40. Ari Wegner
The strictures of this list being what they are, we’re often confined to selecting one talent from an immensely impressive-all-round display, and such is the case with William Oldroyd’s “Lady Macbeth.” While it could be here for its director or its breakout star, Florence Pugh, who is inevitably going to be huge, when we noted that its fine, clean, poised cinematic style came courtesy of the same DP at work on the upcoming season 2 of “The Girlfriend Experience,” we went with her as emblematic of the film’s success. The Australian Wegner, one of a handful of women breaking through in the notorious sausage fest that is cinematography (still not one single woman has ever been nominated for a Cinematography Oscar, let alone won) works across media, coming to attention at home with Aussie prestige TV drama “The Kettering Incident.” And with her smooth, crisp style feeling perfectly modern, (which suits the sensibility of Seimetz and Kerrigan’s ‘Girlfriend,’ the intriguing first trailer for which dropped yesterday) we look forward to seeing more of her work on screens big and small.
39. Léonor Serraile
Winning the Camera d’Or for the Best First feature in Cannes is not always an instant passport to ongoing success, but it has been a marker for such talents as Benh Zeitlin, Steve McQueen, Corneliu Porumboiu and Miranda July, and we hope and trust it will be a similar launchpad for 2017’s inductee, Léonor Serraile. The French first-time feature director made a splash with her utterly engaging, charming Un Certain Regard title “Jeune Femme,” which also features a breakout turn from central actor Laetitia Dosch, and which tackles themes of racial and sexual inequality among thirtysomething women with a forthright, frank an very funny outlook that feels as refreshing as a deep draught of chilled Perrier. If it proves anything it’s that Serraile has a future not just as a sensitive director of actors, but also as a writer of lighthearted but incisive cultural commentary.
38. Joe Cole
Yet another graduate of the UK TV series “Skins” that launched the career of Nicholas Hoult, Dev Patel, Daniel Kaluuya, Kaya Scodelario, Hannah Murray, Joe Dempsie, Jack O’Connell and more (though he only appeared in a couple of episodes), Cole’s been working since the turn of the decade, but has been increasingly omnipresent in the last year or two. His turn as the youngest of the Shelby brothers on “Peaky Blinders” undoubtedly helped to launch him in the U.S, before he played the tough-as-nails MMA-loving drummer in “Green Room.” But 2017 looks to be a massive year for the 28-year-old — he was at Cannes with the Thai prison drama “A Prayer Before Dawn,” he’ll be at Venice with Kim Nguyen’s “Eye On Juliet,” and the Kirsten Dunst-starring “Woodshock,” and stars with Miles Teller in PTSD drama “Thank You For Your Service.”
37. Larkin Seiple
Only a few years ago, Larkin Seiple had never made a feature: today, he’s swiftly on the way to becoming one of the most exciting cinematographers in indie film. Seiple was a prolific music video and commercials DP, working with artists like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Phoenix and Bon Iver, and regularly with directors Hiro Murai and DANIELS, before shooting his first movie “Cop Car,” with future “Spider-Man” director Jon Watts. From there, he reteamed with DANIELS for their stunning, beautifully shot first feature “Swiss Army Man,” and in the last year also lensed “Bleed For This” and Macon Blair’s Sundance prize-winner “I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore.” Next up is sci-fi “Kin” with James Franco, Zoe Kravitz, Carrie Coon and Jack Reynor.
36. Hope Dickson Leach
Along with Francis Lee’s “God’s Own Country” (see below) Hope Dickson Leach’s exceptional debut “The Levelling” has done quite a bit to make issues around farming lifestyles in rural modern England feel like a 2017 cinematic hot potato (and if it takes three for a trend, keep an eye out for Clio Barnard‘s upcoming “Dark River”). Feeling wholly authentic to its damp, gray-skied, wellies-at-dawn milieu, her clever, compassionate and compelling film stars a quietly authoritative Ellie Kendrick (Meera in “Game of Thrones“) as a young veterinarian going home to her farm and her troubled relationship with her father following the suicide of her beloved brother. The sensitivity of the writing, naturalism of the performances and subtle artistry of the filmmaking which encompasses both the banal reality of everyday life and slight flourishes of the surreal or metaphorical, all combine to suggest that Dickson Leach has a very strong future ahead of her, as a writer-director following in the hallowed footsteps of compatriots Andrea Arnold, Lynne Ramsay, Carol Morely and others, while also treading her own determined path.
35. Grace Van Patten
Up until 2015, Grace Van Patten had just a few TV shows on her resume: 2 episodes as a 10 year-old on “The Sopranos,” the obligatory “Law and Order: SVU” stint and a single serving of “Boardwalk Empire.” But after an anonymous feature debut in Emory Cohen vehicle “Stealing Cars,” (pun intended) Van Patten’s star began to smolder with the co-lead in Adam Leon’s low-key but very winning indie “Tramps,” which we loved when we saw it at last year’s TIFF. Since then she’s struck a strong run in the indie sphere, having lined up Noah Baumbach‘s “The Meyerowitz Stories,” upcoming Glenn Close/John Malkovich comedy “The Wilde Wedding,” and most excitingly, David Robert Mitchell‘s hotly anticipated next film after “It Follows,” “Under the Silver Lake.” Unlike many more obviously showy talents, Van Patten’s stock in trade so far seems to be an ability to underplay and to knit well into a broader ensemble, and while a major lead can’t be far away, for the time being we’re very happy to see her quietly building up such a characterful resume.
34. Brooklynn Prince
Oh my God, this kid. Sean Baker‘s “The Florida Project” is remarkable on so many levels, not least Willem Dafoe‘s gorgeously atypical performance as the thoroughly decent manager of the motel, and Bria Vinaite‘s turn as Hailey, the borderline destitute, heavily tattooed young mom. But if the film belongs to anyone, it’s to tiny Brooklynn Prince, who plays Moonee, through whose eyes we see the whole glorious, baking hot, tragedy-edged summer unfold and in whose infectiously joyous company it’s simply a privilege to spend these two sunsoaked hours. Prince already has two slightly unappealing-sounding “family film” projects under her belt with “Robo-Dog: Airborne” and Mischa Barton-starrer “Monsters At Large” both in the can. But with child stars who can really act so permanently in demand, once the intensely humane, wise and heartbreaking “The Florida Project” is unleashed upon the world, look out for her nascent career to get a Jacob Tremblay-style bump.
33. Pom Klementieff
French-Korean-Canadian-Russian actress Pom Klementieff had one of the trickier acting jobs this year: she had to try and somehow stand out as the newest addition to maybe the most beloved superhero team around, the Guardians Of The Galaxy, by playing the antenna-sporting, telepathic newcomer Mantis. But Klementieff more or less stole the show with an endearing, charming performance that made her feel part of the furniture. The actress, who broke out first in French movies like “Sleepless Night” and then with a small role in Spike Lee’s “Oldboy,” will be pretty busy with various “Avengers” and “Guardians Of The Galaxy” movies, but she’s still finding time for interesting indie work too: she’s in Drake Doremus’ “Newness,” and has a role in the terrific “Ingrid Goes West” too.
32. Daniela Vega
The ongoing debate over the casting of cisgender actors in transgender roles got a definitive counterargument in February when Sebastian Lelio‘s wonderfully Almodovarian-Hitchcockian “A Fantastic Woman” debuted at the Berlinale. A film that both is and is not about the central character’s gender identity (she is portrayed as entirely, almost uncannily self-possessed and sure of herself; it’s the world that has the problem) the lead role is played by trans actor Daniela Vega, who walks the tightrope of her character’s relatability, likeability and mysteriousness with incredible grace. In fact, while the picture picked up the Best Screenplay award in Berlin as well as the Teddy for Best Queer-Themed film, it was a surprise that the widely-tipped Vega didn’t receive the Best Actress trophy too (Lelio’s previous film, “Gloria” won that award for its star Paulina Garcia). Simply put, it’s hard to imagine a cis actor (or any other actor at all, as Vega’s performance is about much more than gender) bringing the same quiet, unobtrusive yet totally riveting assurance to such a tricky, noirish role with these themes, and we really can’t wait to see the Chilean singer and actor move on to new gigs — including cisgender roles if she wants them — on the foot of this starmaking turn.
31. Claes Bang
Due to the odd rules governing the Cannes awards, when Ruben Ostlund‘s lacerating dark satire “The Square” picked up a surprising but welcome Palme d’Or win, it did mean that it could not be considered for additional acting awards. And so Claes Bang, who takes the unenviable central role as the handsome, haplessly bourgeois art gallery curator whose life unspools in ever more dramatically surreal directions after he’s mugged one morning, came away empty handed (the award went to a very deserving Joaquin Phoenix instead). But Bang’s performance is really impressive, as he’s both the subject of the film and it’s most mercilessly deconstructed object, and the interactions he has with women (including a brilliant-as-ever Elisabeth Moss) and people lower on the social scale than himself (i.e. everyone) are never less than acutely, piercingly insightful. He is also extremely easy on the eye in that sophisticated-European-late-40s way so beloved of casting agents looking for likely James Bond villains or urbane love interests, and so we can’t imagine this will be the last we’ll see of him.
