All due respects to the celebrity glitz and intelligence of mostly Oscar-kissed actors whose tributes up the game of public appeal during SBIFF time, one of the more fascinating developments of recent vintage at the festival has been the evening when directors get their spotlight. Sometimes, the “Outstanding Directors” award tradition — now a decade deep at the festival — ranks higher in content and cinematic intrigue than the star gawk moments on the roster.
It’s too early to say in this strange largely virtual quirk of a SBIFF year, but Tuesday night’s directors’ night out, hosted by Hollywood Reporter and host Scott Feinberg, was clearly one of the bright spots in this necessarily oh-so-bizarre, weirdly distanced festival so far.
Here we had a four-pack of strikingly fine and important directors currently alive and in the awards fishbowl on a mosaic zoom stage together: two veterans, David (Mank) Fincher and great Dane (sorry) Thomas (Another Round) Vinterberg, plus two relative newcomers to the big game, auteur writer-directors Chloe (Nomadland) Zhao and Lee Isaac (Minari) Chung. Each director’s work is distinctive unto itself, but perhaps connected to the profound notion of personal stories wedded to grand themes.