9. Benh Zeitlin
One of the youngest ever nominees for Best Director at the Oscars, Benh Zeitlin's 2012 feature length debut Beasts of the Southern Wild became one of the years breakout films, earning raves at Sundance and earning a number of Academy Award nominations and a slew of year end "Best of" lists. Zeitlin has been making short films since 2004, working with a group of independent filmmakers known collectively as Court 13. Following all the plaudits he received for Beasts of the Souther Wild, Zeitlin has started to work on his follow-up film, an as of yet untitled film that again takes place in New Orleans. While still relatively unproven, Zeitlin has already shown himself to be a potentially great filmmaker and is definitely someone to pay attention to in the future.
Filmography: Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)