Benh Zeitlin and Oprah Winfrey

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Best Director Nominee Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
"I wanted to make a film that celebrated the holding out for home and your culture and refusing to be pushed back, and to create almost a song to that, like a national anthem of what it is to stand strong." — Benh Zeitlin telling Oprah the intention behind his first film, for which he received this year's nomination