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Like it or not, filmmaking is undeniably a director's medium. It wasn't always like that, of course: it was only the coming of the auteur theory in the 1950s and 1960s that popularized the idea of the director as the person responsible for all that was great and terrible about a picture. And while anyone who's worked in film knows that it's a collaborative medium, there's still no better way of seeing where the form might be going in the next few years than by looking at the directors who've been making splashes of late.

So, hot on the heels of our On The Rise pieces focusing on actors, actresses and screenwriters, we've picked out ten directors who've arrived in a big way in the last year or so, and look set for even greater things in the near future. Any tips of your own? Let us know in the comments section below.

Steve Buscemi will appear in an uncredited cameo in Terry Zwigoff's upcoming feature Art School Confidential, set to star John Malkovich. In addition, Anjelica Huston is being sought for a leading role. Mr. Mudd, the production company run by Malkovich, Lianne Halfon and Russell Smith, is producing through its first-look deal with United Artists. Chase Bailey also will produce. UA's Sara Rose and Danny Rosett will oversee for the studio. Art School reunites Zwigoff, who directed Ghost World, with Ghost's producers as well as its writer, Dan Clowes. Art School is based on Clowes' satirical novel of the same name. The book, which takes a poke at the cult of celebrity, follows an undercover cop who poses as an artist until he realizes that being a pretend felon or, better still, a supposed killer, will get him even more acclaim. Mr. Mudd's credits include Alan Taylor's Kill the Poor, the documentary How to Draw a Bunny, the Malkovich-directed The Dancer Upstairs and the Thora Birch-Scarlett Johansson Ghost World, released by UA. Buscemi is repped by Endeavor. Malkovich is repped by CAA. Huston is repped by ICM.