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Benh Zeitlin

Benh Zeitlin

Directing

Biography

Born in New York City and raised in Sunnyside, Queens and then Westchester County, Benh Zeitlin began his career as a filmmaker at the tender age of 6 when he and a friend made a Batman movie. He continued making films as a child before attending Wesleyan University, where he majored in film. After graduation, Benh spent a summer in Prague working with a prominent animation artist. Returning to the U.S., he worked in a private school in Manhattan helping elementary students create short films.

Known For

Beasts of the Southern Wild
6.8

Hushpuppy, an intrepid six-year-old girl, lives with her father, Wink, in 'the Bathtub', a southern Delta community at the edge of the world. Wink’s tough love prepares her for the unraveling of the universe—for a time when he’s no longer there to protect her. When Wink contracts a mysterious illness, nature flies out of whack—temperatures rise and the ice caps melt, unleashing an army of prehistoric creatures called aurochs. With the waters rising, the aurochs coming, and Wink’s health fading, Hushpuppy goes in search of her lost mother.

Beasts of the Southern Wild

2012
Wendy
5.7

A re-imagining of "Peter Pan" from the point of view of Wendy Darling, who finds herself lost on a mysterious island where aging and time have come unglued. She must fight to save her family, her freedom and the joyous spirit of youth.

Wendy

2020
Mediterranea
6.7

Ayiva recently left his home in Burkina Faso in search of a way to provide for his sister and his daughter. He takes advantage of his position in an illegal smuggling operation to get himself and his best friend Abas off of the continent. Ayiva adapts to life in Italy, but when tensions with the local community rise, things become increasingly dangerous. Determined to make his new situation work he attempts to weather the storm, but it has its costs.

Mediterranea

2015
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N/A

Follows a hell-bound outlaw and a ferocious shepherd of lost souls who fall in catastrophic love as their crumbling bayou paradise drags them under.

Hold On to Your Angels

Give Me Liberty
6.5

When a riot breaks out in Milwaukee, America's most segregated city, medical transport driver Vic is torn between his promise to get a group of elderly Russians to a funeral and his desire to help Tracy, a young black woman with ALS.

Give Me Liberty

2019
A Chiara
6.6

Chiara feels that there is something wrong. She has a strange feeling she cannot explain to her mother or sister. During the night, after overhearing a heated argument between her parents and witnessing something shocking, her world is overturned and her safety net crumbles. Reality and dreams start to blur and Chiara’s life will never be the same.

A Chiara

2021
To Chiara
6.9

The Guerrasio family and friends gather to celebrate Claudio and Carmela’s oldest daughter’s 18th birthday. There is a healthy rivalry between the birthday girl and her 15-year-old sister Chiara as they compete on the dancefloor. It is a happy occasion, and the close-knit family are on top form. However, everything changes the next day when the father disappears. Chiara, unconvinced by the cover story, starts to investigate. As she gets closer to the truth, she is forced to decide what kind of future she wants for herself.

To Chiara

2021
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5.6

A series of unfortunate events leads to Bill getting tin replacements for his arms, legs, and eventually the rest of his body, but he still has his heart. Bill's new appearance scares away his love, Jane, who falls for his reincarnated heartless body. Will the rebuilt tinman Bill ever win back his true love?

Death to the Tinman

2007
Burning Cane
5.7

Set among the cane fields of rural Louisiana, Burning Cane follows a deeply religious mother struggling to reconcile her convictions of faith with the love she has for her troubled son.

Burning Cane

2019
Brimstone & Glory
5.5

Tultepec, Mexico is known for just one thing: fireworks. The city manufactures more than half of all fireworks made in Mexico, a good percentage of which will be set off at the small town’s annual festival for San Juan de Dios.

Brimstone & Glory

2017
The Origins of Electricity
N/A

Dead heroes Thomas Edison, Nicola Tesla, and Topsy the Coney Island elephant make their return to the screen in this tragic, stop-motion animated tale of two ill-fated lightbulbs forced to confront the unholy meaning of light. Made for the Slamdance $99 Special Program.

The Origins of Electricity

2006
Egg
7.0

A microscopic tale of epic tragedy. One pea-sized pirate quests to slay his golden nemesis in this surrealistic, stop-motion animated retelling of Herman Melville's Moby Dick. A fully realized animation, full of conflict and tension, that makes perfect narrative sense while defying all common sense.

Egg

2005
Deer in the Headlight
10.0

A high school senior struggles to find an identity among a generation of the unidentifiable. Accompanied by his friends, Trent embarks on a journey of self-discovery and understanding from his small town in rural Illinois.

Deer in the Headlight

2015
Glory at Sea
5.1

A group of mourners and a man spat from the depths of Hades build a boat from the debris of New Orleans to rescue their lost loved ones trapped beneath the sea.

Glory at Sea

2008