The Someone to Watch Award, sponsored by Kiehl's, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition.

History

The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.^[1] The award was first given at the 1994 award ceremony.

Notable winners/nominees who would soon become recognized include Kelly Reichardt (Wendy and Lucy), Chris Smith (American Movie), Tim Blake Nelson (The Grey Zone), Marc Forster (Finding Neverland), Andrew Bujalski (Mutual Appreciation), Ramin Bahrani (Fahrenheit 451) & Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

Winners

1990s

1994: Lodge Kerrigan – Clean, Shaven^[2]
1995: Christopher Münch – Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day
- Tim McCann – Desolation Angels
- Jennifer Montgomery – Art for Teachers of Children
- Kelly Reichardt – River of Grass
- Rafal Zielinski – Fun
1996: Larry Fessenden – Habit
- Joe Brewster – The Keeper
- Chris Smith – American Job
1997: Scott Saunders – The Headhunter's Sister
- Erin Dignam – Loved
- Tim Blake Nelson – Eye of God
1998: David D. Williams – Thirteen
- Tony Barbieri – One
- Lynn Hershman Leeson – Conceiving Ada
- Eric Tretbar – Snow
1999: Cauleen Smith – Drylongso
- Dan Clark – The Item
- Julian Goldberger – Trans
- Lisanne Skyler – Getting to Know You

2000s

2000: Marc Forster – Everything Put Together
- Dan McCormack – Other Voices
- Mia Trachinger – Bunny
2001: Debra Eisenstadt – Daydream Believer
- DeMane Davis and Khari Streeter – Lift
- Michael Gilio – Kwik Stop
- David Maquiling – Too Much Sleep
2002: Przemyslaw Reut – Paradox Lake
- Eric Eason – Manito
- Eitan Gorlin – The Holy Land
2003: Andrew Bujalski – Funny Ha Ha
- Ben Coccio – Zero Day
- Ryan Eslinger – Madness and Genius
2004: Jem Cohen – Chain
- Bryan Poyser – Dear Pillow
- Jennifer Reeves – The Time We Killed
2005: Ian Gamazon and Neill Dela Llana – Cavite
- Robinson Devor – Police Beat
- Jay Duplass – The Puffy Chair
2006: Julia Loktev – Day Night Day Night
- So Yong Kim – In Between Days
- Richard Wong – Colma: The Musical
2007: Ramin Bahrani – Chop Shop
- Ronald Bronstein – Frownland
- Lee Isaac Chung – Munyurangabo
2008: Lynn Shelton – My Effortless Brilliance
- Barry Jenkins – Medicine for Melancholy
- Nina Paley – Sita Sings the Blues
2009: Kyle Patrick Alvarez – Easier with Practice
- Asiel Norton – Redland
- Tariq Tapa – Zero Bridge

2010s

2010: Mike Ott – Littlerock
- Hossein Keshavarz – Dog Sweat
- Laurel Nakadate – The Wolf Knife
2011: Mark Jackson – Without
- Simon Arthur – Silver Tongues
- Nicholas Ozeki – Mamitas
2012: Adam Leon – Gimme the Loot
- David Fenster – Pincus
- Rebecca Thomas – Electrick Children
2013: Shaka King – Newlyweeds
- Madeline Olnek – The Foxy Merkins
- Aaron Douglas Johnston – My Sister's Quinceañera
2014: Rania Attieh and Daniel Garcia – H.
- Ana Lily Amirpour – A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
- Chris Eska – The Retrieval
2015: Felix Thompson – King Jack
- Robert Machoian and Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck – God Bless the Child
- Chloé Zhao – Songs My Brothers Taught Me
2016: Anna Rose Holmer – The Fits
- Andrew Ahn – Spa Night
- Claire Carré – Embers
- Ingrid Jungermann – Women Who Kill
2017: Justin Chon — Gook^[3]
- Amman Abbasi — Dayveon
- Kevin Phillips — Super Dark Times
2018: Alexandre Moratto — Sócrates^[4]
- Ioana Uricaru — Lemonade
- Jeremiah Zagar — We the Animals
2019: Rashaad Ernesto Green — Premature^[5]
- Ash Mayfair — The Third Wife
- Joe Talbot — The Last Black Man in San Francisco

2020s

2020: Ekwa Msangi – Farewell Amor
- David Midell – The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain
- Annie Silverstein – Bull
2021: Alex Camilleri – Luzzu
- Gillian Wallace Horvat – I Blame Society
- Michael Sarnoski – Pig
2022: Nikyatu Jusu – Nanny
- Adamma Ebo – Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.
- Araceli Lemos – Holy Emy
2023
- Monica Sorelle – Mountains
- Joanna Arnow – The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed
- Laura Moss – Birth/Rebirth