Variety has selected its 10 Directors to Watch for 2025.
In a fiercely competitive year, Coralie Fargeat (“The Substance”), Malcolm Washington (“The Piano Lesson”) and Halina Reijn (“Babygirl”) are among the filmmakers whose work earned them a place on the publication’s annual list. For 28 years, Variety has identified noteworthy up-and-coming directors making waves with projects of all different scales, from big-budget studio fare to the tiniest independent films, each distinguished by their unique style and strong creative vision.
Each filmmaker will be profiled in an upcoming Variety print edition timed to release during the Palm Springs International Film Festival in January 2025.
After premiering at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, “The Substance,” Fargeat’s film starring Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid, won the best screenplay award before earning accolades at other festivals around the world. Malcolm Washington’s adaptation of August Wilson’s play “The Piano Lesson” started its journey at the Telluride Film Festival before collecting honors for his direction and its stars, including Danielle Deadwyler, John David Washington, Ray Fisher and Samuel L. Jackson. And “Babygirl,” Reijn’s third feature, premiered in Venice, where its star Nicole Kidman won the Volpi Cup for best actress.
Among the other directors recognized, Magnus van Horn’s “The Girl With the Needle” was selected as the Danish entry for best international feature at the 97th Academy Awards; Tom Nesher’s “Come Closer” was submitted in the same category for Israel; and Drew Hancock’s film “Companion” is set for release in January by Warner Bros.
The full list of honorees is below:
- Durga Chew-Bose, “Bonjour Tristesse”
- Coralie Fargeat, “The Substance”
- David Fortune, “Color Book”
- Drew Hancock, “Companion”
- Zoe Kravitz, “Blink Twice”
- Tom Nesher, “Come Closer”
- Halina Reijn, “Babygirl”
- James Sweeney, “Twinless”
- Magnus von Horn, “The Girl With the Needle”
- Malcolm Washington, “The Piano Lesson”
Since 1997, 10 Directors to Watch has sought to highlight artists who not only make one great film, but demonstrate a passion or creativity that indicates even better things to come. In the list’s inaugural year, Variety honored the likes of Wes Anderson (“Bottle Rocket”), Alfonso Cuaron (“A Little Princess”) and Mary Harron (“I Shot Andy Warhol”); since then, Kasi Lemmons (“Eve’s Bayou”), Christopher Nolan (“Memento”), Fernando Meirelles (“City of God”), Taika Waititi (“Eagle vs Shark”), Luca Guadagnino (“I Am Love”), Justin Simien (“Dear White People”), Chloe Zhao (“The Rider”) and Nia DaCosta (“Candyman”) were celebrated among many others. After last year’s list, director Cord Jefferson won a screenwriting Oscar for “American Fiction,” his film adaptation of Percival Everett’s 2001 novel “Erasure.”
