John Sayles

John Thomas Sayles (born September 28, 1950) is an American independent film director, screenwriter, editor, actor, and novelist. He is known for writing and directing the films The Brother from Another Planet (1984), Matewan (1987), Eight Men Out (1988), Passion Fish (1992), The Secret of Roan Inish (1994), Lone Star (1996), Men with Guns (1997), Sunshine State (2002), and Silver City (2004).

For Eight Men Out, Sayles was nominated for the USC Scripter Award. He has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, for Passion Fish and Lone Star. At the 56th Golden Globe Awards, Men with Guns was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film. His directorial debut Return of the Secaucus 7 (1980) and Matewan, were added to the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 1997 and 2023, respectively.