Blitz Bazawule, Anna Kendrick, Cord Jefferson among Variety's 10 Directors to Watch

Blitz Bazawule, Anna Kendrick and Cord Jefferson are among Variety's 10 Directors to Watch for 2024. They will be honored Friday at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.

The lineup represents creative, promising up-and-comers, with at least three directors whose work has already staked a claim during the 2023-24 awards season, and several with films that are set to premiere at Sundance, Berlin and other spring festivals.

The lineup includes:

• Ilker Çatak — “The Teachers’ Lounge”

• Anna Kendrick — “Woman of the Hour”

• Cord Jefferson — “American Fiction”

• Sophie Dupuis — “Solo”

• Titus Kaphar — “Exhibiting Forgiveness”

• Blitz Bazawule — “The Color Purple”

• Aaron Schimberg — “A Different Man”

• Kobi Libii — “American Society of Magical Negroes”

• Eva Trobisch — “Ivo”

• Ena Sendijarević — “Sweet Dreams”

Bazawule's musical adaptation of "The Color Purple" features a star-studded cast consisting of Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Halle Bailey and Corey Hawkins. The film has earned over $40 million at the box office since its Christmas Day release and has received several Golden Globes and Critics Choice nominations.

Jefferson's directorial debut, "American Fiction," has won the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, and has received a number of nominations from the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards. Jefferson is a former editor at Gawker and a journalist who wrote for publications such as The New York Times Magazine, Huffpost, The Root and USA TODAY.

Çatak's "The Teacher's Lounge" was shortlisted as the German entry for the Best International Feature Film at the Academy Awards and The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures named it as one of the best five international films of 2023.

While Kendrick may best be known for her on-screen roles in "Pitch Perfect," "Twilight," "A Simple Favor" and "Up in the Air," she has taken an interest in off-screen work in recent years, like directing and producing. Her directorial debut, "Woman of the Hour," which she also stars in, is based on serial killer Rodney Alcala, who appeared on the television show "The Dating Game" in the midst of his murder spree in 1978. The film premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.

Dupuis' "Solo" also played at the Toronto festival, where it won the Best Canadian Feature Film Award. Set in Montreal’s drag scene, the film focuses on a talented young performer whose past and present merge in unexpected ways.

Sendijarević's “Sweet Dreams” is set on a plantation in the Dutch East Indies around the start of the 20th century and takes a critical look at the Dutch colonial past. It premiered at the 76th Locarno Film Festival and opened the 43rd Netherlands Film Festival, where it won six awards.

Kaphar's “Exhibiting Forgiveness,” Schimberg's “A Different Man” and Libii's “American Society of Magical Negroes" will premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival later this month. Trobisch will have the world premiere of her film "Ivo" at the Berlin International Film Festival.

The Palm Springs International Film Festival will take place Jan. 4-15.

Ema Sasic covers entertainment and health in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at ema.sasic@desertsun.com or on Twitter @ema_sasic.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Blitz Bazawule, Anna Kendrick among Variety's 10 Directors to Watch