Sean Baker is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing independent feature films about the lives of marginalized people, especially sex workers. His films include Take Out (2004), Starlet (2012), Tangerine (2015), The Florida Project (2017), Red Rocket (2021), and Anora (2024), the last of which won him the Palme d'Or at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. He is also known for co-creating the Fox/IFC puppet sitcom Greg the Bunny (2002–2006) and its spin-offs.
Matteo Garrone is an Italian filmmaker.
Anocha Suwichakornpong is a Thai independent film director, screenwriter and producer. She is currently Professor of Film at Columbia University, where she advises thesis students in the MFA Film Program and teaches film directing. She was formerly Visiting Lecturer on Art, Film, and Visual Studies at Harvard University.
Sergei Vladimirovich Loznitsa or Serhii Volodymyrovych Loznytsia, is a Ukrainian director of Belarusian origin known for his documentary as well as dramatic films.
Gulnara Sarsenova is a Kazakhstani film producer who has produced several award-winning films. She is the only Central Asian producer to receive the Best Asian Filmmaker award at Busan International Film Festival, one of the most significant film festivals in Asia, in 2008.
Cinema of Kazakhstan refers to the film industry based in Kazakhstan. Cinema in Kazakhstan can be traced back to the early 20th century. Today, Kazakhstan produces approximately fifteen full-length films each year.
Alice Rohrwacher is an Italian film director, editor and screenwriter. She made her directorial debut with Heavenly Body (2011). She has since directed notable films such as The Wonders (2014), winner of the Grand Prix, Happy as Lazzaro (2018), which received the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay, and La chimera (2023). Her short Le pupille (2022) was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.
Hallelujah the Hills (1963) was written, directed and edited by Adolfas Mekas. The picture was his first feature film.
Kamal Aljafari - also written Kamal Jafari is a Palestinian artist, film director and producer.
Alireza Ghasemi is an Iranian screenwriter, film director and producer. notably directing In the Land of Brothers, for which he won the Directing Award at the Sundance Film Festival.
Bi Gan is a Chinese film director, screenwriter, poet, and photographer. His first feature film, Kaili Blues, was released in 2015 and won Best New Film Director at the 52nd Golden Horse Awards, the FIPRESCI Prize, The Golden Montgolfiere Prize at the 37th Festival of the Three Continents in Nantes, and the Best First Feature Film Award at The 68th Locarno Film Festival.
Kaouther Ben Hania also written Kaouther Ben Henia or Kaouther Benhenia is a Tunisian film director. Her 2017 film Beauty and the Dogs was selected as the Tunisian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards. Her 2020 film The Man Who Sold His Skin was nominated for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards. Her 2024 film Four Daughters was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at 96th Academy Awards.
Sina Ataeian Dena is an Iranian-German film director, screenwriter and film producer and artist.
Samal Ilyaskyzy Yeslyamova is a Kazakh film actress. She is recognized internationally for starring in the film Ayka directed by Sergey Dvortsevoy, which won her the award for Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival in 2018.
Teymur Hajiyev is an Azerbaijani film director, producer, voting member of the European Film Academy and Locarno Filmmakers Academy alumnus.
The Fever is a 2019 internationally co-produced drama thriller film written and directed by Maya Da-Rin, Miguel Seabra Lopes and Pedro Cesarino and starring Regis Myrupu and Rosa Peixoto. Featuring dialogue in Portuguese and the indigenous languages Tukano and Tikuna, it features a main cast of indigenous Brazilian from the Upper Rio Negro, belonging to the Desanos, Tucanos and Tarianas people, many of them whom had their first experience in cinema.
Sebastian Klinger is a Swiss cinematographer and producer. His critically acclaimed feature film Sew Torn premiered at South by Southwest Film Festival and screened on the Piazza Grande at Locarno Film Festival in 2024.
Saulė Bliuvaitė is a Lithuanian film director and screenwriter. For her feature film debut Toxic (2024), she won the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival.
