iCM Forum's Favourite Directorial Debut Features; Nominations

[Lakigigar]

https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/favo ... lakigigar/

Entirely ranked, 71 movies.

Here's my new list, after I accidentally deleted the previous list, and i expanded it to 71 movies. Also double checked my entire top 250 movies. Haven't found a lot of mistakes in the IMDb list, but I think Promising Young Woman, Heaven Knows What and Blue My Mind (which is partially a directorial debut feature, since she debuted in a partial part of a movie that was made by several directors and split into parts) aren't on the list, even though I mentioned Heaven Knows What yesterday???

[zomgmouse]

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls084816118/

ranked

a few titles on here that aren't in the spreadsheet

[Fergenaprido]

For Gert de Graaff, you might have a point, if his excamination documentary can be considered widly released. Will have to look into that more.

There's not a lot of info online, but I did find this: https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film ... at-thinks/

About the director
Gert de Graaf (b. 1957, Amsterdam) graduated in aeronautical engineering in 1981, and in direction, camera and editing from the Dutch Film & Television Academy in 1987. He worked as an editor for NOB radio in Hilversum, where he now teaches editing and lectures in film history at the Media Academy. He has also worked as editor and cameraman on a number of documentaries. Filmography: He Who Finds Something, Hasn’t Sought Right (Wie wat find Heeft slecht gezocht, 1984) and his graduation film Two (Twee, 1986) which was awarded the Sony Educational Prize and the Tuschinsky Journalist Prize. The Sea That Thinks (De zee die denkt, 2000) is his feature debut as a director, but he also served as the movie’s screenwriter, cinematographer and co-editor. The film won the Joris Ivens Award at the Amsterdam IDFA and was screened in the Panorama section at the 2001 Berlin IFF.

The director also uploaded it to Vimeo himself: Twee eindexamenfilm Fimacademie Gert de Graaff. Google Translate tells me that means "student graduation film", but since you're a native speaker I'll leave that up to you

de Graaff wasn't in the spreadsheet, but once you decide which film is eligible I'll add him in.

[zomgmouse]

Heaven Knows What

not either of the Safdies' debut

[Fergenaprido]

https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/favo ... lakigigar/

Entirely ranked, 71 movies.

Here's my new list, after I accidentally deleted the previous list, and i expanded it to 71 movies. Also double checked my entire top 250 movies. Haven't found a lot of mistakes in the IMDb list, but I think Promising Young Woman, Heaven Knows What and Blue My Mind (which is partially a directorial debut feature, since she debuted in a partial part of a movie that was made by several directors and split into parts) aren't on the list, even though I mentioned Heaven Knows What yesterday???

Must you be so rude? Lonewolf already responded to you about Heaven Knows What.

Spoiler

I updated my list.

From a top 20 to top 40, apparently lots of new movies were added in the IMDb list (i don't keep track of what is a directorial debut or not, and this is why I believe it's insanely hard to do such a list). But fine i'll participate, even though i haven't seen a lot of must-see directorial debuts (think like Eraserhead), but it is what it is.

I also excluded most dual-directed movies, unless i was sure it was the debut movie of both (like if they're linked with each other, like the Coens, Wachowski or Dardennes are), but I don't think there was a noteworthy case of that in my list. Also excluded a bit of animation movies, unless it has a distinctive style, but lots of animation movies are directed by multiple persons, and it's more by the hand of a studio than by the director (but I left The Red Turtle and Perfect Blue in the list, and excluded most American ones, i don't think i've seen any other animated directiorial debuts).

Also isn't Heaven Knows What a directorial debut. Now that I think of, i was thinking of a noteworthy example of a dual directed movie (and I came up with the Safdie brothers). I don't think it was in the IMDb list, but see this is why it is so hard to create such a list based if it's a directorial debut or not. Not that it matters if it's in the list or not, because I feel like it narrowly misses it.

The Pleasure of Being Robbed (2008) is Josh Safdie's debut. Go Get Some Rosemary (2009) is the first they directed together, so Benny's debut.

Spoiler

EDIT: Another one that is missing is Blue Ruin from Jeremy Saulnier.

Murder Party is Saulnier's debut. It should been on the list. Added it.

To be honest... i don't think this list makes much sense, because i'm not going to manually check if something is a directorial debut or not for like 400 movies. Sorry, i'm not going to do that.

So do whatever you want with my list. I've made it anyway, but there will be sure for titles that i did miss (because it's so hard to check whether something is a directorial debut or not) and i'm not sure if it makes sense to participate now (sorry). Include it if you want, don't if you don't want to.

Another one that is missing is Ava by Léa Mysius.

Thanks added Ava to the list

Also don't get me wrong, respect for creating the IMDb / ICM list. That must have been hard work. But the point is if a movie isn't included in that IMDb list, it will have much less chance to appear, and I believe some of us might have created their list before consulting the updated IMDb list. It seems a bit problematic i think (unless everyone has done it manually?)

I get it's a lot of work to make a list for this poll, much more than most others. Therefor we actually made the list as a help so people don't have to check every movie themselves. Unfortunately we weren't able to finish the list before this poll started, that why it's have been updated regularly since than. Unfortunate we also haven't been able to check every single director there ever has been. People who posted their list before, of course also can still adjust their list according to it. If you don't want to double check all your movies, that's understandable. That's why I also check them for eligibility. If you don't want to participate that of course your own call too.

There is indeed a change that films not on the list have slighter change of making the cut, cause people use to the list to make their list. That's why we try to have it as complete as possible. That's also why I use ballots to add movies to the list, so movies already voted for have a higher change of gathering more votes.

I've checked the Promising Young Woman and Blue My Mind, and yes, they are both debut films and eligible for this poll. I'll include them in the final spreadsheet update, and I'm sure Lonewolf will add them to the lists when he has time.

If you do notice any more omissions (which are not mistakes) or errors in the list, please feel free to kindly post about them in this thread up until the deadline.

[zomgmouse]

from mine:

Hounds of Love (Ben Young)
Journey to a Mother's Room (Celia Rico Clavellino)
The Eyes of My Mother (Nicolas Pesce)
Luz (Tilman Singer)
Nancy (Christina Choe)
Possum (Matthew Holness)
and as mentioned above, Promising Young Woman (Emerald Fennell)

and one that was on the spreadsheet but not on your imdb list:

Dementia (John Parker)

[lineuphere]

Ranked.

https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/icm+ ... ineuphere/

[Lakigigar]

Ow sorry i didn't read that about Heaven Knows What, and I didn't realize I came across very rude. Sorry.

[Jimi Antiloop]

I can understand that you feel that fictional features and docus are different breeds and therefor docu's shouldn't count as debut feature. But that's not how we defined directorial debut features. There has been ample time to discuss this definition and deliver input, but sorry I'm not going to open that disscusion a day before the deadline.

For Gert de Graaff, you might have a point, if his excamination documentary can be considered widly released. Will have to look into that more.

Fair enough. I might bring it up in 5 year or so, when we repeat this poll.


For Gert de Graaff. It would consider "De Zee de denkt", because graduation films, even so he now put it online by himself, are not widley released first feature movies.

[Lonewolf2003]

For Gert de Graaff, you might have a point, if his excamination documentary can be considered widly released. Will have to look into that more.

There's not a lot of info online, but I did find this: https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film ... at-thinks/

About the director
Gert de Graaf (b. 1957, Amsterdam) graduated in aeronautical engineering in 1981, and in direction, camera and editing from the Dutch Film & Television Academy in 1987. He worked as an editor for NOB radio in Hilversum, where he now teaches editing and lectures in film history at the Media Academy. He has also worked as editor and cameraman on a number of documentaries. Filmography: He Who Finds Something, Hasn’t Sought Right (Wie wat find Heeft slecht gezocht, 1984) and his graduation film Two (Twee, 1986) which was awarded the Sony Educational Prize and the Tuschinsky Journalist Prize. The Sea That Thinks (De zee die denkt, 2000) is his feature debut as a director, but he also served as the movie’s screenwriter, cinematographer and co-editor. The film won the Joris Ivens Award at the Amsterdam IDFA and was screened in the Panorama section at the 2001 Berlin IFF.

The director also uploaded it to Vimeo himself: Twee eindexamenfilm Fimacademie Gert de Graaff. Google Translate tells me that means "student graduation film", but since you're a native speaker I'll leave that up to you

de Graaff wasn't in the spreadsheet, but once you decide which film is eligible I'll add him in.

Eindexamen is indeed graduation.

I can understand that you feel that fictional features and docus are different breeds and therefor docu's shouldn't count as debut feature. But that's not how we defined directorial debut features. There has been ample time to discuss this definition and deliver input, but sorry I'm not going to open that disscusion a day before the deadline.

For Gert de Graaff, you might have a point, if his excamination documentary can be considered widly released. Will have to look into that more.

Fair enough. I might bring it up in 5 year or so, when we repeat this poll.


For Gert de Graaff. It would consider "De Zee de denkt", because graduation films, even so he now put it online by himself, are not widley released first feature movies.

I agree. Those self uploaded graduation films aren’t widely released and don’t count. So The Sea That Thinks (De zee die denkt, 2000) I consider his debut and is eligible. Thanks for pointing this out

[Opio]

Ranked:
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls089856818/

Thanks so much to those who put the debut lists together.

[St. Gloede]

Finally ...

Ranked:
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls089416673/

(Made from the masterlist)

[Lonewolf2003]

Say .. will this deadline be over tonight or am I correctly suspecting that the poll is extended until Sunday evening?

No the deadline is what it is. You can submit lists, until I will download the lists some time tomorrow afternoon.(Dutch Time). But as said in the OP I will give people time to correct their lists after the deadline.

[Panunzio]

I'll sneak a ranked list i here as well.

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls089861459/

[Lonewolf2003]

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls089810091/ First 110 ranked rest unranked

[monclivie]

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls089866385/ ranked

[Fergenaprido]

from mine:

Hounds of Love (Ben Young)
Journey to a Mother's Room (Celia Rico Clavellino)
The Eyes of My Mother (Nicolas Pesce)
Luz (Tilman Singer)
Nancy (Christina Choe)
Possum (Matthew Holness)
and as mentioned above, Promising Young Woman (Emerald Fennell)

and one that was on the spreadsheet but not on your imdb list:

Dementia (John Parker)

I added all those films to the spreadsheet.

@Lonewolf here are the final few additions to the spreadsheet based on what people have posted in this thread and a few other random ones I found. Posting them here so you don't have to go to the spreadsheet to find them:

Spoiler

imdb nmid Director imdb ttid Original Title English/Alternate Title Year
nm0019755 Aljure, Felipe tt0107001 La gente de la Universal The People at Universal 1991
nm2337186 Brühlmann, Lisa tt6193454 Blue My Mind 2017
nm1357921 Choe, Christina tt6509058 Nancy 2018
nm8682602 Choi, Tracy tt6386132 Gwat mooi Sisterhood 2016
nm0165412 Clavell, James tt0052808 Five Gates to Hell 1959
nm0231596 Dominik, Andrew tt0221073 Chopper 2000
nm2193504 Fennell, Emerald tt9620292 Promising Young Woman 2020
nm1478358 Holness, Matthew tt6081670 Possum 2018
nm0674600 Perret, Léonce tt0319904 Le mystère des roches de Kador The Mystery of the Kador Cliffs 1912
nm1031949 Perrone, Raúl tt0358304 Ángeles 1992
nm2073372 Pesce, Nicolas tt5225338 The Eyes of My Mother 2016
nm3536332 Rico Clavellino, Celia tt6109502 Viaje al cuarto de una madre Journey to a Mother's Room 2018
nm6849061 Singer, Tilman tt7858616 Luz 2018
nm1587778 Young, Ben tt3896738 Hounds of Love 2016

[Fergenaprido]

Ow sorry i didn't read that about Heaven Knows What, and I didn't realize I came across very rude. Sorry.

Thanks for the apology

It wasn't just that post that I felt was rude, but others you've made earlier in this thread and in a few others on the site recently (the future polls thread and the list discussion ones, for example). I know English isn't your first language, so some of the nuances and ways your writing come across may not be obvious to you (or may be completely different in your native tongue), but here's what I noticed, and what bothered me: I find the way you write to often come across as very demanding and confrontational; when you don't agree with someone's opinion, you come back very strongly reiterating your own opinion, seemingly without really paying attention to what the other person(s) wrote. There's perceive a similar attitude when people don't respond quickly enough to you.

For example, your post above about Heaven Knows What ends with "even though I mentioned Heaven Knows What yesterday???" - the implication there being that Lonewolf hadn't acted quickly enough to "fix" what you thought was an error, even though he had indeed already posted about it and you didn't see that post. The extra question marks at the end may seem innocuous, but they imply a sense of incredulity, as if "how could you be so stupid" as to not fix this already. That, along with your calling the omission of Promising Young Woman a "mistake", when it's a film that recently came out that most people haven't had the chance to see yet so it being overlooked was entirely reasonable, came across as extremely rude to me, even if your post wasn't aimed directly at me.

I understand now that you weren't intending to be rude, but that wasn't clear to me at the time, and I didn't think that post was respectful to all of the work that Lonewolf and I have been putting into this poll over the last six weeks. Everyone's entitled to their opinions, and I don't mind legitimate critiques and criticisms, but when people are doing a lot of work to help others, and you (or anyone else, not trying to single you out in this example) come back with complaints about it not being quite perfect or easy enough, it becomes quite discouraging. Especially when these comments come in the final day or two of the discussion. I think the people on this forum are incredibly generous and helpful, but if they're consistently berated for trying to help others, I imagine they'll be less likely to help out in the future. I know I am.

I hope this explains my perspective and that what I'm saying makes sense. I do still value your contribution to this forum, and am pleased that you are stepping up to host a poll yourself.

[Fergenaprido]

And here is my list, fully ranked: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls089868804/

Everything was already in the spreadsheet, since I used that to filter my top films. I'm debating whether or not to finally watch Nolan's debut tonight. If I do, it might make my list, but I imagine it's already got enough support as it is.

Oh, and I just realized I forgot to add de Graaff's debut to the spreadsheet. Added it now.

[Torgo]

Say .. will this deadline be over tonight or am I correctly suspecting that the poll is extended until Sunday evening?

No the deadline is what it is. You can submit lists, until I will download the lists some time tomorrow afternoon.(Dutch Time). But as said in the OP I will give people time to correct their lists after the deadline.

Well, f*ck, there I pokered too high after experiencing too many other deadline extensions here before. Perhaps I can make it to reach in a list around 4 or 5 pm CET. I was too lazy and then stupid in the end, so if you have your list download deadline set at that point and I haven't anything ready by then, leave me behind. Your work is appreciated - especially with all this debut madness.

[Torgo]

And here is my list, fully ranked: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls089868804/

Ohh, Courgette

[Lakigigar]

Ow sorry i didn't read that about Heaven Knows What, and I didn't realize I came across very rude. Sorry.

Thanks for the apology

It wasn't just that post that I felt was rude, but others you've made earlier in this thread and in a few others on the site recently (the future polls thread and the list discussion ones, for example). I know English isn't your first language, so some of the nuances and ways your writing come across may not be obvious to you (or may be completely different in your native tongue), but here's what I noticed, and what bothered me: I find the way you write to often come across as very demanding and confrontational; when you don't agree with someone's opinion, you come back very strongly reiterating your own opinion, seemingly without really paying attention to what the other person(s) wrote. There's perceive a similar attitude when people don't respond quickly enough to you.

For example, your post above about Heaven Knows What ends with "even though I mentioned Heaven Knows What yesterday???" - the implication there being that Lonewolf hadn't acted quickly enough to "fix" what you thought was an error, even though he had indeed already posted about it and you didn't see that post. The extra question marks at the end may seem innocuous, but they imply a sense of incredulity, as if "how could you be so stupid" as to not fix this already. That, along with your calling the omission of Promising Young Woman a "mistake", when it's a film that recently came out that most people haven't had the chance to see yet so it being overlooked was entirely reasonable, came across as extremely rude to me, even if your post wasn't aimed directly at me.

I understand now that you weren't intending to be rude, but that wasn't clear to me at the time, and I didn't think that post was respectful to all of the work that Lonewolf and I have been putting into this poll over the last six weeks. Everyone's entitled to their opinions, and I don't mind legitimate critiques and criticisms, but when people are doing a lot of work to help others, and you (or anyone else, not trying to single you out in this example) come back with complaints about it not being quite perfect or easy enough, it becomes quite discouraging. Especially when these comments come in the final day or two of the discussion. I think the people on this forum are incredibly generous and helpful, but if they're consistently berated for trying to help others, I imagine they'll be less likely to help out in the future. I know I am.

I hope this explains my perspective and that what I'm saying makes sense. I do still value your contribution to this forum, and am pleased that you are stepping up to host a poll yourself.

I understand. I sincerely apologize and i'll try to be more helpful in the future. It's indeed true that I lack some nuances or that my way of writing isn't really obvious to me at times, and that i'm also quite "straight to the point", but I understand where you're coming from. I'm just very perfectionist. I'm demanding of others, yes. I'm even more demanding and harder for myself (which i've stated in off-topic at times), but for me personally it seems like i can get the best out of myself when i'm demanding of myself. But sure, I understand I shouldn't be like that to others, and this was absolutely wrong of me. Don't understand me wrong. This forum is great, very helpful, very friendly and i really appreciate what everything is doing here. I really like this community. I really respect what you two in particular have been doing for this list, and my behaviour is unacceptable, even though i probably didn't fully realize, although I do realize that i was harsh at times. So, I hereby offer my sincere apologies to both you, Lonewolf and all others that felt offended by me in the past. It doesn't reflect my respect & appreciation for this forum & members of this forum in general.

[filmbantha]

Huge thanks to the hosts with all of their incredible work in compiling the master list, that's impressive stuff and proved very useful in putting together my list.

A quick scan through my favourites revealed two that are not in the master list, which probably means they are unlikely to make the cut but they are:

The War Zone - Tim Roth https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/the+war+zone/
Rent-A-Pal - Jon Stevenson https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/rent-a-pal/

Here is my ranked list:

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls089822650/

[Lonewolf2003]

Ow sorry i didn't read that about Heaven Knows What, and I didn't realize I came across very rude. Sorry.

Thanks for the apology

It wasn't just that post that I felt was rude, but others you've made earlier in this thread and in a few others on the site recently (the future polls thread and the list discussion ones, for example). I know English isn't your first language, so some of the nuances and ways your writing come across may not be obvious to you (or may be completely different in your native tongue), but here's what I noticed, and what bothered me: I find the way you write to often come across as very demanding and confrontational; when you don't agree with someone's opinion, you come back very strongly reiterating your own opinion, seemingly without really paying attention to what the other person(s) wrote. There's perceive a similar attitude when people don't respond quickly enough to you.

For example, your post above about Heaven Knows What ends with "even though I mentioned Heaven Knows What yesterday???" - the implication there being that Lonewolf hadn't acted quickly enough to "fix" what you thought was an error, even though he had indeed already posted about it and you didn't see that post. The extra question marks at the end may seem innocuous, but they imply a sense of incredulity, as if "how could you be so stupid" as to not fix this already. That, along with your calling the omission of Promising Young Woman a "mistake", when it's a film that recently came out that most people haven't had the chance to see yet so it being overlooked was entirely reasonable, came across as extremely rude to me, even if your post wasn't aimed directly at me.

I understand now that you weren't intending to be rude, but that wasn't clear to me at the time, and I didn't think that post was respectful to all of the work that Lonewolf and I have been putting into this poll over the last six weeks. Everyone's entitled to their opinions, and I don't mind legitimate critiques and criticisms, but when people are doing a lot of work to help others, and you (or anyone else, not trying to single you out in this example) come back with complaints about it not being quite perfect or easy enough, it becomes quite discouraging. Especially when these comments come in the final day or two of the discussion. I think the people on this forum are incredibly generous and helpful, but if they're consistently berated for trying to help others, I imagine they'll be less likely to help out in the future. I know I am.

I hope this explains my perspective and that what I'm saying makes sense. I do still value your contribution to this forum, and am pleased that you are stepping up to host a poll yourself.

I understand. I sincerely apologize and i'll try to be more helpful in the future. It's indeed true that I lack some nuances or that my way of writing isn't really obvious to me at times, and that i'm also quite "straight to the point", but I understand where you're coming from. I'm just very perfectionist. I'm demanding of others, yes. I'm even more demanding and harder for myself (which i've stated in off-topic at times), but for me personally it seems like i can get the best out of myself when i'm demanding of myself. But sure, I understand I shouldn't be like that to others, and this was absolutely wrong of me. Don't understand me wrong. This forum is great, very helpful, very friendly and i really appreciate what everything is doing here. I really like this community. I really respect what you two in particular have been doing for this list, and my behaviour is unacceptable, even though i probably didn't fully realize, although I do realize that i was harsh at times. So, I hereby offer my sincere apologies to both you, Lonewolf and all others that felt offended by me in the past. It doesn't reflect my respect & appreciation for this forum & members of this forum in general.

Thanks for your apologies.

[Lonewolf2003]

Say .. will this deadline be over tonight or am I correctly suspecting that the poll is extended until Sunday evening?

No the deadline is what it is. You can submit lists, until I will download the lists some time tomorrow afternoon.(Dutch Time). But as said in the OP I will give people time to correct their lists after the deadline.

Well, f*ck, there I pokered too high after experiencing too many other deadline extensions here before. Perhaps I can make it to reach in a list around 4 or 5 pm CET. I was too lazy and then stupid in the end, so if you have your list download deadline set at that point and I haven't anything ready by then, leave me behind. Your work is appreciated - especially with all this debut madness.

I’m busy doing real life stuff for at least the next hour or so, so there is still time to post lists.

[Torgo]

https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/dir/torgo/

Made one! It's ranked and I'm ordering it as we speak, so maybe when you download it, really only the first 35 will be ranked in an intended way, or the first 55, or ...? Whatever.
Thanks you guys and good luck!

[Lonewolf2003]

Nominations are now closed!

I updated the OP. Please check if your list is stated and linked correctly.
I count 40 participants. Could someone verify that?

I will start downloading the lists now. First step after that will be checking all eligibilities.

[Torgo]

Process of result generation starting

[Lonewolf2003]

Finally ...

Ranked:
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls089416673/

(Made from the masterlist)

Your list is set to private.

[Lonewolf2003]

Huge thanks to the hosts with all of their incredible work in compiling the master list, that's impressive stuff and proved very useful in putting together my list.

A quick scan through my favourites revealed two that are not in the master list, which probably means they are unlikely to make the cut but they are:

The War Zone - Tim Roth https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/the+war+zone/
Rent-A-Pal - Jon Stevenson https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/rent-a-pal/

Here is my ranked list:

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls089822650/

The War Zone should be in the list already. So maybe it will make the cut after all
Added Rent-A-Pal.
Thanks.

[Lonewolf2003]

Duplicate in file blocho (unranked).csv at #6 and #92: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051372/
Duplicate in file blocho (unranked).csv at #15 and #102: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0339419/

[St. Gloede]

Finally ...

Ranked:
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls089416673/

(Made from the masterlist)

Your list is set to private.

Fixed.

[Lonewolf2003]

@Gorro; You voted for the short It's Such a Beautiful Day, while you probably meant to vote for the movie (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2396224) instead, which is eligible.
@blocho; You voted for the tv-series What We Do in the Shadows, while you probably meant to vote for the movie (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3416742/) instead, which is eligible.
@Panunzio; You voted for the tv-series LÂge d'Or, while you probably meant to vote for the movie (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021577/) instead, which is eligible.

[peeptoad]

unranked
I may go back and add more before the deadline, but wanted to get something down in case I don't have the time or energy.

Thanks for posting your list.

...just added a few more, fyi.
Thanks to both you and Fergenaprido for all the hard wok on the OP list.

[Fergenaprido]

Huge thanks to the hosts with all of their incredible work in compiling the master list, that's impressive stuff and proved very useful in putting together my list.

A quick scan through my favourites revealed two that are not in the master list, which probably means they are unlikely to make the cut but they are:

The War Zone - Tim Roth https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/the+war+zone/
Rent-A-Pal - Jon Stevenson https://www.icheckmovies.com/movies/rent-a-pal/

Here is my ranked list:

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls089822650/

The War Zone should be in the list already. So maybe it will make the cut after all
Added Rent-A-Pal.
Thanks.

I just added Rent-A-Pal to the spreadsheet. The War Zone was indeed already there.

Also, Lonewolf pointed out in a comment on the spreadsheet that Todd Haynes's debut is Superstar (1988), not Poison (1991). It's 43 minutes so counts for this poll, even though it's labelled as a short on imdb (which is how I missed it before). He made the film while he was at art college, but it was not a film school film and it screened at a number of film festivals before it was prevented from screening in theatres because of copyright issues.

[Lonewolf2003]

After checking all nominations I added these titles to the lists. Please let me know if any of these shouldn't be eligible.

New eligible titles

Seth Gordon	The King of Kong	tt0923752
Rose Glass	Saint Maud	tt7557108
William Lau	Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper	tt0426955
Robert K. Weiss, Jay Levey	The Compleat Al	tt0132902
Gérard Louvin	Ashakara	tt0279659
John Magary	The Mend	tt3271120
Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman	Catfish	tt1584016
Robert Mockler	Like Me	tt3204632
Michael Pate	Tim	tt0080024
Jessica Sharzer	Speak	tt0378793
Peggy Holmes	The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning	tt0969647
Yannis Filippou, Mihallis Gaziadis	Anna Roditi	tt0136709
Ivan Sen	Beneath Clouds	tt0295876
Todd Haynes	Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story	tt0094075
Stuart Gillard	Paradise	tt0084469
Metin Erksan	Karanlik dünya	tt0295364
Dale Rosenbloom	Shiloh	tt0120118
Ross Duffer, Matt Duffer	Hidden	tt2131532
Russell Mulcahy, Peter MacDonald	Rambo III	tt0095956
Jack Conway, James C. McKay, Cedric Gibbons	Tarzan and His Mate	tt0025862
Kankurô Kudô	Mayonaka no Yaji-san Kita-san	tt0468975
Javier Abad, Jorge Blanco, Marcos Martínez	Planet 51	tt0762125
Michel Khleifi	Al Dhakira al Khasba	tt0121278
Norton Virgien, Igor Kovalyov	The Rugrats Movie	tt0134067
Ilian Metev	Poslednata lineika na Sofia	tt2378465
Kevin Greutert	Saw VI	tt1233227
Iván Noel	En tu ausencia	tt1289396
Sebastian Schipper	Absolute Giganten	tt0177507
Hiroki Yamaguchi	Gusha no bindume	tt0422370
Rick Stevenson	Magic in the Water	tt0113737
Guel Arraes	O Auto da Compadecida	tt0271383
Ben Verbong	Het meisje met het rode haar	tt0082731
Adrian Grunberg	Get the Gringo	tt1567609
Diederick Koopal	De Marathon	tt2401621
Rene Liu	Hou lai de wo men	tt8033592
David Hickson	Beat the Drum	tt0387057
Jérémy Clapin	J'ai perdu mon corps	tt9806192
Piotr Trzaskalski	Edi	tt0338949
Giulio Ricciarelli	Im Labyrinth des Schweigens	tt3825638
Kerry Conran	Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow	tt0346156
Damien Dante Wayans	Dance Flick	tt1153706
Dave McCary	Brigsby Bear	tt5805752
Chris Bell	Bigger Stronger Faster*	tt1151309
Roberts Gannaway, Tony Craig	Dining Out with Timon & Pumbaa	tt7332266
Don Michael Paul	Half Past Dead	tt0297162
Abrar Alvi	Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam	tt0056436
Rob Silvestri	Thomas & Friends: King of the Railway	tt2641678
Robert Stromberg	Maleficent	tt1587310
James B. Harris	The Bedford Incident	tt0058962
Marie Pérennou, Claude Nuridsany	Microcosmos: Le peuple de l'herbe	tt0117040
Alexander Røsler	Sommerjubel	tt0265780
Grant Sputore	I Am Mother	tt6292852
Jacques Rozier	Adieu Philippine	tt0143088
Kevin Donovan	The Tuxedo	tt0290095
Lionel Jeffries	The Railway Children	tt0066279
Steve 'Spaz' Williams	The Wild	tt0405469
Scott Mann	The Tournament	tt0471041
Tyler Taormina	Ham on Rye	tt8529134
Peter Fonda	The Hired Hand	tt0067204
Stuart Hazeldine	Exam	tt1258197
Henry Hobson	Maggie	tt1881002
Massy Tadjedin	Last Night	tt1294688
Alice Waddington	Paradise Hills	tt6127004
Scott Frank	The Lookout	tt0427470
Jean-Marc Rudnicki	Les reines du ring	tt2330546
Jun'ichi Satô, Tomotaka Shibayama	Nakitai watashi wa neko o kaburu	tt11958344
Jun'ichi Satô	Akuma-kun	tt12956918
Meryem Benm'Barek-Aloïsi	Sofia	tt8296592
Dominic Sena	Kalifornia	tt0107302
Julie Dash	Daughters of the Dust	tt0104057
Linda Shayne	Purple People Eater	tt0095930
Uli Edel	Tommy kehrt zurück	tt0857269
Alex Steyermark	Prey for Rock & Roll	tt0307351
Daniel St. Pierre, Christopher Reeve, Colin Brady	Everyone's Hero	tt0430779
Reza Parsa	Före stormen	tt0251091
Laurence Dunmore	The Libertine	tt0375920
John Carroll Lynch	Lucky	tt5859238
Paul Dano	Wildlife	tt5929754
Josh Boone	Stuck in Love	tt2205697
Mark Levin, Jennifer Flackett	Nim's Island	tt0410377
Helmut Weiss	Die Feuerzangenbowle	tt0036818
George Chesebro, Bruce Mitchell	Wolfblood	tt0016545
Joel Gallen	Not Another Teen Movie	tt0277371
Karolis Kaupinis	Nova Lituania	tt8514696
Franc Roddam	Dummy	tt1082585
Darrell Rooney, Rob LaDuca	The Lion King II: Simba's Pride	tt0120131
Simon Amstell	Carnage: Swallowing the Past	tt6667360
Maïmouna Doucouré	Mignonnes	tt9196192
Niklaus Hilber	Chaos and Cadavers	tt0337923
Michael Tiddes	A Haunted House	tt2243537
Kent Mackenzie	The Exiles	tt0054861
Indar Dzhendubaev	On - drakon	tt4057376
Adam Schindler	Shut In	tt4009278
Francis Giacobetti	Emmanuelle: L'antivierge	tt0072933
Anna Foerster	Underworld: Blood Wars	tt3717252
Anthony Maras	Hotel Mumbai	tt5461944
Henry Bean	The Believer	tt0247199
David Nerlich, Andrew Traucki	Black Water	tt0816436
Storm Ashwood	The School	tt6072502
Sara Gómez	Isla del Tesoro	tt13434358
Mario Miscione, Aaron Hann	Circle	tt3118452
Lisandro Alonso	La libertad	tt0291310
Andy Muschietti	Mama	tt2023587
Tim Metcalfe	Killer: A Journal of Murder	tt0113542
Tom Dey	Shanghai Noon	tt0184894
Regina King	Let the Church Say Amen	tt3266396
Kelly Fremon Craig	The Edge of Seventeen	tt1878870
Hugh Welchman, Dorota Kobiela	Loving Vincent	tt3262342
Blake Williams	Prototype	tt6111996
Matthew Michael Carnahan	Mosul	tt9252468
Shannon Murphy	Babyteeth	tt8399664
Michele Mulroney, Kieran Mulroney	Paper Man	tt0437405
Michael Pearce	Beast	tt5628302
Brandon Vietti, Dong Won Jung, Jinsung Kim, Tim Divar, Young Won Jung	Scooby-Doo! and WWE: Curse of the Speed Demon	tt4196868
John Gulager	Feast	tt0426459
Savitri Joly-Gonfard, Raphaël Hernandez	Kaydara	tt1869509
Charles Chauvel	The Moth of Moonbi	tt0258819
James William Guercio	Electra Glide in Blue	tt0070022
Allen Baron	Blast of Silence	tt0054687
Andrew Morahan	Highlander III: The Sorcerer	tt0110027
Glen Morgan	Willard	tt0310357

The following titles I will allow: (which means they aren't in the lists cause I have doubts about there eligibility, but that doubt is so big I will not consider them ineligible):
Jafar Panahi Badkonake sefid tt0112445
Paul F. Ryan Home Room tt0264689
Dean Covell The Wiggles Movie tt0128842
Ben Sharpsteen, Samuel Armstrong, etc Fantasia tt0032455

[Torgo]

Noo, Absolute Giganten + The King of Kong, I Lost My Body - that's what you miss when you don't do your own research.

[Lonewolf2003]

I checked all nominated titles. These are the nominated titles for which according to the OP lists another title is the directorial debut feature for its director. Therefor they are deemed ineligible. If you think a title should be eligible please let me know and why, preferable with sources. (Zero votes/checks isn't a valid argument)

Ineligible(?) nominated titles

Nominated title	Director(s)	Eligible title according to list
The Mummy	Karl Freund	Der tote Gast
Pitfall	André De Toth	Toprini nász
Not Wanted	Elmer Clifton	Her Official Fathers
Not Wanted	Ida Lupino	Never Fear
Ascenseur pour l'échafaud	Louis Malle	Le monde du silence
Ivanovo detstvo	Andrei Tarkovsky	Katok i skripka
À tout prendre	Claude Jutra	Les mains nettes
Susuz Yaz	Metin Erksan	Karanlik dünya
Le révélateur	Philippe Garrel	Anémone
Gaav	Dariush Mehrjui	Almaas 33
Ein großer graublauer Vogel	Thomas Schamoni	Unsure what his debut is, but Woina i Mir at least is earlier and 40+ minutes
Touki-Bouki	Djibril Diop Mambéty	Badou Boy
Je tu il elle	Chantal Akerman	Hôtel Monterey
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre	Tobe Hooper	Eggshells
La batalla de Chile: La lucha de un pueblo sin armas - Primera parte: La insurrección de la burguesía	Patricio Guzmán	El primer año
Evridiki BA 2037	Nikos Nikolaidis	Anef oron
De cierta manera	Sara Gómez	Isla del Tesoro
Hausu	Nobuhiko Ôbayashi	Confession
Girlfriends	Claudia Weill	The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir
Quadrophenia	Franc Roddam	Dummy
Christiane F. - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo	Uli Edel	Tommy kehrt zurück
The Evil Dead	Sam Raimi	It's Murder!
Przesluchanie	Ryszard Bugajski	Maraton
Hadashi no Gen	Mori Masaki	Fuun shinsegumi
La historia oficial	Luis Puenzo	Luces de mis zapatos
Soldiers in Hiding	Malcolm Clarke	Myths Behind the Miracle
Urs al-jalil	Michel Khleifi	Al Dhakira al Khasba
Akira	Katsuhiro Ôtomo	Jiyû o warera ni
UHF	Jay Levey	The Compleat Al
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer	John McNaughton	Hollywood Crime Wave
Reise der Hoffnung	Xavier Koller	Fanø Hill
Poison	Todd Haynes	Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story
Baraka	Ron Fricke	Chronos
Qing shao nian nuo zha	Ming-liang Tsai	All the Corners of the World
Shallow Grave	Danny Boyle	The Venus de Milo Instead
Chronicle of a Disappearance	Elia Suleiman	Introduction to the End of an Argument
Regarde la mer	François Ozon	Jospin s'éclaire
La vendedora de rosas	Víctor Gaviria	Que pase el aserrador
Rosie	Patrice Toye	Unsure what her debut is, but L'amant de Maman at least is earlier and 40+ minutes
Ame agaru	Takashi Koizumi	Vietnam
Diagogi... miden!	Yannis Filippou, Mihallis Gaziadis	Anna Roditi
Otoshiana	Hiroshi Teshigahara	Juuninin no shashinka
964 Pinocchio	Shozin Fukui	Metal Days
Lavoura Arcaica	Luiz Fernando Carvalho	Os homens Querem Paz
Insomnia	Christopher Nolan	Following
Siworae	Hyun-seung Lee	Geudaneanui blue
Chicago	Rob Marshall	The Wonderful World of Disney: Annie
Lost in Translation	Sofia Coppola	The Virgin Suicides
Mou gaan dou	Andrew Lau	Peng dang
Ong-bak	Prachya Pinkaew	Rawng tah laep plaep
Innocence	Lucile Hadzihalilovic	La bouche de Jean-Pierre
Mou gaan dou	Alan Mak	Jui hung 20 nin
The Corporation	Mark Achbar	Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media
Tropa de Elite	José Padilha	Ônibus 174
Die Parallelstrasse	Ferdinand Khittl	Werkstatt für Europa - Feuer an der Ruhr
The Corporation	Jennifer Abbott	A Cow at My Table
Up	Pete Docter	Monsters, Inc.
Cloverfield	Matt Reeves	The Pallbearer
One Night in Miami	Regina King	Let the Church Say Amen
Ink	Jamin Winans	The Maze
Chuan qiang ren	Hung Hung	3 ju zhi lian
Secret of the Wings	Roberts Gannaway	Dining Out with Timon & Pumbaa
Monsters	Gareth Edwards	End Day
Lebanon	Samuel Maoz	Total Eclipse
Sweetgrass	Ilisa Barbash, Lucien Castaing-Taylor	In and Out of Africa
Mi vida con Carlos	Germán Berger	Viaje a Narragonia
Dao jiàn xiào	Wuershan	Fei zao ju
At Sea	Peter B. Hutton	Two Rivers
Remainder	Omer Fast	Nostalgia
Schilf	Claudia Lehmann	Hans im Glück
Wadjda	Haifaa Al-Mansour	Women Without Shadows
Secret of the Wings	Peggy Holmes	The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning
Finding Dory	Andrew Stanton	Finding Nemo
Finsterworld	Frauke Finsterwalder	Weil der Mensch ein Mensch ist
The Act of Killing	Joshua Oppenheimer	The Entire History of the Louisiana Purchase
Omoide no Mânî	Hiromasa Yonebayashi	Kari-gurashi no Arietti
Lion	Garth Davis	P.I.N.S.
III	Pavel Khvaleev	Random
Amateur Teens	Niklaus Hilber	Chaos and Cadavers
Lady Bird	Greta Gerwig	Nights and Weekends
Grave	Julia Ducournau	Mange
Lou Andreas-Salomé, The Audacity to be Free	Cordula Kablitz-Post	Mein Leben - Helmut Berger
Columbus	Kogonada	Lunch Line
Blood Machines	Savitri Joly-Gonfard, Raphaël Hernandez	Kaydara
Rimitto obu suripingu byuti	Ken Ninomiya	Slum-Polis
44289	Ilian Metev	Poslednata lineika na Sofia
Kuang shou	Jonathan Li	Gayby
Paris est à nous	Elisabeth Vogler	Blanchisserie de France
Palm Springs	Max Barbakow	Mommy, I'm a Bastard!

[Lonewolf2003]

Okay, listen carefully cause the proces is a bit different than normal.

- Until Wednesday everybody can still make an argued case why a title should or shouldn't count.
- Until Wednesday everybody can still adjust their list (delete ineligible titles, add more titles, re-order etc),
- Until Wednesday I will also still accept new lists!,
- BUT when calculating the results Wednesday I will consider every title not in the OP lists (+ the 4 "allowed" titles above) ineligible! (I will not research the eligibility again of all nominated titles.)
- Everyone can post titles here that should be added to the OP lists until then. (Please provide an IMDb link. If it's not instantly clear from a directors filmography on IMDb that said title is the debut, state why it is a debut feature.) So if you add a title to your list, that's not in the OP list, post it here or it will be considered ineligible Wednesday.

[Onderhond]

delete ineligible titles

What'll happen if they're still there? And if it's scripted, is there even a point in making an effort to remove them?