BY DIRECTOR: H

Andrew worked for many years in editing, with credits on films as diverse as 'Gladiator' (2000) to Harmony Korine's 'Mister Lonely' (2007). In 2008 he was named as one of Screen International's 'Stars of Tomorrow' and in 2011 named as one of Variety's 'Screenwriters to Watch'. His first feature, 'Greek Pete' was released in 2010.

Early highlights include the perennially popular 'ABBA: The Movie' (1977) and the striking adolescent drama 'My Life as a Dog' (1985). 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape' (1993) cemented Johnny Depp's reputation and launched Leonardo DiCaprio's career with one of his finest performances. It also showed Hallström to be an adept hand at the mainstream Hollywood drama, further evinced by 'The Cider House Rules' (1999) and 'Chocolat' (2000). If 'The Shipping News' (2001), 'An Unfinished Life' (2005) and 'Casanova' (2005) underwhelmed, 'Dear John' (2010) and 'Salmon Fishing in the Yemen' (2011) found the director working on safer ground.

Michael Haneke, born in Munich in 1942, is an Austrian director known for directing films such as 'Caché' (2005), 'The White Ribbon' (2009) and 'Amour' (2012). He studied philosophy, psychology and theatre in Vienna and has worked in theatre, opera and television. His work focuses on themes such as Europe's war-torn past and the loss of individuality in modern society.

Family, in all its manifestations, dominates Mia Hansen-Løve’s films. She began her career as an actress, appearing in future partner Olivier Assayas’ 'Late August, Early September' (1998) and 'Les destinées' (2000), before moving behind the camera with the short 'Après mûre reflexion' (2004). Her feature debut 'All is Forgiven' (2007) is a charged account of a father and daughter reuniting years after his drug addiction tore their family apart. 'The Father of My Children' (2010), which was awarded the Special Jury Prize in Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival, broadened its scope in its focus on a family coping with a tragic event. It also offered a refreshingly unvarnished portrait of the film industry. This balance of the professional and personal was also achieved with 'Eden' (2014), co-written by her brother Sven and based on his experiences as a DJ in the 1990s and 2000s. It’s one of a small handful of films to convincingly convey the electricity of the clubbing experience. 'Goodbye First Love' (2011) and 'Things to Come' (2016) offer two contrasting yet complimentary portraits of relationships. The former is a study in the power of first love and a young woman’s descent into amour fou, while the latter features a stunning performance by Isabelle Huppert as a philosophy teacher who decides to rebuild her life in a way that suits her following a series of events that radically disrupt her tranquil existence.

A key member of the American indie scene that arose in the early 1990s Hal Hartley, like Whit Stillman and Todd Haynes, exuded beat, a style that was recognisably his: offbeat in its humour and with a detachment that edged more towards cool than alienating. 'The Unbelievable Truth' (1989), 'Trust' (1990), 'Surviving Desire' (1991) and 'Simple Men' (1992) defined Hartley's style. They were slyly humorous, low-key relationship dramas that skirted the periphery of genres. An antidote to the bombast that had dominated American cinema in the 1980s, they possessed a style that drew as much from European cinema as they did previous examples of American independent film. This was reinforced by the casting of Isabelle Huppert in the crime drama 'Amateur' (1995), one of Hartley's biggest successes. 'Flirt' (1995) – an expansion of a 1993 short – charted a number of relationships across three global cities but employing the same dialogue. It can be seen as the end of the first chapter in the filmmaker's career, as he progressed to increasingly dark material. The humour remained, as evinced by the Cannes-winning 'Henry Fool' (1997). It was the first in a trilogy, followed by 'Fay Grimm' (2006) and 'Henry Rifle' (2014), to feature the same characters, played by Thomas Jay Ryan, James Urbaniak, Parker Posey and Liam Aiken. 'The Book of Life' (1998), featuring Martin Donovan as a present-day Jesus and PJ Harvey as Mary Magdalene is – unsurprisingly – Hartley's most controversial film. Other titles include 'No Such Thing' (2001), 'The Girl From Monday' (2005) and 'Meanwhile' (2011)

British writer-director Mark Herman first achieved major success with his heartfelt drama 'Brassed Off' (1996), which followed a brass band as they entered a national competition, while offering comedy, romance and a scathing attack on the decimation of the North by Margaret Thatcher's government. 'Little Voice' (1998) faithfully transposed Jim Cartwright's play to the screen, keeping Jane Horrocks in the lead. 'Purely Belter' and 'Hope Springs' were lighter affairs, while 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' (2008) refused to shy away from the darker elements of John Boyne's Holocaust-themed novel.

Werner Herzog grew up in a remote mountain village in Bavaria and studied History and German literature in Munich and Pittsburgh. He made his first film in 1961, and since then he has produced, written, and directed more than sixy feature and documentaries such as 'Aguirre, the Wrath of God' (1972), 'Fitzcarraldo' (1982) and 'Grizzly Man' (2005). Herzog has also published more than a dozen books and has directed as many operas.

Joanna Hogg started her career as a photographer before becoming interested in the moving image. She is best known for her naturalist dramas 'Unrelated' (2007), 'Archipelago' (2010) and 'Exhibition' (2014), all of which star her longtime collaborator, Tom Hiddleston. Hogg has a stark, observational formal style accentuated by fixed camera placements, extended shots, and the absence of a musical soundtrack.