- Yalitza Aparicio - Roma (actress)
The star of the highly-personal, critical acclaimed and film festivals' hit Roma steps into the character who was inspired by the woman who raised Alfonso Cuarón. Critics loved her acting turn (which is, actually, her acting debut) and it seems she managed to carry the whole movie on her shoulders.
- Ari Aster - Hereditary (director)
The genius behind the best horror movie in years! Ari Aster deserves a round of applause and a standing ovation for being able to revitalize the horror genre with the creepy Hereditary as both a screenwriter and a director.
- Bo Burnham - Eight Grade (director)
The American comedian who started his career as a YouTuber and then went to become a professional comedian - Bo Burnham is one of the biggest suprises of 2018 thanks to Eight Grade, the movie he wrote and directed! The tale of an awkward young teenage girl trying to relate to her peers is one of the most unique movies of the year. A small production, but one of the year's best for sure - and the winner of Sundance Film Festival: London prize for Audience Favourite.
- Elsie Fisher - Eight Grade (actress)
No one really knew Elsie Fisher until Eight Grade - and she voiced Agnes for Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2. She delivers her breakthrough performance in Eight Grade and she proves she's a very natural performer. Funny without losing her more nuanced and dramatic touch, Fisher proves to be as good as she's super-fresh.
- Henry Golding - Crazy Rich Asians (actor)
What if your acting debut was one of the biggest box-office hits of the year? Golding's is! The leading male of Crazy Rich Asians, he might not deliver an award worthy performance but he proves to be a charming screen presence and if he's smart enough he has everything to become a star. A welcome Asian-born leading man.
- Kiki Layne - If Beale Street Could Talk (actress)
Critics liked her in Barry Jenkins' If Beale Street Could Talk and she's a beauty. Not sure if she's just another young black actress who'll be lost in a short period of time (AKA Gabourey Sidibe) - but Layne seems to have both the appearance and the talent to be considered a promising young black actress in Hollywood.
- Thomasin McKenzie - Leave No Trace (actress)
She's simply impressive in Debra Granik's Leave No Trace! And let me remind you the last time a Granik's movie featured a breakthrough performance this amazing was back in 2010 and the star-in-the-making was Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone). I believe she will be a name we'll ear often in this year's award circuit (and I believe she's Elsie Fisher strongest competition for those "Breakthrough" and "Best Young" prizes).
- John David Washington - BlacKkKlansman (actor)
The son of the great Denzel Washington can act! And he's great in BlacKkKlansman. A deft comedy actor, for sure. John David Washington might well have one of the showiest leading parts of the year for a black actor (if you exclude Chadwick Boseman for Black Panther, who has a big studio promoting his image and his movie). An actor to watch!
- Letitia Wright - Black Panther (actress)
Maybe the hit girl of the moment: Letitia Wright was the female scene-stealer of 2018's biggest blockbusters, Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War. With some previous parts in movies, Wright experience a sudden rise to stardom this year thanks to her undeniable charisma (and her movies' success). Plus, an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie (Black Mirror) is always welcome.
- Chloé Zhao - The Rider (director)
The Chinese female director, screenwriter and producer who made audiences and critics to fall in love with The Rider, a contemporany western drama and a study about "what means to be a man in American society". The movie received rave reviews and so did Zhao's directing craft. After Songs My Brothers Taught Me back in 2015, Zhao estabilishes herself as one of the most interesting (and best) new auteurs working today thanks to The Rider.
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