Competition is tough in the Best Picture category at this year’s Oscars. Eight movies are in the running, some by veterans (Birdman), others by sophomores (Whiplash). Some directors have been nominated before and have been taken home a gong or two, while others have struck gold early on in their careers. How did the Lucky Eight get there? We look at the breakthrough titles of each of the directors vying for the most prestigious gong of the Academy Awards .
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, director of Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
The renowned Mexican filmmaker has worked on a cargo ship, interviewed musicians for radio, and written television series. In 1999, he made his feature debut with the terrific Amores Perros, in which a car accident connects three characters and their stories. Cinema is all the richer for it.
Set in Mexico City and exploring Christian themes of the loss of faith and redemption that have echoed since in Inarittu's work, Amores Perros ranks as one of the most accomplished first films in cinema.
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
In the 2004 edition of his authoritative The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, American critic David Thomson described Wes Anderson with brevity and cruelty: “Watch this space. What does that mean? That he might be something one day.”
Before Anderson started rolling out idiosyncratic, whimsy-laden and impeccably designed cupcake movies that have as many fanatics as detractors, he started rather ordinarily with Bottle Rocket, a comedy about three friends who team up to pull off a heist. The movie expands on a 13-and-a-half minute short written by Anderson and his regular partner in crime Owen Wilson.
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
The relationships movie expert Richard Linklater is known for his loosely structured and conversation-heavy plots, his collaboration with actor Ethan Hawke (often described as the filmmaker’s alter ego) and his deft handling of actors. Linklater’s breakthrough was the coming of age comedy Dazed and Confused, based on his high school experiences, but it all all began with the beguilingly titled road movie It’s Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books.
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
The Norwegian director of the Alan Turing biopic starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Kiera Knightley made a warmly received debut titled Buddy in 2003. Buddy is about three friends who shoot candid camera videos and navigate through their treacherous personal lives on the side. Tyldum made two more films in Norwegian before landing on his feet with the Turing biopic.
Clint Eastwood, American Sniper
No director can boast of a box office hit at the age of 84, but then few directors are like Clint Eastwood. After appearing in a series of macho roles in cowboy movies and cop thrillers in the 1960s and ’70s, Eastwood embarked on a series of personal projects that turned his ultra-masculine American hero image on its head. His directorial debut Play Misty For Me has aged as well as the icon. It’s the story of a caddish radio jockey who is stalked by a fan with whom he has had a fling.
James Marsh, The Theory of Everything
British director James Marsh cut his teeth on documentaries for the BBC before switching to fiction with The King. Starring arthouse darling Gale Garcia Bernal as an American Naval officer who sets out in search of his father, the movie was showcased at the Cannes Film Festival. Marsh returned to documentaries in 2008 with Man on Wire, the critically acclaimed recap of French trapeze artist Phillipe Petit’s walk between New York City’s since destroyed Twin Towers.
Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
The critics’ favourite about a jazz drummer and his tyrannical music teacher is only the second movie by Damien Chazelle. The 30 year-old director has previously explored the intersection of jazz and life in the romantic drama Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench. It features mostly non-professional actors and live musical performances.
Ava DuVernay, Selma
The first African American director to be nominated in the Best Picture category, Ava DuVernay started her professional life as a journalist, then switched to publicity, and made documentaries before her first feature I Will Follow, about an artist’s relationship with her aunt. DuVernay’s big moment was with her second movie, Middle of Nowhere, which explores the travails of a young African American woman whose husband has been awarded a prison sentenced. The film bagged the Directing Award trophy for US Dramatic Film at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, director of Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
The renowned Mexican filmmaker has worked on a cargo ship, interviewed musicians for radio, and written television series. In 1999, he made his feature debut with the terrific Amores Perros, in which a car accident connects three characters and their stories. Cinema is all the richer for it.
Set in Mexico City and exploring Christian themes of the loss of faith and redemption that have echoed since in Inarittu's work, Amores Perros ranks as one of the most accomplished first films in cinema.
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
In the 2004 edition of his authoritative The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, American critic David Thomson described Wes Anderson with brevity and cruelty: “Watch this space. What does that mean? That he might be something one day.”
Before Anderson started rolling out idiosyncratic, whimsy-laden and impeccably designed cupcake movies that have as many fanatics as detractors, he started rather ordinarily with Bottle Rocket, a comedy about three friends who team up to pull off a heist. The movie expands on a 13-and-a-half minute short written by Anderson and his regular partner in crime Owen Wilson.
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
The relationships movie expert Richard Linklater is known for his loosely structured and conversation-heavy plots, his collaboration with actor Ethan Hawke (often described as the filmmaker’s alter ego) and his deft handling of actors. Linklater’s breakthrough was the coming of age comedy Dazed and Confused, based on his high school experiences, but it all all began with the beguilingly titled road movie It’s Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books.
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
The Norwegian director of the Alan Turing biopic starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Kiera Knightley made a warmly received debut titled Buddy in 2003. Buddy is about three friends who shoot candid camera videos and navigate through their treacherous personal lives on the side. Tyldum made two more films in Norwegian before landing on his feet with the Turing biopic.
Clint Eastwood, American Sniper
No director can boast of a box office hit at the age of 84, but then few directors are like Clint Eastwood. After appearing in a series of macho roles in cowboy movies and cop thrillers in the 1960s and ’70s, Eastwood embarked on a series of personal projects that turned his ultra-masculine American hero image on its head. His directorial debut Play Misty For Me has aged as well as the icon. It’s the story of a caddish radio jockey who is stalked by a fan with whom he has had a fling.
James Marsh, The Theory of Everything
British director James Marsh cut his teeth on documentaries for the BBC before switching to fiction with The King. Starring arthouse darling Gale Garcia Bernal as an American Naval officer who sets out in search of his father, the movie was showcased at the Cannes Film Festival. Marsh returned to documentaries in 2008 with Man on Wire, the critically acclaimed recap of French trapeze artist Phillipe Petit’s walk between New York City’s since destroyed Twin Towers.
Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
The critics’ favourite about a jazz drummer and his tyrannical music teacher is only the second movie by Damien Chazelle. The 30 year-old director has previously explored the intersection of jazz and life in the romantic drama Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench. It features mostly non-professional actors and live musical performances.
Ava DuVernay, Selma
The first African American director to be nominated in the Best Picture category, Ava DuVernay started her professional life as a journalist, then switched to publicity, and made documentaries before her first feature I Will Follow, about an artist’s relationship with her aunt. DuVernay’s big moment was with her second movie, Middle of Nowhere, which explores the travails of a young African American woman whose husband has been awarded a prison sentenced. The film bagged the Directing Award trophy for US Dramatic Film at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.
Buy an annual Scroll Membership to support independent journalism and get special benefits.
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!