Louis Marie Malle was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in both French cinema and Hollywood. Described as "eclectic" and "a filmmaker difficult to pin down", Malle made documentaries, romances, period dramas, and thrillers. He often depicted provocative or controversial subject matter.
James Francis Ivory is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He was a principal in Merchant Ivory Productions along with Indian film producer Ismail Merchant and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. The trio is known for making film adaptations of stories by authors such as E.M. Forster and Henry James. Their body of work is celebrated for its elegance, sophistication, literary fidelity, strong performances, complex themes, and rich characters.
Jacques Audiard is a French film director, producer, and screenwriter. Over the course of his career, he has received numerous accolades including two British Academy Film Awards, three Golden Globes, ten Cesar Awards and four prizes from the Cannes Film Festival.
Asif Kapadia is a British filmmaker. Kapadia is best known for his trilogy of narratively driven, archive-constructed documentaries Senna, Amy and Diego Maradona.
The cinema of Lebanon, according to film critic and historian Roy Armes, is the only other cinema in the Arabic-speaking region, beside Egypt's, that could amount to a national cinema. Cinema in Lebanon has been in existence since the 1920s, and the country has produced more than 500 films.
Sean Baker is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing independent feature films about the lives of marginalized people, especially immigrants and 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 and two Golden Globe nominations for Best Director and Best Screenplay. He is also known for co-creating the Fox/IFC puppet sitcom Greg the Bunny (2002–2006) and its spin-offs.
Mohammad Rasoulof is an Iranian independent filmmaker who lives in exile in Europe. He is known for several award-winning films, including The Twilight (2002), Iron Island (2005), Goodbye (2011),Manuscripts Don't Burn (2013), A Man of Integrity (2017) and There Is No Evil (2020). For the latter, he won the Golden Bear at the 2020 Berlin Film Festival.
Amy is a 2015 British documentary film directed by Asif Kapadia and produced by James Gay-Rees. The film covers British singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse's life and her struggle with substance abuse, both before and after her career blossomed, and which eventually caused her death. In February 2015, a teaser trailer based on the life of Winehouse debuted at a pre-Grammys event. David Joseph, CEO of Universal Music UK, announced that the documentary titled Amy would be released later that year. He further stated: "About two years ago we decided to make a movie about her—her career and her life. It's a very complicated and tender movie. It tackles lots of things about family and media, fame, addiction, but most importantly, it captures the very heart of what she was about, which is an amazing person and a true musical genius."
Mikaela Madison Rosberg is an American actress. She began her career acting in short films and received recognition for her role as a sullen teenager in the FX comedy series Better Things (2016–2022). Madison then played Susan Atkins in Quentin Tarantino's period comedy-drama film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) and Amber Freeman in the horror film Scream (2022). She gained praise for playing the titular character in Sean Baker's romantic comedy-drama film Anora (2024), earning several accolades, including nominations for a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award.
Divya Prabha is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Malayalam films. She has starred in the independent films Ariyippu (2022) and All We Imagine as Light (2024).
Ryusuke Hamaguchi is a Japanese film director and screenwriter. An alumnus of the University of Tokyo and the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, he started gaining attention in his home country with the graduate film Passion (2008).
A Night of Knowing Nothing is a documentary film, directed by Payal Kapadia and released in 2021. An exploration of university student life in India, the film centres on letters written by L., a student at the Film and Television Institute of India, to her estranged boyfriend after they are separated when he is forced to quit film school and denied permission from his family to continue dating L. because she is not of the same caste.
All We Imagine as Light is a 2024 drama film written and directed by Payal Kapadia. The cast includes Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam and Hridhu Haroon. Featuring Malayalam, Hindi, and Marathi dialogue, it was an international co-production involving companies from France, India, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Italy.
Santosh is a 2024 Hindi-language crime drama film written and directed by Sandhya Suri. It is an international co-production of the United Kingdom, India, Germany and France. Set in rural north India, it stars Shahana Goswami as a widow who inherits her late husband's job of police constable. Principal photography occurred over 45 days in August–October 2023 in and around Lucknow, India.
