10 Directors to Watch: Introduction

Storytellers constantly reinvigorate film biz

By VARIETY STAFF

There are few greater pleasures for film lovers than the discovery of new helming talents. Since Variety began its annual 10 Directors to Watch survey more than a decade ago, we've seen the film industry constantly reinvigorated by the emergence of fresh storytellers, including many of those honored on our pages. Established film artists such as Wes Anderson, Michael Winterbottom, Christopher Nolan and Fernando Meirelles were once new faces recognized on our list.

This year, awards season sees former 10 to Watch honorees Alfonso Cuaron ("Children of Men") and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu ("Babel") earning kudo attention, while Sundance opens with "Chicago 10," the newest work of 2002 honoree Brett Morgen.

As the list of just those few select alumni indicates, there's a healthy global diversity of directing talent that is leading film in new directions. This year's lineup is no exception, with an exciting new crop of directors from the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Latin America, Germany, New Zealand, Switzerland, Canada and the U.S.

Andrea Arnold

Nelson George

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

Jorge Hernandez Aldana

Sarah Polley

Jarrett Schafer

Andrea Staka

Jim Strouse

Joachim Trier

Taika Waititi