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Benjamin Harold Zeitlin (; born October 14, 1982) is an American filmmaker, best known for writing and directing the 2012 film '' Beasts of the Southern Wild'', for which he received two
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...
nominations.
Early life
Zeitlin was born in Manhattan and raised inSunnyside, Queens
Sunnyside is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It shares borders with Hunters Point and Long Island City to the west, Astoria to the north, Woodside to the east and Maspeth to the south. It contains th ...
, New York, and in suburban Hastings-on-Hudson
Hastings-on-Hudson is a village in Westchester County located in the southwestern part of the town of Greenburgh in the state of New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of midtown Manhat ...
, NY. He is a graduate of Hastings High School and Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the c ...
. He was born to writers and folklorists
Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...
Mary Amanda Dargan and Steven Joel Zeitlin, who founded the NYC non-profit cultural organization City Lore. His father, who is Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, spent most of his childhood in Brazil; whereas his mother comes from a rural, Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
background in Darlington, South Carolina
Darlington is a city located in Darlington County, South Carolina, United States. In 2010, its population was 6,289. It is the county seat of Darlington County. It is part of the Florence, South Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Darling ...
. His younger sister is screenwriter and artist Eliza Zeitlin.
Career
In 2004, Zeitlin co-founded the Court 13 independent collection of filmmakers, named after a neglected Wesleyan University squash court that he and his friends had once commandeered as a filming location. His younger sister Eliza Zeitlin and he moved toNew Orleans
New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
In 2012, Zeitlin's first feature, '' Beasts of the Southern Wild,'' adapted from a play entitled ''Juicy and Delicious'' by Lucy Alibar, won the 
For his directorial work and screenplay in ''Beasts of the Southern Wild'', Zeitlin collected several additional awards and nominations. At the Gotham Independent Film Awards in 2012, he won the Breakthrough Director Award. At the same awards ceremony, Zeitlin received the inaugural Bingham Ray Award, which honors the independent filmmaker who died in 2012. Zeitlin also won a
Benh Zeitlin Update in ''The New York Times''
Court 13 history
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zeitlin, Benh 1982 births American male screenwriters American people of Russian-Jewish descent Directors of Caméra d'Or winners Film directors from New York City Living people Nebula Award winners People from Hastings-on-Hudson, New York People from Sunnyside, Queens Screenwriters from New York (state) Sundance Film Festival award winners Wesleyan University alumni Writers from Manhattan
Caméra d'Or
The Caméra d'Or ("''Golden Camera''") is an award of the Cannes Film Festival for the best first feature film presented in one of the Cannes' selections (Official Selection, Directors' Fortnight or International Critics' Week).
The prize, cre ...
award at the Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
, the Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic at the Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...
, and the Grand Jury Prize at the 2012 Deauville American Film Festival
The 38th Deauville American Film Festival took place at Deauville, France from August 31 to September 9, 2012. Jeff Nichols's drama film ''Mud'' served as the opening night film. ''Savages'' by Oliver Stone was the closing night film of the fest ...
. The film went on to earn the Los Angeles Film Festival
The LA Film Festival was an annual film festival that was held in Los Angeles, California, and usually took place in June. It showcased independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, as well as web series, music videos, episod ...
's Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature and the Seattle International Film Festival
The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees. The SIFF runs for more th ...
's Golden Space Needle
The Space Needle is an observation tower in Seattle, Washington, United States. Considered to be an icon of the city, it has been designated a Seattle landmark. Located in the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood, it was built in the Seattle Cente ...
Award for Best Director. Zeitlin was also given a Humanitarian Award for his work on the film at the Satellite Awards 2012
The 17th Satellite Awards is an award ceremony honoring the year's outstanding performers, films, television shows, home videos and interactive media, presented by the International Press Academy at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Century Cit ...
. Notably, Zeitlin both directed ''Beasts of the Southern Wild'' and co-composed the score.
For his directorial work and screenplay in ''Beasts of the Southern Wild'', Zeitlin collected several additional awards and nominations. At the Gotham Independent Film Awards in 2012, he won the Breakthrough Director Award. At the same awards ceremony, Zeitlin received the inaugural Bingham Ray Award, which honors the independent filmmaker who died in 2012. Zeitlin also won a Humanitas Prize
The Humanitas Prize is an award for film and television writing, and is given to writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced and meaningful way. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser—also the founder of Paulist P ...
(as co-writer/director; shared with Alibar as co-writer), amongst other awards. He has also received two nominations at the 85th Academy Awards
The 85th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2012 and took place on February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p. ...
: Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay (shared with Lucy Alibar), and the film itself was nominated for Best Picture
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
.
In 2019, it was revealed that Zeitlin was directing his next feature ''Wendy
Wendy is a given name now generally given to girls in English-speaking countries.
In Britain, Wendy appeared as a masculine name in a parish record in 1615. It was also used as a surname in Britain from at least the 17th century. Its popularity ...
'' in Montserrat, an island south of Antigua
Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Ba ...
. Inspired by ''Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...
'', Zeitlin described the film as 'a friendship-love story-adventure of her and a joyous, reckless, pleasure-mongering young boy as they swirl in and out of youth and as the ecosystem around them spirals toward destruction.'.
Filmography
*''Egg'' (2005) (short film) *''Origins of Electricity'' (2006) (short film) *''Glory at Sea'' (2008) (short film) *'' Beasts of the Southern Wild'' (2012) *''Wendy
Wendy is a given name now generally given to girls in English-speaking countries.
In Britain, Wendy appeared as a masculine name in a parish record in 1615. It was also used as a surname in Britain from at least the 17th century. Its popularity ...
'' (2020)
Awards
Zeitlin was the 2012 recipient of '' Smithsonian'' magazine's American Ingenuity Award in the Visual Arts category.See also
* List of accolades received by ''Beasts of the Southern Wild''References
External links
Benh Zeitlin Update in ''The New York Times''
Court 13 history
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zeitlin, Benh 1982 births American male screenwriters American people of Russian-Jewish descent Directors of Caméra d'Or winners Film directors from New York City Living people Nebula Award winners People from Hastings-on-Hudson, New York People from Sunnyside, Queens Screenwriters from New York (state) Sundance Film Festival award winners Wesleyan University alumni Writers from Manhattan