All you need to know about the five directors in the running for the Academy’s prestigious film-making prize, along with reviews of their nominated films, interviews and the awards they’ve earned so far

• Full list of Oscar nominations

Track record: Baker came out of the US’s microbudget/indie subculture; his first feature, Four Letter Words, was released way back in 2000. But it took a decade and a half for Baker to make a serious breakthrough; Tangerine, shot on iPhones, was the story of a trans sex worker (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez), and won Baker some high-profile awards. His follow-up, The Florida Project, another account of marginalised Americans became a fixture on the awards circuit, bagging co-star Willem Dafoe an Oscar nom for best supporting actor. His next film, Red Rocket, premiered in competition at Cannes.