For a first time director, your debut film can either make or break your film career, which is not to say that you could become the next Steven Spielberg on the first try, but it helps to be noticed for all the right reasons instead of the wrong. And one thing Jeff Baena cannot be accused of is being boring in his directorial debut, LIFE AFTER BETH (in cinemas now). Telling the story of a young couple, Zach and Beth are granted a second chance at their relationship when Beth seemingly comes back from the dead. Baena does away with all of that brooding vampire stuff, giving audiences a one-way ticket into a relationship headed straight for the grave…again. So to celebrate the release of LIFE AFTER BETH we have put together just a few of our favourite first time directors.
Steven Soderbergh – SEX, LIES, AND VIDEOTAPE
In many ways, you could argue that Steven Soderbergh’s SEX, LIES, AND VIDEOTAPE paved the way for indie cinema as we know it today. The winner of the Palme d’Or award at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival, Soderbergh’s debut tells the story of Ann (Andie MacDowell), a woman stuck in a hopeless and boring marriage to complement her equally boring life. That is, until her husband’s old college friend (played by James Spader) enters the picture and, with the help of a video camera, helps Ann set down a path of sexually charged self-realization. Still one of Soderbergh’s best a quarter of a century later.
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