Benh Zeitlin

BENH ZEITLIN

Date of Birth: October 14, 1982

Born in New York City, Benh Zeitlin is a director, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, composer, animator, and founding member of the Court 13 independent filmmaking collective in 2004. He majored in film at Wesleyan University.

His award-winning shorts include Egg, Origins of Electricity, I Get Wet, and Glory at Sea. For his debut feature film, Beasts of the Southern Wild, he received a nominations for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay nomination at the 85th Academy Awards. The film has won numerous awards, including four awards at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival and a BAFTA nomination for Adapted Screenplay. Two days after it was finished, it was entered in the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Humanitas Prize.

Although his first feature film was very successful, it took Benh eight years before he returned to the big screen with a second film. Inspired by fantasy, he co-wrote and directed Wendy (2020), based on the classic story of Peter Pan, but this time through the eyes of Wendy, a young girl who has to save her family and keep her freedom.

Benh lives in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Filmography:

Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)