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Toronto, Cannes and beyond, a wave of buzzy debut film-makers grabbed critics’ attention – we speak to four of them
It’s tough out there on the festival circuit for the newbie director. First-time film-makers frequently face an uphill battle getting noticed amid the noise and the circus of a film festival, and even more of a challenge securing distribution. Punters can be reluctant to take a risk on an unknown quantity in a festival schedule – on a director whose name isn’t instantly recognisable and whose CV contains perhaps only a couple of short films. But in fact, first features are often the most exciting films in a programme. Rather than coasting into a screening slot on the strength of a director’s past successes, first features are chosen on merit. To be selected, a debut has to deliver something accomplished and memorable – it has to be a forceful statement of intent.
If the stars align, a successful festival launch can lead to a film that woos both critics and audiences, providing a career springboard for the director and actors while also doing good business at the box office. Recent examples include Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild, which launched in Cannes 2012 and went on to earn four Oscar nominations; Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook and Jordan Peele’s Get Out, first features that premiered to acclaim in Sundance 2014 and 2017 respectively and led to Peele winning an Oscar; and Lady Macbeth (Toronto, 2016), which introduced the incomparable Florence Pugh to the movie world.