Beasts of the Southern Wild – in pictures

Quvenzhané Wallis is being tipped for an Oscar nomination for her role as the vivacious Hushpuppy. She would be the youngest ever best actress nominee, beating Whale Rider's Keisha Castle-Hughes by seven years Photograph: Jess Pinkham/StudioCanal

Dwight Henry plays Wink, Hushpuppy's tough but loving father. The untrained actor, who owned a bakery and deli near the film studio, tried out for the film one day during a slow hour Photograph: Mary Cybulski/StudioCanal

Wink teaches Hushpuppy to be tough and resourceful, knowing that one day he may not be around to protect her. It is from him that she draws her boundless confidence Photograph: Jess Pinkham/StudioCanal

First-time feature film director Benh Zeitlin, who co-wrote the screenplay with Lucy Alibar, based on her one-act play, puts Quvenzhané Wallis in the picture Photograph: Jess Pinkham/StudioCanal

Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis) finds herself alone in the watery wilds of the Louisiana bayou after environmental catastrophe strikes Photograph: Jess Pinkham/StudioCanal

Hushpuppy at home in the Bathtub. Quvenzhané Wallis was picked for the role despite having no formal acting training and being only six years old at the time of filming Photograph: Mary Cybulski/StudioCanal

The children of the Bathtub have grown up proud of their community's independence Photograph: Jess Pinkham/StudioCanal

Hushpuppy's world is one in which water is a way of life – but also a potential conduit for catastrophe Photograph: Jess Pinkham/StudioCanal

Hushpuppy's search for her lost mother takes her on an odyssey to places where children are not usually welcomed Photograph: Jess Pinkham/StudioCanal

Before the floods, life in the Bathtub is a riotous carnival of colour and sound, in which the young Hushpuppy revels Photograph: Ben Richardson/StudioCanal