Directors Who Got Their Start at Sundance

'El Norte' was the first movie made with support from Sundance Lab. Director Gregory Nava and his co-writer Anna Thomas earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

The movie that put Steven Soderbergh and Sundance on the map debuted at the 1989 festival, where it won the Dramatic Audience Award.

Arguably one of the top five movies that makes people think of Sundance, Richard Linklater's pioneering low-budget comedy helped define Gen X and establish Linklater as a voice of the generation.

Jennie Livingston won the Grand Jury Prize Documentary award for her first film, which went on to become an indie box office hit and an enduring, controversial cultural landmark.

Quentin Tarantino workshopped his film at Sundance before it debuted at the 1992 festival.

Rodrobert Rodriguez's career was launched after his first feature won the Audience Award at the 1993 festival.

Wes Anderson screened his short at the 1993 festival, where producer James L. Brooks fell in love with the movie and helped Anderson produce the feature-length version.

Steve James' documentary won the Audience Award at the 1994 festival and ranks as one of the finest sports documentaries to this day. And when it failed to earn a Best Documentary Oscar nomination, film critics Gene Sickle and Roger Ebert exposed the questionable process of how Academy members voted on nominees for the category.

David O. Russell's first feature took home the Audience Award at the 1994 festival before going on to win a pair of Independent Spirit Awards: Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay for Russell.

Ben Stiller was already a seasoned actor by the time he screened his feature debut at the 1994 festival, which was backed by Universal Pictures and, in the wake of 'Slacker,' further defined the Gen X experience on screen.

Kevin Smith mined his experience working at a convenience store for his first feature, which debuted at the 1994 festival and inspired a generation of indie filmmakers.

Paul Thomas Anderson nurtured the idea for his first feature at the festival before the movie premiered in Park City in 1996.

Darren Aronofsky shot his first feature guerrilla style (no permits for location shots, etc.) on a $60,000 budget before bringing the movie to the 1998 festival, where he won the Directing Award Dramatic prize.

Lisa Cholodenko broke out at the 1998 with her first feature, which went on to win the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for Ally Sheedy.

Kimberly Peirce developed 'Boys Don't Cry' at the Sundance Institute's Directors Lab. Though it didn't screen at the 1999 festival, the groundbreaking movie went on to earn Hilary Swank the 2000 Academy Award for Best Actress.

The script for Gina Prince-Bythewood's movie was workshopped at Sundance Labs, and the movie had its world premiere at the festival in January 2000.

Catherine Hardwicke and her co-writer/star Nikki Reed electrified the 1993 festival with their drama loosely based on Reed's teenage years. Hardwicke and Reed would reunite on the director's next two movies: 'Lords of Dogtown' and Twilight.'

Lee Daniels was already an established producer by the time he screened his directorial debut at the 2009 festival, where 'Precious' became the most talked about the film at the fest, where it won the Grand Jury Prize and was nominated for 6 Oscars, winning two: Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Dee Rees workshopped her first film at the Directors and Screenwriters Labs before it debuted at the 2011 festival.

Ava DuVernay won the Directing Award Dramatic (and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize Dramatic) at the 2012 festival for her second feature.

Ryan Coogler developed his first feature script at Sundance Labs before it debuted at 2013 festival, where it picked up the Humanitas Prize.

Director duo the Daniels debuted their first feature film at the 2016 festival. Seven years later, they won the Best Director Oscar for 'Everything Everywhere All at Once.'