential People and Bloomberg 50.- Director
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Tara Johns is known for The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom (2011), Killing Time (2001) and My Messy Bedroom (2001).- Director
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Ash Baron-Cohen was born in 1967 in London, England, UK. He is a director and writer, known for Pups (1999), This Girl's Life (2003) and The Wild Ones (2010).- Producer
- Director
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Marco Cabriolu was born in Iglesias (Sardinia) Italy and from a very early age, he demonstrated an interest in music and cinema. When he was only 4 years old, his mother took him to "The Goonies" and from that moment his passion for movies was ignited so much so that he returned to the movie 5 more times during the same week.
Because of his early passions for film, his mother took notice and enrolled him in acting, writing and music lessons. From a very early age, he started performing in one of the city theaters, and other venues receiving high praises for his talent. However; acting was not enough. At age 11 he began his formal music training. At the age of 20 years, he decided to leave and pursue his studies in New York City, attending for a short period, the "Collective School of Music" and he specialized in the study of "Double Bass Drumming" and genres like rock, funky and progressive metal. He participated in the recording of 3 single-CD with authors and bands of regional and national level as a musician and composer. Although hoping initially to someday to become a professional drummer things changed during his stay in New York when he attended an internship at a film production company as a production assistant. From this moment on, he began his career in cinema and advertising and he founded "Mediterranea Casting Management, a company for film and advertising services. He worked for eight years at MCM, developing his knowledge and experience on the movie set with the various professions in the cinema. He organized and contributed to more than 50 commercials, national and international, for some of the best known brands. He has worked internationally with productions for films, shorts and commercials as Location Manager, Associate Producer, Casting Director, First AD, Assitant To Special Effects (EFX), Production Manager, Director, Writer and Executive Producer.- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Selvaraghavan is an Indian movie director, actor, and screenwriter who predominantly works in the Tamil film industry. He has directed numerous genre films, from romantic to science fiction and fantasy; he has done it all. He also owns a production company named White Elephants, along with Yuvan Shankar Raja and Arvind Krishna.
His brother Dhanush is an acclaimed actor, and his sisters are doctors.
He completed his Bachelor of Engineering in mechanical engineering before he began working in the Tamil film industry since his family insisted that he complete his education before joining the film industry. He also worked several part-time jobs while in college until he found satisfaction as a writer.
Selvaraghavan's debut work as a screenwriter and director was in the Tamil film Thulluvadho Ilamai (2002), which also starred his brother Dhanush and marked his first role.
He also wrote the lyrics of the song Kann Munnae Eththanai Nilavu in the film. Selvaraghavan and his family invested all their savings in this venture. The movie started slowly but picked up pace later and became a sleeper hit at the box office.
He went on to direct films like Kaadhal Konden (2003), which was a romantic thriller and starred Sonia Agarwal, and veteran comedian Nagesh. The film became a blockbuster, giving Dhanush and his career a breakthrough in the Tamil Film Industry. The film was remade across the country in several languages. He directed several movies, including 7/G Rainbow Colony (2004), a juvenile love story, and Pudhu Pettai (2006), featuring Dhanush as the main lead alongside Sonia Agarwal once again.
He then ventured into Telugu films. His first Telugu film as a writer and director is Aadavari Matalaku Ardhalu Verule (2007). The film starring Venkatesh Daggubati and Trisha Krishnan explores the themes of romance and drama. He took experiences from friends who were unemployed graduates like the film's protagonist. The film opened with positive reviews and eventually became one of the biggest successes of the Telugu Film Industry that year.
He wrote Yaaradi Nee Mohini (2008) in 2008. Then he went on to direct and wrote Ayirathil Oruvan (2010), where he wrote the lyrics of all the songs except Thai Thindra Mannae and Pemmanae, Mayakkam Enna (2011), which he coproduced with Gemini Film Circuit, Irandam Ulagam (2013), which amounted to Rs. 60 crores was his costliest production, Maalai Nerathu Mayakkam (2016), NGK (2019), where he wrote the song Pothachaalum, Nenjam Marappathillai (2021), and Naane Varuven (2022).
He started working as an actor in 2022 with the film Beast (2022). And then he went on to act in other films like Saani Kaayidham (2022), which was released on the OTT Platform Amazon Prime Video, Naane Varuven (2022), which was a cameo appearance, Bakasuran (2023).
Selvaraghavan was nominated for the best director award at Filmfare South Awards in 2004 for Kaadhal Konden (2003), in 2005 for 7/G Rainbow Colony (2004), in 2007 for Pudhu Pettai (2006) and in 2010 for Ayirathil Oruvan (2010). Furthermore, he won the world record film at the Edison Award for the movie Ayirathil Oruvan (2010). He was also nominated at the SIMA Awards in the best film category for the movie Mayakkam Enna (2011).- Director
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Fatih Akin was born in 1973 in Hamburg of Turkish parentage. He began studying Visual Communications at Hamburg's College of Fine Arts in 1994. His collaboration with Wueste Film also dates from this time. In 1995, he wrote and directed his first short feature, "Sensin - You're The One!" ("Sensin - Du bist es!"), which received the Audience Award at the Hamburg International Short Film Festival. His second short film, "Weed" ("Getürkt", 1996), received several national and international festival prizes. His first full length feature film, "Short Sharp Shock" ("Kurz und schmerzlos", 1998) won the Bronze Leopard at Locarno and the Bavarian Film Award (Best Young Director) in 1998. His other films include: "In July" ("Im Juli", 2000), "Wir haben vergessen zurückzukehren" (2001), "Solino" (2002), the Berlinale Golden Bear-winner and winner of the German and European Film Awards "Head-On" ("Gegen die Wand", 2003), and "Crossing the Bridge - The Sound of Istanbul" (2005).- Director
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Ben Liam Jones is known for It Follows Me Around (2012), Sunny Life Farm and Greatest Chocolate Adverts of All Time (2019).- Actress
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Sarah Polley is an actress and director renowned in her native Canada for her political activism. Blessed with an extremely expressive face that enables directors to minimize dialog due to her uncanny ability to suggest a character's thoughts, Polley has become a favorite of critics for her sensitive portraits of wounded and conflicted young women in independent films.
She was born into a show business family: her stepfather, Michael Polley, appeared with her in the movie The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) and on the television series Avonlea (1990); and her mother, Diane Polley, was an actress and casting director. It was her mother's connections that launched Sarah, at her own insistence, on an acting career at the age of four, following in the footsteps of her older half-brother Mark Polley. A second half-brother, John Buchan, is a casting director and producer.
Her career as a child actress shifted into high gear when she was cast as the Cockney waif Jody Turner in Lantern Hill (1989), for which she won a Gemini Award, the Canadian equivalent of the Emmy, in 1992. Produced by Kevin Sullivan, the film was based on the book by Lucy Maud Montgomery, author of Anne of Green Gables (1985). When Sullivan created a television series based on Montgomery's work, he cast Polley in the lead role of Sara Stanley in Avonlea (1990). The series propelled Polley into the first rank of Canadian TV stars and made her independently wealthy by the age of fourteen.
Her personal life was deeply affected by the death of her mother Diane from cancer shortly after her 11th birthday, a development that ironically paralleled the fictional life of her character Sara. Highly intelligent and politically progressive at a young age, Polley eventually rebelled against what she felt was the Americanization of the series after it was picked up by the Disney Channel for distribution in the US, eventually dropping out of the show. Though she does not blame her parents, she remains publicly disenchanted over the loss of her childhood and, in October 2003, said she is working on a script about a twelve-year-old girl on a TV show.
Polley, who picked up a second Gemini Award for her performance in the TV series Straight Up (1996), subsequently quit acting and high school to turn her attention to politics, positioning herself on the extreme left of Canada's left-of-center New Democratic Party. The publicity ensuing from her losing some teeth after being slugged by an Ontario policeman during a protest against the Conservative provincial government, plus the stinging cynicism from some other activists unimpressed by her celebrity, led her to lower her political profile temporarily and return to acting in Atom Egoyan's film The Sweet Hereafter (1997). It was her appearance as Nicole, the teenage girl injured in a school bus accident who serves as the conscience of the small town rent by the tragedy, that first brought her to the attention of critics in the US. In Canada, the role was heralded by critics as her successful breakthrough to adult roles. It was her second film with Egoyan, who wrote the part with her in mind when he adapted the novel by Russell Banks, who, ironically, is American. Predictions of an Academy Award nomination and future stardom were part of the critical consensus, and she received her first Best Actress Genie nomination from Canada's Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television and the Best Supporting Actress award from the Boston Society of Film Critics. It was the buzz created at the Sundance Festival, where her starring role in the film Guinevere (1999) was showcased, when the entertainment media crowned her the it-girl of 1999.
Intensely private and extremely ambivalent about the personal cost of celebrity and the Hollywood ethos Fame is the Name of the Game, Polley could be seen as rebelling against the expectations of mainstream cinema when she embarked on a career path that took her out of the spotlight thrown by the harsh lights of the Hollywood hype/publicity machine after shooting the film Go (1999). She dropped out of Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous (2000), the US$60 million mega-hyped vehicle that was supposed to make her a mainstream star in the US, choosing to return to Canada to make the CDN$1.5 million The Law of Enclosures (2000) for Genie Award-winner John Greyson, a director she admires greatly. The film grossed poorly in Canada and was not released in the US, but it did garner Polley her second Genie nomination for Best Actress. While her replacement in Almost Famous (2000) went on to win an Oscar nomination and a career above the title in glossy Hollywood films, she took a wide variety of parts, large and small, in independent films, including significant roles in the ensemble pieces The Claim (2000) and The Weight of Water (2000); bit parts in eXistenZ (1999) and Love Come Down (2000); and the lead in No Such Thing (2001). Her choice of projects showed her to be a questing spirit more focused on learning the art of her craft than on stardom.
She has said that her choice of film roles, eschewing mainstream Hollywood movies for chancier, non-commercial independent fare, was the result of an ethical decision on her part to make films with social importance. A less-observant viewer might think that the rebel Polley played in her political life that had previously manifested itself in her profession was now driving her to the verge of career suicide in terms of popularity, marketability, and choice of future roles. However, that interpretation does not recognize the extraordinary talent that will always keep her in demand by directors, if not casting agents, with an eye on the opening weekend box office. One must understand Polley's career progression in light of her attendance at the Canadian Film Centre's directors program and her production of short films, including Don't Think Twice (1999) and the highly praised I Shout Love (2001). Polley is a cinema artist. This woman wants to make, and will make films. Thus, we can understand her career choices as a desire to work with and understand the technique of some of the best directors in film, including David Cronenberg, Michael Winterbottom, and Hal Hartley.
Polley is as renowned for her intelligence as for her remarkable talent. The problem of the intelligent person in the acting field is that the actor, as artist, in not ultimately in control of their medium, and it is artistic control that is the hallmark of the great artist. The controlling intelligence on a movie set is the director, and her attendance at the Canadian Film Centre has given her a new perspective on acting. The actor, she says, should not try to give a complete performance for the camera (that is, control the representation on film) but must remember that the function of the actor is to give the director as much coverage as possible as a film, as well as a performance, is made in the editing room. According to Polley, this realization, that the film actor exists to serve the director, has given her new enthusiasm for acting. Thus, her career, and her career choices, can be seen as a quest for knowledge about the art of cinema, a journey whose fruition we will see in her future feature work as both actor and director.- Actress
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Born in Bratislava and raised in Canada, Ingrid Veninger formed pUNK Films in 2003 with a 'nothing is impossible' manifesto. Since 2008, Ingrid has directed six narrative fiction feature films, Only (2008), Modra (2010), I Am a Good Person/I Am a Bad Person (2011), The Animal Project (2013), He Hated Pigeons (2015), Porcupine Lake (2017), and one feature documentary, The World or Nothing (2019), with premieres at festival worldwide including, TIFF, Rotterdam, Slamdance, Busan and Hot Docs. In addition to directing, Ingrid has produced features with Charles Officer (Nurse.Fighter.Boy (2008)), Anais Granofsky (Re-Generation (2004)), Peter Mettler (Gambling, Gods and LSD (2002), The End of Time (2012)). She is the winner of the TFCA Jay Scott Prize, EDA Award for Best Director, and the Women's International Film & Television Showcase (WIFTS) International Visionary Award. Ingrid is a filmmaking mentor at the Canadian Film Centre and full-time faculty in Cinema and Media Arts at York University in Toronto. She has participated in the Berlinale Talent Campus, Rotterdam Lab, and the inaugural TIFF Studio. In 2014, Ingrid initiated the pUNK Films Femmes Lab to foster more competitive feature films written and directed by Canadian women, sponsored by Academy Award winner Melissa Leo. Ingrid continues to champion gender parity in the entertainment industry.- Actor
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Jacob Daniel Tierney (Born On September 26, 1979 In Montréal Québec, Canada) Is a Canadian-American Actor, Voice Actor, Voice Casting, Voice Director, Singer, Loop Group Actor, Producer And Director. He Was Born On September 26, 1979 In Montréal Québec, Canada. To The Family Terry Tierney And His Dad Kevin Tierney And His Sister Bridget.
in 1970's and 1980's, Jacob Also Attended To a High School In Little Rock Arkansas, Montréal Québec, Canada And New York City, New York, USA. Jacob Tierney Also Quickly Started To Do An Auditions When He Was 1 and 8 Years Old in 1970's and 1980's.
Jacob Tierney Provided A Notable Characters As Eric From the Award Winner or Nominated TV Anthology Children Series Masterpiece, Cinar's Are You Afraid of the Dark? (1990) Along With All The Canadian And American Actors And Actress Back in 1990's. In Many Years In 1980's, 1990's and 2000's, His recent animation And Live Action Credits include All Movies, TV Shows And Video Games and He Provided A Character As Max (Max, Please. Just Max.) From Dracula: The Series (1990) And Especially A Producer And Director And Each Characters And Guest Star On Kids Like You (1984).
Jacob's Voice Work can be heard in films as He Especially Provided The Loop Group For The Movies, TV Shows And Video Games as Long As Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) Along With His Current Friend Cathie Dorsch (Actress, Voice Casting, Singer, Producer, Director, Miss Cathie The Current Host , Penelope Turtle, The Puppet Characters Daisy And All Puppet Characters And Dixie From Kids Like You (Since 1983 or 1984) And All Actors And Actress and his Current Friend Nathaniel Moreau (David From Cinar's Are You Afraid Of The Dark?) And More. The Upcoming Movie Gran Turismo (2023) And More Film, TV Show And Video Games Including PlayStation Games, Rockstar Games And Nintendo Games.
Jacob began his career with His first commercial in the first, second, third, fourth and fifth grade and has been hooked ever since Including PBS, PBS Kids, Warner Bros Pictures, Nintendo Games, Bandai Company, Bandai Namco Games And PlayStation Games. Especially HBO, HBO Family, Columbia Pictures, Cinar, Agape Church, The Christian Children's Movies, TV Shows And Video Games Company And Much More.
Jacob performed professionally with a School And House And Apartment in Canada And USA. Also Jacob performs with The Family And Kids, a professional child and teen troop. Jacob's passions also include singing, dancing, guitar, and writing and Directing music. He studies acting, directing and musical theater at a performing arts high school in Little Rock Arkansas, Montréal Québec, Canada And New York City, New York, USA. Just Before 1980's, 1990's, 2000's, 2010's and 2020's, He Also Wanted To Get Along With Canadian and American Kids And Family And Actors And Actress. Including All Canadian and American Actors And Actress.- Producer
- Actor
- Camera and Electrical Department
Born into a family of stunt men, stunt drivers and horse wranglers, Justin's filmmaking roots stem from an early age. At 10, he started visiting his father on major Hollywood movie sets and discovered a passion for acting in and creating films. He directed his first short film at age 17.
Justin has been acting since his childhood and has gotten several awards, including five Honorary Shakespearian awards for "Macbeth," "Hamlet," "Richard III," "The Taming of the Shrew" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream."- Writer
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- Producer
Na Hong-jin born in 1974 is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. His debut film The Chaser (2008) won Best Director at the 45th Grand Bell Awards in 2008. The film also won the award for Best Film. His follow up film, The Yellow Sea, was released in South Korea on December 15, 2010. It is scheduled to be screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.- Producer
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- Director
Gia Milani was born in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. She is known for All the Wrong Reasons (2013), Il Sole (2018) and Queen of the Andes (2020).- Visual Effects
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- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Editor
Daniel Luke Rogers is known for The Falceto Jazz Club (2014), Untitled Film: 44 (Mother & Son) (2011) and Mover (2013).- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Kyle is an Emmy® Award-winning, 3-time Australian Directors Guild nominated writer/director, working across a diverse range of film and television in both live-action and animation. From remote locations such as the top of Mt Kilimanjaro, to the comforts of the studio in Sydney, Kyle is at home when he's telling great stories with great people.- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Stephen de Villiers is a South African born, Australian based director. Born and raised in Durban, he spends his time between Australia and South Africa. He graduated from the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) in 2009, and is now based in Adelaide. While at AFTRS, Stephen was one of four directors selected from his class of 18 to collaborate on Before the Rain, AFTRS' first feature film made in partnership with the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA). The 25-minute segment he was chosen to direct, Legend, was written by Judy Morris co-writer on Babe: Pig in the City, and the Oscar winning Happy Feet.
His filmography lists 10 short films, one short feature and two documentaries. Among these are his award winning and internationally distributed Commando, a period piece Boer War drama and Super Sounds his latest film. As a director, he is privileged to have worked with some of South Africa and Australia's top actors, including Ian Robers (Tstosi), Sean Cameron Michael (24, Black Sails) and Leanna Walsman (Star Wars, Ep 2). Past festival highlights include screening as part of the Short Film Metrage at Cannes, while Super Sound has screened at a number of top film festivals, including Giffoni (Italy), Sequence Court-Metrage (France), Flickerfest (Sydney), Byron Bay and the San Francisco International Film Festival.- Director
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Richard Williamson grew up in Canberra, Australian and lives and produces in Melbourne, Victoria Australia.
Richard was trained at the Victorian College of the Arts after completing a theoretical degree at the Australian National University majoring in English Literature, Theatre Studies and Film Theory where his passion as a producer was developed. He has made several controversial short films to date and has another work in progress on the way.
Although his films can often be viewed as quite dark and challenging, his interpretation of some of the least discussed and yet most prevalent issues of current and future society, forces the viewer to question their own beliefs and actions.
He has experienced success as a director being nominated for the most outstanding undergraduate student and best cinematography in 2008 and received three chancellor's awards for academic distinction. Richard's graduating VCA film 'The Long Night' was played at a host of international festivals including Clermont Ferrand and Fantasia Montreal. His following short film 'Status' gained high levels of praise from critics and won two awards at genre festivals in the United States.
Richard Williamson recently married his long term partner Kelly Farrow.- Visual Effects
- Director
- Writer
Ben West's award-winning work illustrates a mastery of filmmaking with visual effects.
Ben started his career as visual effects supervisor on the Emmy winning Sci-fi series Farscape. In 2010, he was nominated by the Australian Directors Guild as Animation Director of the year. In 2015, his film Fugu & Tako was awarded Best of the Year by Stash Media. Ben has been an Architect, a visual effects supervisor at Academy Award winning studios, director at Radical Media, a lecturer at UCLA and SciArc for Fiction and Entertainment, a TEDx speaker and has a Masters in Directing. His diverse award winning work, encompasses film, architecture and visual effects and has featured internationally at places like Cannes, Venice Biennale, and ComicCon.