It is the 1950s; the horrors of the global conflict are slowly fading away, and the longed-for peace is coming. But is that really so? The world events of the 1950s are as dramatic as those in the previous decade, and cinema reflects this. A strong generation of filmmakers, whom we call “authors,” is looking for its own ways of expression. Therefore, we can confidently call the 1950s “the decade of the authors.“ The most significant is a group of young French men (and one lady) who would go down in history as the French New Wave. However, auteur cinema has a well-established tradition in Italy, too, with Federico Fellini and Michelangelo Antonioni having entered the scene in the 1950s. And it’s not just these two cinematic empires that are worth noticing. Remarkable filmmakers are emerging all over the world. Their early works, both famous and lesser-known, will be introduced in the AFFN section that will show what it meant or means to be an auteur.