On The Rise 2016: 20 Filmmakers To Watch

Earlier this month, we debuted the first installment of our On The Rise series for this year by looking at the actors and actresses we’re tapping for big things to come. But looking at the talent in front of camera only tells a small portion of the story: they wouldn’t be anywhere without the people who actually make the movies.

It’s an infectious feeling to walk out of a film and know that you’ve watched the start of what promises to be an enormously exciting career, and the emergence of new voices is one of the things that makes the movies so exciting.

In the last few years, we’ve spotlighted people like Colin Trevorrow, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, Jennifer Kent, Ana Lily Amirpour, Rick Famuyiwa, Marielle Heller and Laszlo Nemes, all filmmakers who’ve exploded since then. Who’s joining them this time? Take a look at our 20 On The Rise filmmakers (mostly directors, but a few writers and cinematographers too) below, and let us know who you’re high on in the comments.

Lucia Aniello
Rightly, Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson get the lion’s share of the credit for their terrific comedy “Broad City,” but Lucia Aniello might be the show’s secret weapon. Like Glazer and Jacobson, Aniello’s a veteran of the Upright Citizens Brigade, and formed a writing partnership there, Paulilu, with Paul W. Downs (who plays Trey on the series). She directed the “Broad City” pilot and a further ten episodes across the three seasons, along with multiple writing credits and much of the show’s featherlight, vibrant tone can be credited to her. And, after having done a few other non-“Broad City” projects (re-teaming with Downs and Glazer on “Time Traveling Bong,” and directing a couple of episodes of Paul Feig’s “Other Space”), she’s moving into features, co-writing (with Downs) and directing Sony comedy “Rock That Body,” starring Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon and Jillian Bell. We hear the script is great, it’s got a prime 2017 release date, and bigger things could be on the way: she’s also been writing a female-driven “21 Jump Street” spin-off too.

Babak Anvari
Born in Iran but based in the U.K., Anvari was BAFTA nominated in 2012 for his short film “Two & Two,” and he draws on both his heritage and the film’s allegorical power for his feature debut “Under The Shadow,” about a young woman and her son being tormented by a djinn during the Iran/Iraq war of the early 1980s. Influenced by Roman Polanski and leaving what our review called “a lingering aftertaste,” the film was arguably the buzziest genre breakout of this year’s Sundance, showing a filmmaker with a commanding skill set. Big things should be coming for Anvari as a result: Netflix snapped the film up at Sundance after it drew “Babadook”-sized buzz, there’s an English-language remake of the “Under The Shadow” coming, as well as a new original movie, and that’s even before Hollywood comes calling.

Lol Crawley
British DP Lol Crawley isn’t quite a brand new name — he’s been doing some remarkably impressive work in features for nearly a decade now. But of late, he’s gone from an extraordinarily impressive cinematographer to staking his claim at being one of the best in the world. Crawley brooke into features with Lance Hammer’s beautiful 2008 film “Ballast,” and won the Sundance Cinematography award for his trouble. From there, he shot Chris Morris’ brilliant “Four Lions,” and miniseries “The Crimson Petal And The White,” before going on to prestige biopics “Hyde Park On Hudson” and “Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom.” But the last twelve months or so saw his best work to date, with the gorgeous Arcade Fire movie “The Reflektor Tapes,” Brady Corbet’s strikingly austere “The Childhood Of A Leader,” and best of all, Andrew Haigh’s stunning “45 Years,” which had two or three of the ten best shots of last year. You’re about to see a lot more of his work: he’s shooting all of Zal Batmanglij’s Netflix series “The OA,” which is due by the end of the year.

Garth Davis
“Top Of The Lake” is still one of the best TV dramas of the last ten years, and much of the credit rightly went to Jane Campion who wrote the show, and directed much of it. Her co-director on the show, Garth Davis, also did excellent work, and though it’s taken a few years, Davis looks set to become one of the most sought-after filmmakers around. The Australian director started in TV before becoming an award-winning commercials director (taking the Gold Lion at Cannes in 2008), returning to fiction for “Top Of The Lake.” This year, he’ll make his feature debut with “Lion,” starring Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman, which is said to be Harvey Weinstein’s top Oscar hope this year. And he’s already got his follow-up prepped, a biopic of “Mary Magdalene” from the producers of “The King’s Speech,” with an extraordinary cast led by “Lion” actress Rooney Mara and also starring Joaquin Phoenix, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Tahar Rahim. Add in his attachment to the long-brewing “Shantaram” and Davis couldn’t be hotter if he fell in a volcano.

J.D. Dillard
Few movies at Sundance this year felt like a calling-card to the extent that “Sleight” did for J.D. Dillard. The music video helmer’s hugely impressive and assured feature debut about a street magician trying to protect his sister from drug dealers mixes “Iron Man,” “Attack The Block,” “The Prestige” and a coming-of-age picture with innate sweetness, genre chops, and a distinct sense for an image (read our review here). Dillard, whose work includes videos for Empire Of The Sun, was already on his way up —he has a development deal with J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, where he used to work as a receptionist— but the reception accorded to his thrilling, authentic debut is sure to cement him as a rising star (and pleasingly, he says he’d rather make original movies than jump on a franchise). You’ve got a little way to wait until you see the film — it’s been scheduled for release next April — but expect Dillard to line up something big before then.