10 Independent Filmmakers You Should Know About
By Matt Barone | Jan 15, 2012 | 8:59 am | Permalink
By nature, casual moviegoers aren’t so concerned with a movie’s non-actor credits—give them a few recognizable stars and there could be a chimpanzee directing every scene for all they care; one pantomimed the entire time by mo-cap ace Andy Serkis, no doubt. If Joe Popcorn Eater does happen to seek out a film based solely on the director’s name, they’re probably excited about one of the following: Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, Steven Spielberg, or Joel and Ethan Coen. As for the dozens of steadily working filmmakers in Hollywood, they’re relatively anonymous.
So imagine how moviemakers existing beyond Hollywood’s fringes must feel. But here’s the thing: The unknown men and women operating with minuscule budgets and tiny studio backing are typically more exciting than the folks consistently getting hired by conglomerates the likes of Warner Bro., Universal, and Paramount.
One such example is Lynne Ramsay, the critically acclaimed Scottish auteur behind this weekend’s best theatrical release, We Need To Talk About Kevin (expanding after a limited, Oscar-qualifying run in early December). An unnerving look at youthful malevolence through the eyes of a shell-shocked mother (Tilda Swinton), it’s the kind of dark psychological drama that paycheck-driven hacks would present as yet another ripoff of The Omen—as “found-footage,” no doubt. Not Ramsay, though, who’s too compelling a talent to go out like that. And she’s not alone, as you’re about to discover, through our list of 10 Independent Filmmakers You Should Know About.
Written by Matt Barone (@MBarone)
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JK January 15th, 2012 at 09:32 AM
Yo Fassbender is Irish, he was born in Germany...get it right.
Justin Monroe January 15th, 2012 at 10:03 AM
Fassbender's mom is Irish, his dad is German. He was born in Germany, which makes him German. He later moved to Ireland. You can call him Irish-German if you prefer, but to say that he's German when he was born in Germany is not incorrect.
JK January 15th, 2012 at 09:23 PM
I know his father is German and that he is fluent in German but he was raised in Ireland, was educated in Ireland and speaks with a broad Irish accent which makes him Irish in my book. I never said it is incorrect to call him German just that if you were going to call him by any nationality its Irish.
Risto Luukkonen January 23rd, 2012 at 04:05 AM
I'm very surprised that Andrea Arnold didn't make this list.
Baron January 23rd, 2012 at 11:30 AM
Why are there only USA and Brittish directors in the list? From all independant directors, you pretty much picked the most well-known ones. They have almost all made mainstream movies, and they all star hollywood actors.
Leonardo January 23rd, 2012 at 08:15 PM
You are right, this always happens with several "independant" directors list, all of them are almost mainstream but technically they are considered indie because the choices of subject-matter inn their films.
Gavin Harrison April 9th, 2012 at 12:31 PM
Fassbender is Irish. He was born in Germany. Raised in Ireland. Joe Strummer was born in Turkey, does that make him Turkish? Typical bigoted carry on here.