Greatest Directors of the 21st Century

1. Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood was born May 31, 1930 in San Francisco, to Clinton Eastwood Sr., a bond salesman and later manufacturing executive for Georgia-Pacific Corporation, and Ruth Wood (née Margret Ruth Runner), a housewife turned IBM clerk. He grew up in nearby Piedmont. At school Clint took interest in ...

Greats: Mystic River (2003) (2003)✧; Million Dollar Baby (2004) (2004)✖✧; Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) (2006)✧; Gran Torino (2008) (2008)

Give It a Shot: Space Cowboys (2000) (2000); Blood Work (2002) (2002); Flags of Our Fathers (2006) (2006)☒; Changeling (2008) (2008)

Caution: J. Edgar (2011) (2011)

Other Notable Film(s): Invictus (2009) (2009); Hereafter (2010) (2010)

2. Martin Scorsese

Producer | Killers of the Flower Moon

Martin Charles Scorsese was born on November 17, 1942 in Queens, New York City, to Catherine Scorsese (née Cappa) and Charles Scorsese, who both worked in Manhattan's garment district, and whose families both came from Palermo, Sicily. He was raised in the neighborhood of Little Italy, which later ...

"I would wish for any one of my colleagues to have the experience of working with Martin Scorsese once in their lifetime." ~ Daniel Day-Lewis

Greats: Gangs of New York (2002) (2002)✧; The Aviator (2004) (2004)✧; The Departed (2006) (2006)✧; Hugo (2011) (2011)✧

Give It a Shot: Shutter Island (2010) (2010); The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) (2013)

Other Notable Film(s): No Direction Home: Bob Dylan [doc] (2005); Shine a Light (2008) [doc] (2008); George Harrison: Living in the Material World (2011) [doc] (2011)

3. Paul Thomas Anderson

Director | Punch-Drunk Love

Anderson was born in 1970. He was one of the first of the "video store" generation of film-makers. His father was the first man on his block to own a V.C.R., and from a very early age Anderson had an infinite number of titles available to him. While film-makers like Spielberg cut their teeth making...

Greats: Punch-Drunk Love (2002) (2002)✦✧; There Will Be Blood (2007) (2007)✦✧; The Master (2012) (2012)✧

Other Notable Film(s): Inherent Vice (2014) (2014)

4. David Fincher

Director | Se7en

David Fincher was born in 1962 in Denver, Colorado, and was raised in Marin County, California. When he was 18 years old he went to work for John Korty at Korty Films in Mill Valley. He subsequently worked at ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) from 1981-1983. Fincher left ILM to direct TV commercials...

One of the most promising film directors that has been making great movies in the past decade.

Greats: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) (2008); The Social Network (2010) (2010)✧; The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) (2011)

Give It a Shot: Panic Room (2002) (2002); Zodiac (2007) (2007)✧

5. Joel Coen

Producer | The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Joel Daniel Coen is an American filmmaker who regularly collaborates with his younger brother Ethan. They made Raising Arizona, Barton Fink, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, True Grit, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Burn After Reading, A Serious Man, Inside Llewyn Davis, Hail Caesar and other projects. Joel ...

Representing himself and Ethan Coen

Greats: No Country for Old Men (2007) (2007)✦✧

Give It a Shot: O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) (2000)✖✧; The Man Who Wasn't There (2001) (2001)☒; True Grit (2010) (2010)✧

Caution: Intolerable Cruelty (2003) (2003); Burn After Reading (2008) (2008)

Other Notable Film(s): The Ladykillers (2004) (2004); A Serious Man (2009) (2009)✧; Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) (2013)

6. David Lynch

Writer | Twin Peaks

Born in precisely the kind of small-town American setting so familiar from his films, David Lynch spent his childhood being shunted from one state to another as his research scientist father kept getting relocated. He attended various art schools, married Peggy Lynch and then fathered future ...

Greats: Mulholland Dr. (2001) (2001)✦✧

Other Notable Film(s): Inland Empire (2006) (2006)✦✧

7. Christopher Nolan

Writer | Tenet

Best known for his cerebral, often nonlinear, storytelling, acclaimed Academy Award winner writer/director/producer Sir Christopher Nolan CBE was born in London, England. Over the course of more than 25 years of filmmaking, Nolan has gone from low-budget independent films to working on some of the ...

A recent great that directed Memento, The Prestige, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Inception, Following, and Insomnia.

Greats: Memento (2000) (2000)✦✧; Insomnia (2002) (2002); The Prestige (2006) (2006)

Give It a Shot: Batman Begins (2005) (2005); The Dark Knight (2008) (2008)✧; Inception (2010) (2010)✧; The Dark Knight Rises (2012) (2012)

8. Alexander Payne

Director | Nebraska

Director, producer and screenwriter Alexander Payne was born in Omaha, Nebraska. His parents, Peggy (Constantine) and George Payne, ran a Greek restaurant. His father is of Greek and German ancestry, and his mother is of Greek descent; the family name was originally Papadopoulos. He is the youngest...

Greats: About Schmidt (2002) (2002)✧; Sideways (2004) (2004)✧; The Descendants (2011) (2011)✧; Nebraska (2013) (2013)

9. Michael Haneke

Writer | Caché

A true master of his craft, Michael Haneke is one of the greatest film artists working today and one who challenges his viewers each year and work goes by, with films that reflect real portions of life in realistic, disturbing and unforgettable ways. One of the most genuine filmmakers of the world ...

Greats: The Piano Teacher (2001)✧; Caché (Hidden) (2005)✦✧; Amour (2012)✧

Flops: Funny Games (2007)

Other Notable Film(s): Code Unknown: Incomplete Tales of Several Journeys (2000); Time of the Wolf (2003); The White Ribbon (2009)✧

10. Steven Spielberg

Producer | Schindler's List

One of the most influential personalities in the history of cinema, Steven Spielberg is Hollywood's best known director and one of the wealthiest filmmakers in the world. He has an extraordinary number of commercially successful and critically acclaimed credits to his name, either as a director, ...

Greats: Lincoln (2012) (2012)✧

Give It a Shot: Catch Me If You Can (2002) (2002)☒; Minority Report (2002) (2002)✧; The Terminal (2004) (2004)

Caution: War of the Worlds (2005) (2005); Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) (2008); War Horse (2011) (2011)

Other Notable Film(s): A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) (2001)✦✧; Munich (2005) (2005)✧; The Adventures of Tintin (2011) (2011)

11. Roman Polanski

Director | Chinatown

Roman Polanski is a Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few truly international filmmakers. Roman Polanski was born in Paris in 1933.

His parents returned to Poland from France in 1936, three years ...

Greats: The Pianist (2002) (2002)✧

Give It a Shot: Carnage (2011) (2011)

Other Notable Film(s): Oliver Twist (2005) (2005); The Ghost Writer (2010) (2010)✧; Venus in Fur (2013)

12. Peter Jackson

Producer | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Sir Peter Jackson made history with The Lord of the Rings trilogy, becoming the first person to direct three major feature films simultaneously. The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King were nominated for and collected a slew of awards from around the globe, with The ...

Greats: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) (2001)✦✧; The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) (2002)✖✧; The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) (2003)✖✧

Give It a Shot: King Kong (2005) (2005)☒

Other Notable Film(s): The Lovely Bones (2009) (2009); The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) (2012); The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) (2013); The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) (2014)

13. Ang Lee

Director | Xi yan

Born in 1954 in Pingtung, Taiwan, Ang Lee has become one of today's greatest contemporary filmmakers. Ang graduated from the National Taiwan College of Arts in 1975 and then came to the U.S. to receive a B.F.A. Degree in Theatre/Theater Direction at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, ...

Greats: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)✦✧; Brokeback Mountain (2005) (2005)✦✧

Give It a Shot: Life of Pi (2012) (2012)

Flops: Hulk (2003) (2003)

Other Notable Film(s): Lust, Caution (2007); Taking Woodstock (2009) (2009)

14. Quentin Tarantino

Writer | Reservoir Dogs

Quentin Jerome Tarantino was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. His father, Tony Tarantino, is an Italian-American actor and musician from New York, and his mother, Connie (McHugh), is a nurse from Tennessee. Quentin moved with his mother to Torrance, California, when he was four years old.

In January of...

Greats: Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) (2003)✧; Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) (2004)✧; Inglourious Basterds (2009) (2009)✧

Give It a Shot: Django Unchained (2012) (2012)✧

Caution: Death Proof (2007) (2007)

15. Darren Aronofsky

Writer | Pi

Darren Aronofsky was born February 12, 1969, in Brooklyn, New York. Growing up, Darren was always artistic: he loved classic movies and, as a teenager, he even spent time doing graffiti art. After high school, Darren went to Harvard University to study film (both live-action and animation). He won ...

Greats: Requiem for a Dream (2000) (2000)✦✧; The Wrestler (2008) (2008)✧; Black Swan (2010) (2010)✧

Other Notable Film(s): The Fountain (2006) (2006); Noah (2014) (2014)

16. David Cronenberg

Actor | The Fly

David Cronenberg, also known as the King of Venereal Horror or the Baron of Blood, was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1943. His father, Milton Cronenberg, was a journalist and editor, and his mother, Esther (Sumberg), was a piano player. After showing an inclination for literature at an early...

Greats: A History of Violence (2005) (2005)✦✧; Eastern Promises (2007) (2007)✧

Give It a Shot: A Dangerous Method (2011) (2011)

Other Notable Film(s): Spider (2002) (2002)✧; Cosmopolis (2012) (2012)

17. Ridley Scott

Producer | The Martian

Described by film producer Michael Deeley as "the very best eye in the business", director Ridley Scott was born on November 30, 1937 in South Shields, Tyne and Wear. His father was an officer in the Royal Engineers and the family followed him as his career posted him throughout the United Kingdom ...

"I have always been a huge fan of Ridley Scott and certainly when I was a kid. 'Alien (1979),' 'Blade Runner (1982)' just blew me away because they created these extraordinary worlds that were just completely immersive. I was also an enormous Stanley Kubrick fan for similar reasons." ~ Christopher Nolan

Greats: Gladiator (2000) (2000)✧; Black Hawk Down (2001) (2001)☒

Give It a Shot: Matchstick Men (2003) (2003); American Gangster (2007) (2007); Body of Lies (2008) (2008)

Caution: Hannibal (2001) (2001); Prometheus (2012) (2012)

Other Notable Film(s): Kingdom of Heaven (2005) (2005); A Good Year (2006) (2006); Robin Hood (2010) (2010); The Counselor (2013) (2013); Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) (2014)

18. Lars von Trier

Writer | Dancer in the Dark

Probably the most ambitious and visually distinctive filmmaker to emerge from Denmark since Carl Theodor Dreyer over 60 years earlier, Lars von Trier studied film at the Danish Film School and attracted international attention with his very first feature, The Element of Crime (1984). A highly ...

Give It a Shot: Melancholia (2011) (2011)✧

Other Notable Film(s): Dancer in the Dark (2000) (2000)✧; Dogville (2003) (2003)✧; Manderlay (2005) (2005); The Boss of It All (2006); Antichrist (2009) (2009)

19. Mike Leigh

Director | Secrets & Lies

Mike Leigh is an English film and theatre director, screenwriter and playwright. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and further at the Camberwell School of Art, the Central School of Art and Design and the London School of Film Technique. He began his career as a theatre ...

Other Notable Film(s): All or Nothing (2002) (2002); Vera Drake (2004) (2004)✧; Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) (2008)✧; Another Year (2010) (2010)✧

20. Pedro Almodóvar

Writer | Hable con ella

The most internationally acclaimed Spanish filmmaker since Luis Buñuel was born in a small town (Calzada de Calatrava) in the impoverished Spanish region of La Mancha. He arrived in Madrid in 1968, and survived by selling used items in the flea-market called El Rastro. Almodóvar couldn't study ...

Other Notable Film(s): Talk to Her (2002)✦✧; Bad Education (2004)✧; Volver (2006) (2006)✧; Broken Embraces (2009); The Skin I Live In (2011)

21. James Cameron

Writer | Avatar: The Way of Water

James Francis Cameron was born on August 16, 1954 in Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada. He moved to the United States in 1971. The son of an engineer, he majored in physics at California State University before switching to English, and eventually dropping out. He then drove a truck to support his ...

Greats: Avatar (2009) (2009)✧

22. Steven Soderbergh

Director | Sex, Lies, and Videotape

Steven Andrew Soderbergh was born on January 14, 1963 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, the second of six children of Mary Ann (Bernard) and Peter Soderbergh. His father was of Swedish and Irish descent, and his mother was of Italian ancestry. While he was still at a very young age, his family moved to ...

Greats: Traffic (2000) (2000)✧

Give It a Shot: Ocean's Eleven (2001) (2001); Ocean's Twelve (2004) (2004); Ocean's Thirteen (2007) (2007)

Caution: Contagion (2011) (2011)

Flops: The Girlfriend Experience (2009) (2009)

Other Notable Film(s): Erin Brockovich (2000) (2000)✧; Full Frontal (2002) (2002); Solaris (2002) (2002); Bubble (2005) (2005); The Good German (2006) (2006); Che (Pt. 1, Pt. 2) (2008); The Informant! (2009) (2009); Haywire (2011) (2011); Magic Mike (2012) (2012)

23. Danny Boyle

Director | 127 Hours

Daniel Francis Boyle is a British filmmaker, producer and writer from Radcliffe, Greater Manchester. He is known for directing 28 Days Later, 127 Hours, Trainspotting, T2 Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire, Millions, Shallow Grave, The Beach, Yesterday, and Steve Jobs. He won many awards for ...

Greats: Slumdog Millionaire (2008) (2008)✧

Give It a Shot: 28 Days Later... (2002) (2002)✧; 127 Hours (2010) (2010)✧

Other Notable Film(s): The Beach (2000) (2000); Millions (2004) (2004); Sunshine (2007) (2007); Trance (2013) (2013)

24. Gus Van Sant

Director | Elephant

Gus Green Van Sant Jr. is an American filmmaker, painter, screenwriter, photographer and musician from Louisville, Kentucky who is known for directing films such as Good Will Hunting, the 1998 remake of Psycho, Gerry, Elephant, My Own Private Idaho, To Die For, Milk, Last Days, Finding Forrester, ...

Greats: Milk (2008)

Other Notable Film(s): Gerry (2002); Promise Land (2012)

25. Stephen Frears

Director | Dangerous Liaisons

Stephen started off in a career in the legal profession before switching to work as an assistant stage manager at London's Royal Court which led to work as an assistant director on films by Karel Reisz and Lindsay Anderson He directed his first short in 1967 and his feature debut, Gumshoe, in 1971....

Other Notable Film(s): Liam (2000) (2000); Fail Safe (2000) [TV] (2000); High Fidelity (2000) (2000)✧; Dirty Pretty Things (2002) (2002); The Deal (2003) [TV] (2003); Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005) (2005); The Queen (2006) (2006)✧; Chéri (2009) (2009); Tamara Drewe (2010) (2010); Lay the Favorite (2012) (2012)

26. Alejandro G. Iñárritu

Director | Biutiful

Alejandro González Iñárritu (ih-nyar-ee-too), born August 15th, 1963, is a Mexican film director.

González Iñárritu is the first Mexican director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and by the Directors Guild of America for Best Director. He is also the first Mexican-born ...

Greats: 21 Grams (2003) (2003)✧

Give It a Shot: Amores Perros (2000)✧; Babel (2006) (2006)

Other Notable Film(s): Biutiful (2010) (2010)

27. Woody Allen

Writer | Annie Hall

Woody Allen was born on November 30, 1935, as Allen Konigsberg, in The Bronx, NY, the son of Martin Konigsberg and Nettie Konigsberg. He has one younger sister, Letty Aronson. As a young boy, he became intrigued with magic tricks and playing the clarinet, two hobbies that he continues today.

Allen ...

Give It a Shot: Small Time Crooks (2000) (2000); Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) (2008); Midnight in Paris (2011) (2011)

Caution: The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) (2001)

Flops: Whatever Works (2009) (2009)

Other Notable Film(s): Match Point (2005) (2005); Scoop (2006) (2006); To Rome with Love (2012) (2012)

28. Werner Herzog

Director | Fitzcarraldo

Director. Writer. Producer. Actor. Poet. He studied history, literature and theatre for some time, but didn't finish it and founded instead his own film production company in 1963. Later in his life, Herzog also staged several operas in Bayreuth, Germany, and at the Milan Scala in Italy. Herzog has...

Give It a Shot: Rescue Dawn (2006) (2006)

Other Notable Film(s): Invincible (2001) (2001); The White Diamond (2004) [doc] (2004); The Wild Blue Yonder (2005) (2005); Grizzly Man (2005) [doc] (2005)✧; Encounters at the End of the World (2007) [doc] (2007); The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (2009) (2009); My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done (2009) (2009); Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010) [doc] (2010); Into the Abyss (2011) [doc] (2011)

29. Kar-Wai Wong

Director | Yi dai zong shi

Wong Kar-wai (born 17 July 1956) is a Hong Kong Second Wave filmmaker, internationally renowned as an auteur for his visually unique, highly stylised, emotionally resonant work, including Ah fei zing zyun (1990), Dung che sai duk (1994), Chung Hing sam lam (1994), Do lok tin si (1995), Chun gwong ...

Greats: In the Mood for Love (2000)✦✧

Other Notable Film(s): 2046 (2004) (2004)✧; My Blueberry Nights (2007) (2007); The Grandmasters (2012)

30. Wes Anderson

Director | Fantastic Mr. Fox

Wesley Wales Anderson was born in Houston, Texas. His mother, Texas Ann (Burroughs), is an archaeologist turned real estate agent, and his father, Melver Leonard Anderson, worked in advertising and PR. He has two brothers, Eric and Mel. Anderson's parents divorced when he was a young child, an ...

Greats: The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) (2001)✦✧; Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) (2009)✧; Moonrise Kingdom (2012) (2012)✧

Give It a Shot: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) (2004)✧; The Darjeeling Limited (2007) (2007)

31. David O. Russell

Director | American Hustle

David Owen Russell is an American film writer, director, and producer, known for a cinema of intense, tragi-comedic characters whose love of life can surpass dark circumstances faced in very specific worlds. His films address such themes as mental illness as stigma or hope; invention of self and ...

Greats: The Fighter (2010) (2010); Silver Linings Playbook (2012) (2012)✧; American Hustle (2013)

Other Notable Film(s): I Heart Huckabees (2004) (2004)

Coming Soon... Accidental Love (2015) (TBA)

32. Hayao Miyazaki

Writer | Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi

Hayao Miyazaki is one of Japan's greatest animation directors. The entertaining plots, compelling characters, and breathtaking visuals in his films have earned him international renown from critics as well as public recognition within Japan.

Miyazaki started his career in 1963 as an animator at the ...

Greats: Spirited Away (2001)✦✧

Give It a Shot: Ponyo (2008)

Other Notable Film(s): Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

33. Yimou Zhang

Director | Ying xiong

Yimou Zhang was born on November 14, 1951 in Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. He is a director and writer, known for Hero (2002), House of Flying Daggers (2004) and Curse of the Golden Flower (2006). He has been married to Ting Chen since December 2011. They have three children. He was previously married to ...

Other Notable Film(s): Happy Times (2000); The Road Home (2000); Hero (2002)✧; House of Flying Daggers (2004)✧; Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (2005); Curse of the Golden Flower (2006); A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop (2009); Under the Hawthorn Tree (2010); The Flowers of War (2011)

34. Bennett Miller

Director | Foxcatcher

Bennett Miller is an American film director, best known for Capote (2005), Moneyball (2011), and Foxcatcher (2014). He began his film career directing the 1998 documentary The Cruise.

In 2006 Miller directed the Bob Dylan music video "When the Deal Goes Down" starring Scarlett Johansson.

Miller has ...

Greats: Capote (2005) (2005)✧; Moneyball (2011) (2011)✧

35. Todd Field

Director | Tár

William Todd Field was born in Pomona, California, and began acting after graduating from high school in Portland, Oregon, where he was raised. A budding jazz musician as well, he skipped college in favor of a move east to New York to study acting. Once there, he began performing with the Ark ...

Greats: In the Bedroom (2001) (2001)✧; Little Children (2006) (2006)

36. Jean-Pierre Dardenne

Producer | Deux jours, une nuit

After studying drama in the arts institute, Jean Pierre Dardenne and his brother Luc made some videos about the rough life in blue-collar small towns in the Wallonie. After their meeting with filmmaker Armad Gatti and cinematographer Ned Burgess, they decided to enter in the movie business.

In 1978 ...

Representing the Dardenne brothers

Greats: The Kid with a Bike (2011)

Other Notable Film(s): The Son (2002)✧; The Child (2005)✧; Lorna's Silence (2008)

37. Fernando Meirelles

Director | The Constant Gardener

Fernando Meirelles was born in a middle class family in São Paulo City, Brazil.

He studied architecture at the university of São Paulo. At the same time he developed an interest in filmmaking. With a group of friends he started producing experimental videos and video art. They won a huge number of ...

Greats: City of God (2002)✧

Other Notable Film(s): Maids [Co-director] (2001); The Constant Gardener (2005) (2005); Blindness (2008) (2008); 360 (2011) (2012)

38. Alfonso Cuarón

Producer | Gravity

Alfonso Cuarón Orozco was born on November 28th 1961 in Mexico City, Mexico. From an early age, he yearned to be either a film director or an astronaut. However, he did not want to enter the army, so he settled for directing. He didn't receive his first camera until his twelfth birthday, and then ...

Greats: Y Tu Mamá También (2001)✧; Children of Men (2006)✧

Give It a Shot: Gravity (2013) (2013)

Other Notable Film(s): Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

39. Spike Jonze

Producer | Her

Spike Jonze made up one-third (along with Andy Jenkins and Mark Lewman) of the triumvirate of genius minds behind Dirt Magazine, the brother publication of the much lamented ground-breaking Sassy Magazine. These three uncommon characters were all editors for Grand Royal Magazine as well, under the ...

Greats: Adaptation. (2002) (2002)✧; Her (2013) (2013)

Other Notable Film(s): Beastie Boys: Video Anthology (2000) [doc] (2000); Where the Wild Things Are (2009) (2009)

40. Terrence Malick

Writer | Days of Heaven

Terrence Malick was born in Ottawa, Illinois. His family subsequently lived in Oklahoma and he went to school in Austin, Texas. He did his undergraduate work at Harvard, graduating summa cum laude with a degree in philosophy in 1965.

A member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society, he attended Magdalen ...

Give It a Shot: The Tree of Life (2011) (2011)✧

Other Notable Film(s): The New World (2005) (2005)✧

41. Kathryn Bigelow

Director | The Hurt Locker

A very talented painter, Kathryn spent two years at the San Francisco Art Institute. At 20, she won a scholarship to the Whitney Museum's Independent Study Program. She was given a studio in a former Offtrack Betting building, literally in an old bank vault, where she made art and waited to be ...

Greats: The Hurt Locker (2008) (2009)✧; Zero Dark Thirty (2012)✧

Other Notable Film(s): The Weight of Water (2000) (2000); K-19: The Widowmaker (2002) (2002)

42. Paul Greengrass

Director | United 93

Paul Greengrass started his filmmaking career with a super 8 camera he found in his art room in secondary school. Those short movies were animation horror films he made using old dolls, artist dummies, and the general art room clutter.

After studying in Cambridge University he got into Granada ...

Greats: Captain Phillips (2013) (2013)

Give It a Shot: The Bourne Supremacy (2004) (2004); United 93 (2006) (2006)✧; The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) (2007)

Other Notable Film(s): Bloody Sunday (2002) (2002); Green Zone (2010) (2010)

43. Steve McQueen

Director | 12 Years a Slave

Steve McQueen was born on October 9, 1969 in London, England, UK. He is a director and producer, known for 12 Years a Slave (2013), Shame (2011) and Hunger (2008). He is married to Bianca Stigter. They have two children.

Greats: 12 Years a Slave (2013) (2013)

Give It a Shot: Shame (2011) (2011)

Other Notable Film(s): Hunger (2008) (2008)✧

44. Mel Gibson

Actor | Braveheart

Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson was born January 3, 1956 in Peekskill, New York, USA, as the sixth of eleven children of Hutton Gibson, a railroad brakeman, and Anne Patricia (Reilly) Gibson (who died in December of 1990). His mother was Irish, from County Longford, while his American-born father is ...

Greats: The Passion of the Christ (2004) (2004); Apocalypto (2006) (2006)

45. Hsiao-Hsien Hou

Producer | Cike Nie Yin Niang

Of the ten films that Hsiao-Hsien Hou directed between 1980 and 1989, seven received best film or best director awards from prestigious international films festivals in Venice, Berlin, Hawaii, and the Festival of the Three Continents in Nantes. In a 1988 worldwide critics' poll, Hou was championed ...

Other Notable Film(s): Millennium Mambo (2001); Café Lumière (2003); Three Times (2005); Flight of the Red Balloon (2007)

46. Stephen Daldry

Director | The Reader

In 1989, Stephen Daldry worked as a freelance reader of unsolicited manuscripts for Literary Manager Nicholas Wright in the Scripts Department at the Royal National Theatre. In July of that year, he directed a Dadaist/expressionist production of "Judgement Day," a play by Odon von Horvath, at the ...

Every movie he directed he received a nomination for best director except for Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011).

Give It a Shot: The Hours (2002) (2002)✧; The Reader (2008) (2008)

Caution: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011) (2011)

Other Notable Film(s): Billy Elliot (2000) (2000)

47. Guillermo del Toro

Writer | El laberinto del fauno

Guillermo del Toro was born October 9, 1964 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Raised by his Catholic grandmother, del Toro developed an interest in filmmaking in his early teens. Later, he learned about makeup and effects from the legendary Dick Smith (The Exorcist (1973)) and worked on making his ...

Greats: Pan's Labyrinth (2006)✧

Caution: Blade II (2002) (2002); Hellboy (2004) (2004)

Other Notable Film(s): The Devil's Backbone (2001)✧; Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) (2008)

48. Tim Burton

Producer | Edward Scissorhands

Timothy Walter Burton was born in Burbank, California, to Jean Rae (Erickson), who owned a cat-themed gift shop, and William Reed Burton, who worked for the Burbank Park and Recreation Department. He spent most of his childhood as a recluse, drawing cartoons, and watching old movies (he was ...

Greats: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) (2007)

Other Notable Film(s): Planet of the Apes (2001) (2001); Big Fish (2003) (2003); Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) (2005); Corpse Bride (2005) [Co-director] (2005); Alice in Wonderland (2010) (2010); Dark Shadows (2012) (2012); Frankenweenie (2012) (2012)

49. Park Chan-wook

Director | Oldeuboi

Park Chan-wook was born on August 23, 1963 in Seoul, South Korea. He is a producer and director, known for Oldboy (2003), The Handmaiden (2016) and Decision to Leave (2022). He is married to Eun-hee Kim. They have one child.

Greats: Oldboy (2003)✧

Other Notable Film(s): J.S.A.: Joint Security Area (2000); Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002); Lady Vengeance (2005); I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK (2006); Thirst (2009); Stoker (2013) (2012)

50. Paul Haggis

Writer | Crash

Paul Haggis established himself over twenty years with an extensive career in television, before his big break into features arrived when he became the first screenwriter to garner two Best Film Academy Awards back-to-back for his scripts: "Million Dollar Baby" (2004) directed by Clint Eastwood, ...

Greats: Crash (2004) (2005)✧

Give It a Shot: In the Valley of Elah (2007) (2007)

Other Notable Film(s): The Next Three Days (2010) (2010)

51. Jason Reitman

Producer | Up in the Air

Jason Reitman is a Canadian filmmaker and producer who notably directed Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Juno, Thank You for Smoking, Up in the Air, Young Adult and Tully. He produced Chloe and Jennifer's Body, two films that advanced Amanda Seyfried's career for adult oriented roles. He is the son of Ivan...

Give It a Shot: Thank You for Smoking (2005) (2005); Up in the Air (2009) (2009)✧; Young Adult (2011) (2011)

Caution: Juno (2007) (2007)

52. Sam Mendes

Producer | 1917

Samuel Alexander Mendes was born on August 1, 1965 in Reading, England, UK to parents James Peter Mendes, a retired university lecturer, and Valerie Helene Mendes, an author who writes children's books. Their marriage didn't last long, James divorced Sam's mother in 1970 when Sam was just 5-...

Greats: Skyfall (2012) (2012)

Give It a Shot: Revolutionary Road (2008) (2008)

Caution: Jarhead (2005) (2005)

Other Notable Film(s): Road to Perdition (2002) (2002); Away We Go (2009) (2009)

53. Richard Linklater

Director | Waking Life

Self-taught writer-director Richard Stuart Linklater was born in Houston, Texas, to Diane Margaret (Krieger), who taught at a university, and Charles W. Linklater III. Richard was among the first and most successful talents to emerge during the American independent film renaissance of the 1990s. ...

Give It a Shot: Bernie (2011) (2012*)

Caution: School of Rock (2003) (2003)

Other Notable Film(s): Waking Life (2001) (2001); Tape (2001) (2001); Before Sunset (2004) (2004); Bad News Bears (2005) (2005); A Scanner Darkly (2006) (2006); Fast Food Nation (2006) (2006); Me and Orson Welles (2008) (2008)

54. Ken Loach

Director | I, Daniel Blake

Unlike virtually all his contemporaries, Ken Loach has never succumbed to the siren call of Hollywood, and it's virtually impossible to imagine his particular brand of British socialist realism translating well to that context.

After studying law at St. Peter's College, Oxford, he branched out into ...

Other Notable Film(s): Bread and Roses (2000) (2000); The Navigators (2001) (2001); Sweet Sixteen (2002) (2002); Ae Fond Kiss... (2004) (2004); Tickets (2005) [Co-director] (2005); McLibel (2005) [doc/Co-director] (2005); The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006) (2006); It's a Free World... (2007) (2007); Looking for Eric (2009) (2009); Route Irish (2010) (2010); The Angels' Share (2012) (2012)

55. Edward Yang

Writer | Yi yi

Born on November 6, 1947 in Shanghai, China, Edward Yang has become one of the most talented international filmmakers of his generation. Along with Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Tsai Ming-Liang, Yang ranks among the leading artists of the Taiwanese New Wave, and one of the world's most brilliant auteurs. ...

Other Notable Film(s): Yi Yi (2000)✧

56. Aki Kaurismäki

Producer | Le Havre

Aki Kaurismäki did a wide variety of jobs including postman, dish-washer and film critic, before forming a production and distribution company, Villealfa (in homage to Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville (1965)) with his older brother Mika Kaurismäki, also a film-maker. Both Aki and Mika are prolific ...

Other Notable Film(s): The Man Without a Past (2002)✧; Lights in the Dusk (2006); Le Havre (2011) (2011)✧

57. Jafar Panahi

Director | Taxi

Jafar Panahi (Born 11 July 1960) is an Iranian film director, screenwriter, and film editor, commonly identified with the Iranian New Wave film movement. After several years of making short films and working as an assistant director for fellow Iranian film-maker Abbas Kiarostami, Panahi achieved ...

Other Notable Film(s): The Circle (2000)✧; Crimson Gold (2003)✧; Offside (2006)✧; This Is Not a Film (2012)✧

58. Todd Haynes

Director | Far from Heaven

Todd Haynes was always interested in art, and made amateur movies and painted while he was still a child. He attended Brown university and majored in art and semiotics. After he graduated he moved to New York City and made the controversial short film Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1987). ...

Greats: Far from Heaven (2002) (2002)✧

Caution: I'm Not There (2007) (2007)

59. Abbas Kiarostami

Writer | Copie conforme

Abbas Kiarostami was born in Tehran, Iran, in 1940. He graduated from university with a degree in fine arts before starting work as a graphic designer. He then joined the Center for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, where he started a film section, and this started his career ...

Other Notable Film(s): ABC Africa (2001) [doc] (2001); Dah (2002) (2002); Five Dedicated to Ozu (2003) [doc] (2003); 10 on Ten (2004) [doc] (2004); Tickets (2005) [Co-director] (2005); Shirin (2008) (2008); Certified Copy (2010)✧

Coming Soon... Like Someone in Love (2012) (2012)

60. James Mangold

Producer | Logan

James Mangold is an American film and television director, screenwriter and producer. Films he has directed include Girl, Interrupted (1999), Walk the Line (2005), which he also co-wrote, the 2007 remake 3:10 to Yuma (2007), The Wolverine (2013), and Logan (2017).

Mangold also wrote and directed Cop...

Greats: Walk the Line (2005) (2005)

Caution: Identity (2003) (2003)

Other Notable Film(s): Kate & Leopold (2001) (2001); 3:10 to Yuma (2007) (2007); Knight and Day (2010) (2010)

61. Juan José Campanella

Writer | El secreto de sus ojos

Juan José Campanella was born on July 19, 1959 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is a writer and director, known for The Secret in Their Eyes (2009), The Man of Your Dreams (2011) and The Weasel's Tale (2019).

Greats: The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)

Other Notable Film(s): Son of the Bride (2001); Avellaneda's Moon (2004)

62. Edward Zwick

Producer | Thirtysomething

Zwick moves deftly between the roles of writer, director and producer. He was nominated for a Golden Globe for his direction of the 1989 critically acclaimed Civil War drama, Glory. He received his second Golden Globe nomination as a director for Legends of the Fall. Zwick received an Academy Award...

Give It a Shot: The Last Samurai (2003) (2004); Blood Diamond (2006) (2006)

Other Notable Film(s): Defiance (2008) (2008); Love & Other Drugs (2010) (2010)

63. Julian Schnabel

Director | Before Night Falls

Julian Schnabel was born on October 26, 1951 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He is a director and writer, known for Before Night Falls (2000), The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) and At Eternity's Gate (2018). He was previously married to Olatz López Garmendia and Jacqueline Schnabel.

Other Notable Film(s): Before Night Falls (2000); The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007); Lou Reed: Berlin (2007) (2007); Miral (2010) (2011)

64. Edgar Wright

Director | Shaun of the Dead

Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. He is best known for his comedic Three Flavours Cornetto film trilogy consisting of Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), and The World's End (2013), made with recurrent collaborators Simon Pegg...

Greats: Hot Fuzz (2007) (2007)

Give It a Shot: Shaun of the Dead (2004) (2004)✧

Other Notable Film(s): Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) (2010)

65. George Clooney

Actor | The Ides of March

George Timothy Clooney was born on May 6, 1961, in Lexington, Kentucky, to Nina Bruce (née Warren), a former beauty pageant queen, and Nick Clooney, a former anchorman and television host (who was also the brother of singer Rosemary Clooney). He has Irish, English, and German ancestry. Clooney ...

Give It a Shot: Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005) (2005); The Ides of March (2011) (2011)

Other Notable Film(s): Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) (2002); Leatherheads (2008) (2008)

66. Lasse Hallström

Director | What's Eating Gilbert Grape

Lasse Hallström inherited his enthusiasm for film from his father, who was an amateur filmmaker. In high school he made his first short film, which was released on Swedish television. Hallström then began working as a director, cameraman and editor for Swedish television. He also made music videos ...

Other Notable Film(s): Chocolat (2000) (2000); The Shipping News (2001) (2001); An Unfinished Life (2005) (2005); Casanova (2005) (2005); The Hoax (2006) (2006); Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009) (2009); Dear John (2010) (2010); Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011) (2012)

67. Peter Weir

Director | Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

Peter Weir was born on August 21, 1944 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He is a director and writer, known for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), The Way Back (2010) and Witness (1985). He has been married to Wendy Stites since 1966. They have two children.

Other Notable Film(s): Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) (2003); The Way Back (2010) (2010)

68. Alejandro Amenábar

Writer | The Others

Is the son of a Spanish mother and a Chilean father. His family moved back to Spain when he was 1 year old, and he grew up and studied in Madrid. He wrote, produced and directed his first short film La cabeza at the age of 19, and he was 23 when he directed his feature debut Thesis (1996). His film ...

Give It a Shot: The Others (2001) (2001)

Other Notable Film(s): The Sea Inside (2004); Agora (2009) (2009)

69. Nicolas Winding Refn

Writer | The Neon Demon

Writer, director, and producer Nicolas Winding Refn was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1970, to Anders Refn, a film director and editor, and Vibeke Winding (née Tuxen), a cinematographer. Just before he turned 11, in 1981, he moved to New York with his parents, where he lived out his teen years. ...

Give It a Shot: Drive (2011) (2011)

Other Notable Film(s): Fear X (2003) (2003); Pusher II (2004) (2004); Pusher III (2005) (2005); Bronson (2008) (2008); Valhalla Rising (2009) (2009)

70. Marc Forster

Producer | World War Z

Marc Forster is a German-born filmmaker and screenwriter. He is best known for directing the films Monster's Ball (2001), Finding Neverland (2004), Stay (2005), Stranger than Fiction (2006), The Kite Runner (2007), Quantum of Solace (2008), and World War Z (2013).

His breakthrough film was Monster's...

Greats: Monster's Ball (2001) (2001)

Caution: Stranger Than Fiction (2006) (2006)

Other Notable Film(s): Everything Put Together (2000) (2000); Finding Neverland (2004) (2004); Stay (2005) (2005); The Kite Runner (2007) (2007); Quantum of Solace (2008) (2008); Machine Gun Preacher (2011) (2011); World War Z (2013) (2013)

71. Tom Hooper

Director | Cats

Tom Hooper was educated at one of England's most prestigious schools, Westminster. His first film, Runaway Dog, was made when he was 13 years old and shot on a Clockwork 16mm Bolex camera, using 100 feet of film. At age 18, he wrote, directed and produced the short film Painted Faces (1992), which ...

Greats: The King's Speech (2010) (2010)✧

Other Notable Film(s): Red Dust (2004) (2004); Longford (2006) [TV] (2006); The Damned United (2009) (2009)

72. Lee Unkrich

Editor | Coco

Lee Unkrich is an Academy Award-winning director at Pixar Animation Studios. He most recently directed Disney.Pixar's critically-acclaimed "Coco", which received the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and Best Song.

As the director of Disney.Pixar's "Toy Story 3," Lee was also awarded an ...

Greats: Toy Story 3 (2010) (2010)✧

Give It a Shot: Monsters, Inc. (2001) [Co-director] (2001); Finding Nemo (2003) [Co-director] (2003)

73. Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Director | Un long dimanche de fiançailles

Jean-Pierre Jeunet is a self-taught director who was very quickly interested by cinema, with a predilection for a fantastic cinema where form is as important as the subject. Thus he started directing TV commercials and video clips (such as Julien Clerc in 1984). At the same time he met designer/...

Greats: Amélie (2001)✧

Other Notable Film(s): A Very Long Engagement (2004)

74. Béla Tarr

Producer | Werckmeister harmóniák

Béla Tarr was born on July 21, 1955 in Pécs, Hungary. He is a producer and director, known for Werckmeister Harmonies (2000), The Turin Horse (2011) and Satantango (1994). He is married to Ágnes Hranitzky.

Other Notable Film(s): Werckmeister Harmonies (2000); The Man from London (2007); The Turin Horse [Co-director] (2011)

75. Robert Altman

Director | Gosford Park

Robert Altman was born on February 20th, 1925 in Kansas City, Missouri, to B.C. (an insurance salesman) and Helen Altman. He entered St. Peters Catholic school at the age six, and spent a short time at a Catholic high school. From there, he went to Rockhurst High School. It was then that he started...

Give It a Shot: Gosford Park (2001) (2001)

Other Notable Film(s): Dr. T & the Women (2000) (2000); The Company (2003) (2003); A Prairie Home Companion (2006) (2006)

76. Anthony Minghella

Writer | The Talented Mr. Ripley

Anthony Minghella was the son of immigrants from Italy, who own an ice-cream factory on the Isle of Wight, where Anthony was born on January 6, 1954. He and his two siblings, Edana Minghella and Dominic Minghella, grew up there, a popular British holiday spot. After graduating from the University of...

Greats: Cold Mountain (2003) (2003)

Other Notable Film(s): Breaking and Entering (2006) (2006)

77. Takashi Miike

Director | Jûsan-nin no shikaku

Takashi Miike was born in the small town of Yao on the outskirts of Osaka, Japan. His main interest growing up was motorbikes, and for a while he harbored ambitions to race professionally. At the age of 18 he went to study at the film school in Yokohama founded by renowned director Shôhei Imamura, ...

Give It a Shot: Ichi the Killer (2001)

Other Notable Film(s): The City of Lost Souls (2000); Dead or Alive 2: Tôbôsha (2000) (2000); Gozu (2003); One Missed Call (2003); Big Bang Love, Juvenile A (2006); Sukiyaki uesutan Jango (2007) (2007); 13 Assassins (2010)

78. Taylor Hackford

Producer | Ray

In addition to helming the iconic feature hits An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), Against All Odds (1984), Ray (2004), and the cult thriller The Devil's Advocate (1997), Taylor Hackford has directed the films Dolores Claiborne (1995), Everybody's All-American (1988), and Proof of Life (2000). ...

Greats: Ray (2004) (2004)

Other Notable Film(s): Proof of Life (2000) (2000); Love Ranch (2010) (2010)

Coming Soon... Parker (2013) (2012)

79. Kim Ki-duk

Writer | Bin-jip

He studied fine arts in Paris in 1990-1992. In 1993 he won the award for Best Screenplay from the Educational Institute of Screenwriting with "A Painter and A Criminal Condemned to Death". After two more screenplay awards, he made his directorial debut with Crocodile (1996) ("Crocodile"). Then he ...

Other Notable Film(s): The Isle (2000); Address Unknown (2001); Bad Guy (2001); The Coast Guard (2002); 3-Iron (2004); Samaritan Girl (2004); The Bow (2005); Time (2006); Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2008)

80. Bong Joon Ho

Writer | Snowpiercer

Bong Joon-ho is a South Korean filmmaker. The recipient of three Academy Awards, his filmography is characterized by emphasis on social themes, genre-mixing, black humor, and sudden tone shifts. He first became known to audiences and achieved a cult following with his directorial debut film, the ...

Other Notable Film(s): Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000); Memories of Murder (2003); The Host (2006); Tokyo! (2008) (2008); Mother (2009)

81. Tomas Alfredson

Director | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Tomas Alfredson was born on April 1, 1965 in Lidingö, Stockholms län, Sweden. He is a director, known for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), Let the Right One In (2008) and The Snowman (2017). He is married to Charlotte Alfredson. They have one child. He was previously married to Cissi Elwin.

Give It a Shot: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) (2011)

Other Notable Film(s): Four Shades of Brown (2004); Let the Right One In (2008)

82. Michel Hazanavicius

Writer | The Artist

Michel Hazanavicius was born and raised in Paris, France. His grandparents were originally from Lithuania, but relocated to France in the 1920s. Hazanavicius attended art school, and moved on to work as a director for commercials and television projects. In 1999, he wrote and directed his first ...

Greats: The Artist (2011) (2011)✧

Other Notable Film(s): OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2006); OSS 117 - Lost in Rio (2009)

83. Noah Baumbach

Writer | The Squid and the Whale

Born in Brooklyn in 1969 Noah Baumbach is the son of two film critics, Georgia Brown and Jonathan Baumbach (also a writer). His studies at Vassar College were the subject of his first film (made as he was 26 years old), Kicking and Screaming (1995). His second major picture, made ten years later, ...

Other Notable Film(s): The Squid and the Whale (2005) (2005)✧; Margot at the Wedding (2007) (2007); Greenberg (2010) (2010)

84. Jacques Audiard

Writer | De rouille et d'os

Born in Paris, France, in 1952. Jacques Audiard's family has always been involved in movie business. His father, Michel, was a popular screenwriter and director and his uncle a producer. But in his teens he refused that world and wanted to be a teacher. He studied literature and philosophy at the ...

Other Notable Film(s): Read My Lips (2001); The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005); A Prophet (2009); Rust & Bone (2012)

85. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

Director | Das Leben der Anderen

As the son of a Lufthansa manager, Henckel von Donnersmarck spent his childhood and school years in New York, Berlin, Frankfurt am Main and Brussels, where he passed his international high school diploma in 1991. He then spent two years studying in Leningrad (Saint Petersburg) with the following ...

Greats: The Lives of Others (2006)✧

Other Notable Film(s): The Tourist (2010) (2010)

86. Michel Gondry

Director | Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

He grew up in Versailles with a family who was very influenced by pop music. When he was young, Gondry wanted to be a painter or an inventor. In the 80s he entered in an art school in Paris where he could develop his graphic skills and where he also met friends with whom he created a pop-rock band ...

Greats: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) (2004)✧

Caution: The Green Hornet (2011) (2011)

Flops: Be Kind Rewind (2008) (2008)

Other Notable Film(s): Human Nature (2001) (2001); Dave Chappelle's Block Party (2005) [doc] (2005); The Science of Sleep (2006)

87. Brad Anderson

Director | Session 9

Brad Anderson was born in 1964 in Madison, Connecticut, USA. He is a director and producer, known for Session 9 (2001), The Machinist (2004) and Transsiberian (2008).

Other Notable Film(s): Happy Accidents (2000) (2000); Session 9 (2001) (2001); The Machinist (2004) (2004); Transsiberian (2008) (2008); Vanishing on 7th Street (2010) (2010)

88. Andrew Stanton

Writer | WALL·E

Andrew Stanton has been a major creative force at Pixar Animation Studios since 1990, when he became the second animator and ninth employee to join the company's elite group of computer animation pioneers. As Vice President, Creative he currently oversees all shorts and feature projects at the ...

Greats: WALL·E (2008) (2008)✧

Give It a Shot: Finding Nemo (2003) [Co-director] (2003)

89. Roger Donaldson

Director | The World's Fastest Indian

Roger Donaldson was born on November 15, 1945 in Ballarat, Australia. He is a director and producer, known for The World's Fastest Indian (2005), No Way Out (1987) and Species (1995). He is married to Marliese Schneider. He was previously married to Susan Hockley.

Give It a Shot: The Bank Job (2008) (2008)

Caution: The Recruit (2003) (2003)

Other Notable Film(s): Thirteen Days (2000) (2000); The World's Fastest Indian (2005) (2005); Seeking Justice (2011) (2012)

90. Jee-woon Kim

Director | Joheunnom nabbeunnom isanghannom

Kim Ji-woon was born in Seoul, South Korea. He began his career as an actor before becoming a stage director with productions such as "Hot Sea" in 1994 and "Movie, Movie" in 1995. He then began scripting for films, his first work, 97's "Wonderful Seasons" won Best Screenplay award at Korea's ...

Other Notable Film(s): The Foul King (2000); A Tale of Two Sisters (2003); A Bittersweet Life (2005); The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008); I Saw the Devil (2010)

Coming Soon... The Last Stand (2013) (2013)

91. Andrzej Wajda

Director | Katyn

Andrzej Wajda is an Academy Award-winning director. He is the most prominent filmmaker in Poland known for The Promised Land (1975), Man of Iron (1981), and Katyn (2007).

He was Born on March 6, 1926, in Suwalki, Poland. His mother, Aniela Wajda, was a teacher at a Ukrainian school. His father, ...

Greats: Katyn (2007) (2007)

Other Notable Film(s): The Revenge (2002); Tatarak (2009) (2009)

Coming Soon... Walesa. Czlowiek z nadziei (2013) (2013)

92. Takeshi Kitano

Actor | Zatôichi

Takeshi Kitano originally studied to become an engineer, but was thrown out of school for rebellious behavior. He learned comedy, singing and dancing from famed comedian Senzaburô Fukami. Working as a lift boy on a nightclub with such features as comic sketches and striptease dancing, Kitano saw ...

Other Notable Film(s): Brother (2000) (2000); Dôruzu (2002) (2002); The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi (2003); Outrage (2010)

93. Jim Jarmusch

Director | Paterson

Moved to New York City at the age of seventeen from Akron, Ohio. Graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. in English, class of '75. Without any prior film experience, he was accepted into the Tisch School of the Arts, New York.

Give It a Shot: Broken Flowers (2005) (2005)

Other Notable Film(s): Coffee and Cigarettes (2003) (2003); The Limits of Control (2009) (2009)

94. Ron Howard

Producer | Arrested Development

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ron Howard is one of this generation's most popular directors. From the critically acclaimed dramas A Beautiful Mind (2001) and Apollo 13 (1995) to the hit comedies Parenthood (1989) and Splash (1983), he has created some of Hollywood's most memorable films.

Howard ...

Greats: A Beautiful Mind (2001) (2001)

Caution: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) (2000); Frost/Nixon (2008) (2008); The Dilemma (2011) (2011)

Other Notable Film(s): The Missing (2003) (2003); Cinderella Man (2005) (2005); The Da Vinci Code (2006) (2006); Angels & Demons (2009) (2009); Rush (2013)

95. Joe Wright

Director | Pride & Prejudice

Joe Wright is an English film director. He is best known for Pride & Prejudice (2005), Atonement (2007), Anna Karenina (2012), and Darkest Hour (2017).

Wright always had an interest in the arts, especially painting. He would also make films on his Super 8 camera as well as spend time in the evenings...

Other Notable Film(s): Pride & Prejudice (2005) (2005); Atonement (2007) (2007); The Soloist (2009) (2009); Hanna (2011) (2011); Anna Karenina (2012) (2012)

96. Ed Harris

Actor | Appaloosa

By transforming into his characters and pulling the audience in, Ed Harris has earned a reputation as one of the most talented actors of our time.

Ed Harris was born in Tenafly, New Jersey, to Margaret (Sholl), a travel agent, and Robert Lee Harris, a bookstore worker who also sang professionally. ...

Greats: Pollock (2000) (2000)

Other Notable Film(s): Appaloosa (2008) (2008)

97. Derek Cianfrance

Writer | Blue Valentine

Derek Cianfrance began making movies at age 13. He later attended The University of Colorado where he studied under avant-garde film legends Stan Brakhage and Phil Solomon. His first three films, 'Five O'clock Shadow', 'Raw Footage', and Brother Tied (1998), won consecutive Goldfarb Awards for best...

Greats: Blue Valentine (2010) (2010)

Give It a Shot: The Place Beyond the Pines (2012) (2013)

Other Notable Film(s):

98. Martin McDonagh

Writer | In Bruges

Martin McDonagh was born on March 26, 1970 in Camberwell, London, England, UK. He is a writer and director, known for In Bruges (2008), Seven Psychopaths (2012) and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017).

Greats: In Bruges (2008) (2008)

Other Notable Film(s): Seven Psychopaths (2012) (2012)

99. Wim Wenders

Director | Der Himmel über Berlin

Wim Wenders is an Oscar-nominated German filmmaker who was born Ernst Wilhelm Wenders on August 14, 1945 in Düsseldorf, which then was located in the British Occupation Zone of what became the Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Federal Republic of Germany, known colloquially as West Germany until ...

Other Notable Film(s): The Million Dollar Hotel (2000) (2000); The Soul of a Man (2003) (2003); Land of Plenty (2004) (2004); Don't Come Knocking (2005) (2005); Palermo Shooting (2008) (2008); Pina (2011) (2011)

100. Walter Salles

Director | Central do Brasil

Walter Salles was born on April 12, 1956 in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He is a director and producer, known for Central Station (1998), The Motorcycle Diaries (2004) and Terra Estrangeira (1995). He is married to Maria Klabin. They have one child.

Other Notable Film(s): Behind the Sun (2001); The Motorcycle Diaries (2004); Dark Water (2005) (2005); Linha de Passe (2008) (2008)