Four young but already highly decorated filmmakers were the honorees at the Outstanding Directors Award event on Tuesday night. Hosted by Scott Feinberg of the Hollywood Reporter, the honorees came out for one-on-one discussions, followed by a lively group conversation.
First up was Chloe Zhao, who co-wrote and directed Hamnet, which has been nominated for Best Picture and Best Actress Academy Awards among many accolades. She spoke about growing up in China (she moved to the US at 15 for school), and the first Western film she ever saw was Terminator 2. The strong effect it had on her was at first confusing, and it lit a creative fire.
She went to film school at NYU in her late 20s, where she honed her craft. She loved casting non-actors, as evident in her films The Rider (2017) and Nomadland (2020), and credited filmmakers such as Werner Herzog for influencing this.
She talked about the leap from The Rider, a small independent film which cost $80,000 to make, to Marvel’s Eternals, which cost over $240 million. She said she needed four years to reset before she started work on Hamnet. She referred to the four seasons in both life and in creative cycles, and that she had had trouble “wintering,” a time to regroup.
Her working style is notoriously unusual, where to is known to lead cast and crew on guided meditations and other exercises. As she noted, “not Hitchcock!” Finally, she called actors modern-day shamans, in that they interpret messages for an audience.
Next was Joachim Trier, writer and director of Sentimental Value. He is a third-generation film worker: his father was a film sound technician, and his grandfather was a filmmaker who created a film in a self-described “jazz” style which found its way to the Cannes film festival. He laughingly called himself a “nepo baby.”
He talked about the city of Oslo’s importance in his work, and that he loves observing the seasonal changes in the city.
In terms of his directing style, it took him some time to understand the difference between showing and telling, and that once he realized the importance of the former it changed his focus. He said he is very much an “in the set” director, in that he wants to be next to the camera operator, not in a remote video village. He likes close-ups and feels that seeing a “big face” on screen is an opportunity for an actor and audience to really connect.
He described himself as an “old punk” with ‘90s tendencies. He had to stretch his style and view to achieve the love and tenderness required in Sentimental Value, but feels he succeeded.
Trier was followed by writer-director Josh Safdie, whose film Marty Supreme has received multiple award nominations. He has always lived in New York City, and describes how you can experience 100 stories by walking one block there.
He said his father constantly made home movies, and bought a digital camera in 1988. These were not the usual family movies; one consisted of his father waking him up with a slap in the face and filming it. Safdie credited his father for showing the kids challenging movies; one typical double bill was Misery and The Shining, which got big laughs from the audience at the Arlington.
Like Zhao, he used many non-actors in Marty Supreme, including Kevin O’Leary. Trier said he was perceived as “the bad guy”, based on his real-life persona, even though he does nothing truly bad on screen. When he met Timothée Chalamet he was struck by his “hungry energy,” and knew he wanted to write a character for him.
In describing his writing process, he said he needs a full arc for a character. He wrote the Marty Mauser character’s life up to 1985, even though the entire film takes place in the early 1950s. He ended by saying that he does not consider Marty Supreme a period film; rather it is a contemporary film set in 1952.
The last to come out was Ryan Coogler, writer and director of Sinners, the film which has broken the record for the most Academy Award nominations in history.
Coogler was born and raised in Oakland, California, which is home to the historic Grand Lake Theater. He was introduced to film there, and vividly remembers seeing Boyz in the Hood, Beauty and the Beast and Stand by Me. One thing he particularly appreciates about the Grand Lake is the way audiences interact with the films. He premiered Sinners there, and loved how they yelled at the screen.
He said he grew up on genre film, such as John Carpenter’s movies, and at home watched a lot of Twilight Zone. He acknowledged the influence of these on Sinners.
He described his relationship with Michael B. Jordan, with whom he has worked in every film. He said their relationship has grown to the point where they have a comfortable shorthand together.
One person he called out as a huge influence on his work was his uncle, who introduced him to the blues (and to baseball). He credited him with building his knowledge of music in general, and the blues in particular.
After a brief break, all four filmmakers came out for a group discussion. One revelation that emerged was that Coogler and Zhao were both alumni of the Sundance Lab. The program enabled her to develop Songs My Brothers Taught Me, her first feature.
Asked what were the best and worst parts of the film promotion process, Zhao said the sensory overload of big rooms was challenging. Trier said one of the best parts was the Oscars nominee lunch which had taken place earlier that day, and which he found a moving (and egalitarian) experience; all four panelists nodded in agreement. Safdie added that a real positive has been what he has learned about his own film through discussions and reactions.
The awards at the end were presented by filmmaker Julian Schnabel, who is being honored with a retrospective at SBIFF this year. Unfortunately, he voiced his comments to each awardee while standing in front of them, far from a microphone, so we can only guess what was said.
The 41st Santa Barbara International Film Festival takes place from February 4-14, 2026. Official events including screenings, filmmaker Q&As, industry panels and celebrity tributes are held throughout the city, including at the historic Arlington Theatre and the new McHurley Film Center. Passes for the 2026 Festival are on sale now at sbiff.org.
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