Emanuel Levy
Cinema 24/7
Research in Progress: March 15, 2024
Directors who have made a particularly strong feature debut, in alphabetical order:
My Oscar Book
Affleck, Ben, Gone Baby Gone, 2007
Anderson, Linsay, This Sporting Life, 1963; age 40
Annaud, Jean Jacque, Black and White in Color, 1976, 33
Armstrong, Gillian, My Brilliant Career, 1978; age 28
Ashby, Hal, The Landlord, 1970; age 41
Attenborough, Richard, Oh, What a Lovely War? 1969; age 46
Balaban, Bob, Parents, 1989; age 44
Ballard, Carol, Black Stallion, 1979; age 42
Beinex, Jean Jacques, Diva, 1980; age 32
Bellochio, Marco, Fist in the Pocket, 1965, aged 26
Bertolucci, Bernardo
Branagh, Kenneth, Henry V, 1989; age 29
Brooks, James L. Terms of Endearment, 1983
Burnett, Charles, Killer of Sheep, 1978 (2007)
Burton, Tim, Pee-Wee, 1985
Coen, Joel and Ethan, Bad Blood, 1985
Coppola, Sofia, The Virgin Suicides, 1999
Costner, Dancing With Wolves, 1990
Crowe, Cameron, Say Anything, 1989
Darabont, Frank, The Shawshank Redemption, 1994
Ford, Tom, A Single Man, 2010
Hopper, Denis, Easy Riders, 1969
Hughes, John, Sixteen Candles, 1984
Huston, John, The Maltese Falcon, 1941
Kelly, Richard, Donnie Darko, 2001
Lee, Spike, She’s Gotta Have It, 1986
Laughton, Charles, The Night of the Hunter, 1955
Levinson, Barry, Diner, 1982
Lumet, Sidney, 12 Angry Men, 1957
Lynch, David, Eraserhead, 1977
McQueen, Steve, Hunger, 2008
Malick, Terence, Badklands
Mann, Delbert, Marty, 1955
Mazursky, Paul, Bob Carol Ted and Alice, 1969
Mendes, Sam, American Beauty, 1999
Miller, Bennett, Capote, 2005
Nichols, Mike, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf? 1966
Penn, Arthur,
Perry, Frank, David and Lisa, 1962
Ray, Nicholas, They Live By Night
Ray, Satyajit, Pather Panchali, 1955
Redford, Robert, Ordinary People, 1980
Singleton, John, Boyz N the Hood, 1991
Soderbergh, Steven, sex, lies and videotape, 1989
Streisand, Barbra, Tentl, 1983; 41
Song, Celine, Past Lives, 2023
Tarantino, Quentin, Reservoir Dogs, 1992; age 29
Wells, Orson, Citizen Kane, 1941
A
Anderson, Lindsay, This Sporting Life, 1963, age 40
Annaud, Jean Jacques, Black and White, 1976, age 33
Armstrong, Gillian, My Brilliant Career, 1978, age 28
Ashby, Hal, The Landord, 1970, age 41
Attenborough, Richard, Oh, Lovely War! 1969, age 46
B
Balaban, Bob, Parents, 1989, age 44
Ballard, Carol, The Black Stallion, 1979, age 42
Jean Jacques Beinex, Diva, 198o, age 32
Bellochio, Marco, Fist in the Pocket, 1965, age 26
Brannah, Kenneth, Henry V, 1989
C
Coen, Joel, Bad Blood, 1984
D
E
F
G
H
Huston, John, Maltese Falcon, 1941
I
J
K
L
Lee, Spike, She’s Got to Have It, 1986,
Lynch, Eraserhead, 1977
M
Malick, Terrence, Badlands, 1973,
Mazursky, Paul, Bob, Carol, Ted and Alice, 1969
N
Nichols, Mike, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 1966
Nichols, Ray, They Live By Night, 1948
O
P
Penn, Arthur?
Q
R
Ray, Nicholas, They Drive By Night
S
Soderbergh, Steven, sex, lies and videotape, 1989, age 26
T
Tarantino, Quentin, Reservoir Dogs, 1991, age 28
U V
W
Welles, Orson, Citizen Kane
XY
Wajda, Andrzej, A Generation, 1955
Z
Zeitlin, Benh, Beasts of the Southern Wild, 2012 (then sophomore jinx)
Directors: Debuts–Strong and Brilliant Beginning (By Name, from A to Z)
Research in Progress: March 15, 2024
Directors who have made a particularly strong feature debut, in alphabetical order:
My Oscar Book
Affleck, Ben, Gone Baby Gone, 2007
Anderson, Linsay, This Sporting Life, 1963; age 40
Annaud, Jean Jacque, Black and White in Color, 1976, 33
Armstrong, Gillian, My Brilliant Career, 1978; age 28
Ashby, Hal, The Landlord, 1970; age 41
Attenborough, Richard, Oh, What a Lovely War? 1969; age 46
Balaban, Bob, Parents, 1989; age 44
Ballard, Carol, Black Stallion, 1979; age 42
Beinex, Jean Jacques, Diva, 1980; age 32
Bellochio, Marco, Fist in the Pocket, 1965, aged 26
Bertolucci, Bernardo
Branagh, Kenneth, Henry V, 1989; age 29
Brooks, James L. Terms of Endearment, 1983
Burnett, Charles, Killer of Sheep, 1978 (2007)
Burton, Tim, Pee-Wee, 1985
Coen, Joel and Ethan, Bad Blood, 1985
Coppola, Sofia, The Virgin Suicides, 1999
Costner, Dancing With Wolves, 1990
Crowe, Cameron, Say Anything, 1989
Darabont, Frank, The Shawshank Redemption, 1994
Ford, Tom, A Single Man, 2010
Hopper, Denis, Easy Riders, 1969
Hughes, John, Sixteen Candles, 1984
Huston, John, The Maltese Falcon, 1941
Kelly, Richard, Donnie Darko, 2001
Lee, Spike, She’s Gotta Have It, 1986
Laughton, Charles, The Night of the Hunter, 1955
Levinson, Barry, Diner, 1982
Lumet, Sidney, 12 Angry Men, 1957
Lynch, David, Eraserhead, 1977
McQueen, Steve, Hunger, 2008
Malick, Terence, Badklands
Mann, Delbert, Marty, 1955
Mazursky, Paul, Bob Carol Ted and Alice, 1969
Mendes, Sam, American Beauty, 1999
Miller, Bennett, Capote, 2005
Nichols, Mike, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf? 1966
Penn, Arthur,
Perry, Frank, David and Lisa, 1962
Ray, Nicholas, They Live By Night
Ray, Satyajit, Pather Panchali, 1955
Redford, Robert, Ordinary People, 1980
Singleton, John, Boyz N the Hood, 1991
Soderbergh, Steven, sex, lies and videotape, 1989
Streisand, Barbra, Tentl, 1983; 41
Song, Celine, Past Lives, 2023
Tarantino, Quentin, Reservoir Dogs, 1992; age 29
Wells, Orson, Citizen Kane, 1941
A
Anderson, Lindsay, This Sporting Life, 1963, age 40
Annaud, Jean Jacques, Black and White, 1976, age 33
Armstrong, Gillian, My Brilliant Career, 1978, age 28
Ashby, Hal, The Landord, 1970, age 41
Attenborough, Richard, Oh, Lovely War! 1969, age 46
B
Balaban, Bob, Parents, 1989, age 44
Ballard, Carol, The Black Stallion, 1979, age 42
Jean Jacques Beinex, Diva, 198o, age 32
Bellochio, Marco, Fist in the Pocket, 1965, age 26
Brannah, Kenneth, Henry V, 1989
Burton, Tim, Pee-Wee, 1985
C
Coen, Joel, Bad Blood, 1984
D
E
F
G
H
Hopper, Denis, Easy Riders, 1969
Hughes, John, Sixteen Candles, 1984
Huston, John, Maltese Falcon, 1941
I
J
K
L
Lee, Spike, She’s Got to Have It, 1986,
Levinson, Barry, Diner, 1982
Lynch, Eraserhead, 1977
M
Malick, Terrence, Badlands, 1973,
Mazursky, Paul, Bob, Carol, Ted and Alice, 1969
N
Nichols, Mike, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 1966
Nichols, Ray, They Live By Night, 1948
O
P
Perry, Frank, David and Lisa, 1962
Penn, Arthur?
Q
R
Ray, Nicholas, They Drive By Night
S
Soderbergh, Steven, sex, lies and videotape, 1989, age 26
T
Tarantino, Quentin, Reservoir Dogs, 1991, age 28
U V
W
Welles, Orson, Citizen Kane
XY
Wajda, Andrzej, A Generation, 1955
Z
Zeitlin, Benh, Beasts of the Southern Wild, 2012 (then sophomore jinx)