Revolutionary Young Directors That Should Be On Your Radar (Part I)

The Cannes festival has started! You're probably feeling like a movie buff these days, which is why we've brought you this list of our favorite young directors. Each director promotes a different vision, aesthetics, and narrative, the filmographies are varied in genre and themes, with novel cinematographic universes, full of metaphors, adventures, symbolism, and constructive criticism.

Many from film festivals, others with a more commercial path, but in short, they are the new names of talents that are currently dominating the film industry:

Denis Villeneuve

Of the list, the Canadian film director is the one with the most extensive filmography, and perhaps the one who has addressed the most concepts and themes. Denis has made it clear that his artistic stamp is in the drama, tackling the social denunciation of the abuses of power, the strong female presence, the weight of history and its consequences in the present, forbidden loves, hatred and resentment, and the possibility of redemption. Some of his most iconic and award-winning films are: Incendies, Suspicion, Arrival, and Blade Runner 2049.

Jordan Peele

The filmmaker who made his first forays into humor, with just two films, has become a current dominator of the psychological horror genre but with the addition of layers of social criticism towards racism, xenophobia and marginalization. His debut film Get Out was the one that opened the doors to him as a visionary filmmaker and has positioned him as a creative and producer within the audiovisual industry, being the direct link with other younger filmmakers, to accompany them in their projects, as he has done with the reboot of The Twilight Zone, Lovecraft Country, Antebellum and his contribution as a screenwriter in Candyman.

Damien Chazelle

This young French-American director has an obsession with music in his films. He explores emotional ties, maintains a classic film style for the staging, and has a strong visual identity. For example, in the film musical La La Land , a film for which he won many technical and artistic design awards. The first film to show his talent and passion for music was Whiplash. Another admirable work of the director is the movie "First man" , available on Netflix,  as well as"The Eddy", an intellectual content that teaches about music and Jazz.

Jeff Nichols

A low-profile director, already with several films to his credit, Nichols handles human relationships with great simplicity, between couples, father-children, friendships, within dramatic atmospheres, always with an independent film tone and with a dose of suspense. He is a director who knows how to make the viewer worry about the protagonists of his stories. We can highlight the following great stories from this director's filmography: Take Shelter, Mud,  and Loving. As can be seen that throughout his filmography, the director has collaborated a lot with actor Michael Shannon.

Barry Jenkins

Recognized for the Oscar-winning film Moonlight, the director shocked critics by tackling a taboo subject among African Americans, homosexuality and homophobia. At Prime Video, we have his great work available If Beale Street Could Talk. Like Jordaan Peele, he has been involved as an art producer, for example, on the surprising and gritty abortion film "Never Rarely Sometimes Always."

Ari Aster

From the list, he is the most obsessive in the construction of planes and transitions, and he is the new "king" of horror art cinema. Owner of chilling stories, he explores psychological complexes, family traumas, in disturbing settings and locations with rituals linked to Satanism. It is impossible to forget the two horror films he has directed, The Devil's Legacy and Midsommar.

Also read: "En el Barrio": A Musical That Celebrates Latin Culture

Taika Waititi

A director who flirts with comedy and black humor, but who wields a great talent for narrating and touching viewers, with epic stories and adventures starring endearing characters. Among his most awarded works are, What we do in the Shadows, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Thor: Ragnarok, and the satire “Jojo Rabbit”.

Neill Blomkamp

The South African director, discovered by Peter Jackson, is a builder and "architect" of modern science fiction. His film District 9 laid the foundations for new production designs, in addition to showing us dystopic worlds with allegories and injustices and cracks between social classes. as he also demonstrated in the movie Elysium or in Chappie. Currently, the South African director works in the production company he has created, called " oats studios ", you can see his work on the official channel of the production company on YouTube.

Patty Jenkins

Patty Jenkins is a director who has strengthened the image of women, with the blockbuster Wonder Woman, she puts aside sexism and the stereotype of the weak woman to give way to a strong heroine with great charisma and patriotism. Another great work of the director is the hard and dark movie Monster, a film that earned Charlize Theron an Oscar for best actress.

Yorgos Lanthimos

The Greek director has managed to get into Hollywood without following the strict and traditional rules of commercial cinema. On the contrary, his films are wrapped in controversial plots, morbid, uncomfortable, and crude. If you want a good psychological thriller, we recommend that you watch his movies "The Lobster", "The Raven Sacrifice" and the fascinating and funny "The Favorite".