For 10 years now The Independent has been tooting the horn for indie filmmakers everywhere with our annual 10 to Watch. Read on about how to help us in our 10 for 10 year by nominating a filmmaker. We want to hear the stories of characters who often hide in the shadows of cinema. We will post our list this spring.
We update our 10 Filmmakers to Watch in 2017 list every day for 10 days as we announce each filmmaker. With reader recommendations and industry colleagues, 10 to watch identifies artists who are breaking new ground, either in their own career or in the form at large.
Peter Nicks is on our 10 filmmaker to watch list in 2017 for his film, The Force, a cinema vérité look into the Oakland Police Department from 2014-2016. Nicks had hoped to capture the department emerging out from federal oversight, only to document another scandal. The film is part of a thematic trilogy about institutions and communities in Oakland, California.
Justin Chon makes our 10 Filmmakers to Watch in 2017 list with Gook, a black-and-white dramedy set during the 1992 L.A. Riots. Chon wrote, directed, and stars in the award-winning film.
Filmmakers Lily Baldwin and Saschka Unseld make our 10 filmmaker to watch list in 2017 for their innovative virtual reality experience, Through You. The have combined their talents in dance, film, and technology to tell a story that explores love and memory over decades of time.
Kenrick Prince makes our 10 Filmmakers to Watch in 2017 list with his narrative short film Gema.
Lucie Guest is on our 10 to watch for her work as an actress, writer, and director in her award-winning short film, Never Better, about a loveable loser and the search for closer at the end of a relationship.
Fawzia Mirza makes our 10 Filmmakers to Watch list for 2017 with her film Signature Move, a feature that she co-wrote, produced, and stars in, which premiered at SXSW. The film tells the story of a Muslim lesbian in a new relationship, her Lucha-style wrestling, and the pressures of her conservative live-in mother. It is a romantic comedy.
Australian filmmaker Kitty Green makes our 10 Filmmakers to Watch in 2017 list with her documentary Casting JonBenet, where she not only sheds new light on a 20-year old crime, but bends the form of documentary.