My All Time Favorite Directors

by Rama_Andor1416 | created - 08 May 2018 | updated - 13 Feb 2023 | Public

Along with their top three best films in my opinion. Also directors that I just love their work. Screw a top three through I might just list in order from best to least according to me.

1. Stanley Kubrick

Director | 2001: A Space Odyssey

Stanley Kubrick was born in Manhattan, New York City, to Sadie Gertrude (Perveler) and Jacob Leonard Kubrick, a physician. His family were Jewish immigrants (from Austria, Romania, and Russia). Stanley was considered intelligent, despite poor grades at school. Hoping that a change of scenery would ...

My number one all time favorite director. And had a huge influence on me becoming a director or at least just loving movies.

1.) A Clockwork Orange 2.) 2001: A Space Odyssey 3.) The Shining 4.) Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb 5.) Full Metal Jacket 6.) The Killing 7.) Paths of Glory 8.) Eyes Wide Shut 9.) Barry Lyndon 10.) Spartacus 11.) Killer's Kiss

2. 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...

1.) Inglourious Basterds 2.) Reservoir Dogs 3.) Pulp Fiction 4.) Jackie Brown 5.) Django Unchained 6.) Kill Bill Vol. 1 7.) Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 8.) The Hateful Eight 9.) Kill Bill Vol. 2 10.) Death Proof

and to me that is it. None of this special guest director stuff.

3. 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 ...

1.) Inception 2.) Memento 3.) Dunkirk 4.) Interstellar 5.) The Dark Knight 6.) Insomnia 7.) The Prestige 8.) The Dark Knight Rises 9.) Tenet 10.) Batman Begins 11.) Following

4. 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 ...

1.) Raging Bull 2.) Goodfellas 3.) The King of Comedy 4.) Casino 5.) Taxi Driver

5. Alfred Hitchcock

Director | Psycho

Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone, Essex, England. He was the son of Emma Jane (Whelan; 1863 - 1942) and East End greengrocer William Hitchcock (1862 - 1914). His parents were both of half English and half Irish ancestry. He had two older siblings, William Hitchcock (born 1890) and ...

1.) Rear Window 2.) Lifeboat 3.) Shadow of a Doubt 4.) Rebecca 5.) Psycho

6. 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 ...

1.) Blade Runner 2.) Black Hawk Down 3.) Thelma & Louise 4.) Gladiator 5.) Alien

7. Denis Villeneuve

Director | Dune

Denis Villeneuve is a French Canadian film director and writer. He was born in 1967, in Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada. He started his career as a filmmaker at the National Film Board of Canada. He is best known for his feature films Arrival (2016), Sicario (2015), Prisoners (2013), Enemy (2013), ...

1.) Sicario 2.) Incendies 3.) Blade Runner 2049 4.) Arrival 5.) Prisoners 6.) Polytechnique 7.) Enemy

8. Xavier Dolan

Actor | J'ai tué ma mère

Xavier Dolan was born on March 20, 1989 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is an actor and producer, known for I Killed My Mother (2009), Tom at the Farm (2013) and Heartbeats (2010).

1.) Mommy 2.) I Killed My Mother 3.) Tom at the Farm 4.) Heartbeats 5.) Laurence Always 6.) It's Only the End of the World

9. 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.

1.) Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance 2.) Oldboy 3.) The Handmaiden 4.) Thirst 5.) Stoker 6.) Lady Vengence

10. 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...

1.) There Will Be Blood 2.) Magnolia 3.) Punch-Drunk Love 4.) The Master 5.) Boogie Nights 6.) Licorice Pizza 7.) Phantom Thread 8.) Hard Eight 9.) Inherent Vice

11. 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 ...

1.) Mulholland Drive 2.) Lost Highway 3.) The Elephant Man 4.) Blue Velvet 5.) Eraserhead 6.) Inland Empire 7.) The Straight Story 8.) Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me 9.) Dune 10.) Twin Peaks both series

12. 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 ...

1.) Europa 2.) Melancholia 3.) Dogville 4.) Antichrist 5.) Breaking the Waves 6.) Dancer in the Dark 7.) Nymphomaniac: Vol 1 8.) The Idiots 9.) The Boss of it All 10.) Nymphomaniac: Vol. 2 11.) Manderlay 12.) Epidemic

13. 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 ...

1.) Amores Perros 2.)Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) 3.) The Revenant 4.) Babel 5.) 21 Grams 6.) Biutiful

14. 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 ...

1.) Children of Men 2.) Y Tu Mama Tambien 3.) Roma 4.) Solo con tu pareja 5.) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 6.) Gravity 7.) A Little Princess 8.) Paris, je t'aime 9.) Great Expectations

15. 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 ...

1.) Pan's Labyrinth 2.) The Devil's Backbone 3.) Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio 4.) The Shape of Water 5.)Cronos 6.) Blade 2 7.) Hellboy 2: The Golden Army 8.) Hellboy 9.) Crimson Peak 10.) Pacific Rim 11.) Mimic

16. 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...

1.) Se7en 2.) Fight Club 3.) Zodiac 4.) Gone Girl 5.) Panic Room 6.)The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 7.) The Game 8.) The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo 9.) The Social Network 10.) Mank

17. 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 ...

1.) Requiem for a Dream 2.) The Wrestler 3.) Pi 4.) Noah 5.) mother! 6.) The Fountain 7.) Black Swan

18. Sidney Lumet

Director | 12 Angry Men

Sidney Lumet was a master of cinema, best known for his technical knowledge and his skill at getting first-rate performances from his actors -- and for shooting most of his films in his beloved New York. He made over 40 movies, often complex and emotional, but seldom overly sentimental. Although ...

1.) 12 Angry Men 2.) Dog Day Afternoon 3.) Serpico 4.) Murder on the Orient Express 5.) Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

19. 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 ...

1.) The Terminator 2.) Aliens 3.) The Abyss 4.) Terminator 2 5.) True Lies

20. 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, ...

1.) Saving Private Ryan 2.) Schindler's List 3.) Minority Report 4.) Jaws 5.) Raiders of the Lost Ark

21. Jeff Nichols

Writer | Take Shelter

Jeff Nichols was born on December 7, 1978 in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA. He is a writer and director, known for Take Shelter (2011), Mud (2012) and Midnight Special (2016).

1.) Take Shelter 2.) Midnight Special 3.) Mud 4.) Loving 5.) Shotgun Stories

22. Clint Eastwood

Actor | Million Dollar Baby

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 ...

1.) Unforgiven 2.) Play Misty for Me 3.) American Sniper 4.) Letters from Iwo Jima 5.) The Outlaw Josey Wales

23. Tony Scott

Producer | Domino

Tony Scott was a British-born film director and producer. He was the youngest of three brothers, one of whom is fellow film director Ridley Scott. He was born in North Shields, Northumberland, England to parents Jean and Colonel Francis Percy Scott. As a result of his father's career in the British...

1.) True Romance 2.) Man on Fire 3.) Top Gun 4.) The Last Boy Scout 5.) Crimson Tide

24. Kathryn Bigelow

Director | Zero Dark Thirty

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 ...

1.) Zero Dark Thirty 2.) Near Dark 3.) The Hurt Locker 4.) Point Break 5.) Detroit 6.) Strange Days 7.) Blue Steel 8.) The Loveless 9.) K-19: The Widowmaker 10.) The Weight of Water

25. Céline Sciamma

Writer | Portrait de la jeune fille en feu

Céline Sciamma was born on November 12, 1978 in Pontoise, Val-d'Oise, France. She is a writer and director, known for Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), Petite Maman (2021) and Tomboy (2011).

1.) Portrait of a Lady on Fire 2.) Water Lillies 3.) Girlhood 4.) Tomboy

26. Lukas Moodysson

Director | Fucking Åmål

Lukas Moodysson was born on January 17, 1969 in Malmö, Skåne län, Sweden. He is a director and writer, known for Show Me Love (1998), Lilya 4-Ever (2002) and Together (2000). He has been married to Coco Moodysson since 1994. They have three children.

1.) Show Me Love 2.) Lilya 4-Ever 3.) Together 4.) We Are the Best! 5.) Mmmoth 6.) Container 7.) A Hole in My Heart

27. 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 ...

1.) Trainspotting 2.) Slumdog Millionaire 3.) Sunshine 4.) Steve Jobs 5.) Trainspotting 2 6.) 28 Days Later 7.) Trance 8.) 127 Hours 9.) Shallow Grave 10.) The Beach 11.) A Life Less Ordinary

28. Jon Favreau

Producer | Chef

Initially an indie film favorite, actor Jon Favreau has progressed to strong mainstream visibility into the millennium and, after nearly two decades in the business, is still enjoying character stardom as well as earning notice as a writer/producer/director.

The amiable, husky-framed actor with the ...

1.) The Jungle Book 2.) Chef 3.) Iron Man 4.) Made 5.) Elf 6.) Iron Man 2 7.) Cowboys & Aliens 8.) Zathura: A Space Adventure 9.) The Lion King (2019)

29. Adam McKay

Producer | The Other Guys

Adam McKay (born April 17, 1968) is an American screenwriter, director, comedian, and actor. McKay has a comedy partnership with Will Ferrell, with whom he co-wrote the films Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and The Other Guys. Ferrell and McKay also founded their comedy website Funny or Die through ...

1.) The Big Short 2.) Vice 3.) The Other Guys 4.) Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

30. Tom Tykwer

Writer | Lola rennt

Director, writer, producer and composer Tom Tykwer was born in 1965 in Wuppertal, Germany. He showed an interest in film-making from childhood, making super 8 films from the age of 11. Among his first jobs was working at a local art-house cinema. Tykwer eventually relocated to Berlin, first working...

1.) Run Lola Run 2.) Cloud Atlas 3.) The Princess and the Warrior 4.) Heaven 5.) Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

31. Ben Affleck

Producer | Argo

Benjamin Géza "Ben" Affleck-Boldt was born on August 15, 1972 in Berkeley, California and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to mother Chris Anne (Boldt), a school teacher, and father Timothy Byers "Tim" Affleck, a social worker. Ben has a younger brother, actor Casey Affleck, who was born in 1975...

1.) Gone Baby Gone 2.) The Town 3.) Argo 4.) Live by Night

32. 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 ...

1.) Rushmore 2.) The Royal Tenenbaums 3.) The Grand Budapest Hotel 4.) Moonrise Kingdom 5.) The Darjeeling Limited 6.) Fantastic Mr. Fox 7.) The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou 8.) Isle of Dogs

33. Sean Baker

Writer | Red Rocket

Sean Baker is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. He is an award-winning writer/director/producer known for Take Out (2004), Prince of Broadway (2008), Starlet (2012), Tangerine (2015), and The Florida Project (2017). Sean's latest feature, Red Rocket, premiered at Cannes on July 14, 2021...

1.) Starlet 2.) The Florida Project 3.) Tangerine 4.) Red Rocket 5.) Prince of Broadway 6.) Take out

34. 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.

1.) Hunger 2.) 12 Years of Slave

Shame Widows

35. 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...

1.) The World's End 2.) Hot Fuzz 3.) Shaun of the Dead 4.) Scott Pilgrim vs. the World 5.) Baby Driver

36. 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 ...

1.) Spirited Away 2.) Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind' 3.) The Wind Rises 4.) Princess Mononoke 5.) Castle in the Sky 6.) My Neighbor Totoror 7.) Howl's Moving Castle 8.) Kiki's Delivery Service 9.) Porco Rosso 10.) Ponyo

37. 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 ...

1.) Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown 2.) All About My Mother 3.) Juileta 4.) Talk To Her 5.) Volver

38. Wes Craven

Writer | A Nightmare on Elm Street

Wes Craven has become synonymous with genre bending and innovative horror, challenging audiences with his bold vision.

Wesley Earl Craven was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Caroline (Miller) and Paul Eugene Craven. He had a midwestern suburban upbringing. His first feature film was The Last House on ...

1.) Scream 2.) A Nightmare on Elm Street 3.) Red Eye 4.) The Hills Have Eyes 5.) New Nightmare

39. Sam Raimi

Director | Spider-Man

Highly inventive U.S. film director/producer/writer/actor Sam Raimi first came to the attention of film fans with the savage, yet darkly humorous, low-budget horror film, The Evil Dead (1981). From his childhood, Raimi was a fan of the cinema and, before he was ten-years-old, he was out making ...

1.) A Simple Plan 2.) The Evil Dead 3.) Spider-Man 4.) The Gift 5.) Drag Me to Hell

40. Robert Zemeckis

Writer | Back to the Future

A whiz-kid with special effects, Robert is from the Spielberg camp of film-making (Steven Spielberg produced many of his films). Usually working with writing partner Bob Gale, Robert's earlier films show he has a talent for zany comedy (Romancing the Stone (1984), 1941 (1979)) and special effect ...

1.) Back to the Future 2.) Contact 3.) Cast Away 4.) Who Framed Roger Rabbit 5.) Romancing the Stone

41. 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 ...

1.) Apollo 13 2.) Splash 3.) A Beautiful Mind 4.) Cinderella Man 5.) Rush 6.) Thirteen Lives

42. Matthew Vaughn

Producer | Kick-Ass

Matthew Vaughn is an English film producer and director. He is known for producing such films as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000) and for directing the crime thriller, Layer Cake (2004), the fantasy epic, Stardust (2007), the superhero comedy, Kick-Ass (2010), and the ...

1.) Kick-Ass 2.) Kingsman: The Secret Service 3.) Stardust 4.) Layer Cake 5.) Kingsman: The Golden Service

43. James Wan

Writer | Saw

James Wan (born 26 February 1977) is an Australian film producer, screenwriter and film director of Malaysian Chinese descent. He is widely known for directing the horror film Saw (2004) and creating Billy the puppet. Wan has also directed Dead Silence (2007), Death Sentence (2007), Insidious (2010)...

1.) Saw 2.) The Conjuring 2 3.) Death Sentence 4.) Insidious 5.) Furious 7

44. 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-...

1.) American Beauty 2.) Road to Perdition 3.) Skyfall 4.) Revolutionary Road 5.) Jarhead

45. 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 ...

1.) The Bourne Ultimatum 2.) United 93 3.) Captain Phillips 4.) Bloody Sunday 5.) The Bourne Supremacy 6.) Green Zone 7.) Jason Bourne

46. 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 ...

1.) Happy-Go-Lucky 2.) All or Nothing 3.) Secrets & Lies 4.) Life is Sweet 5.) High Hopes 6.) Another Year 7.) Topsy- Turvy 8.) Vera Drake

47. Yorgos Lanthimos

Director | The Lobster

Yorgos Lanthimos was born in Athens, Greece. He studied directing for Film and Television at the Stavrakos Film School in Athens. He has directed a number of dance videos in collaboration with Greek choreographers, in addition to TV commercials, music videos, short films and theater plays. Kinetta,...

1.) Dogtooth 2.) The Lobster 3.) The Killing of a Scared Deer 4.) Alphs

48. 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. ...

1.) Drive 2.) Valhalla Rising 3.) Broson 4.) To Old to Die Young 5.) Pusher

49. Jee-woon Kim

Writer | 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 ...

1.) I Saw the Devil 2.) The Good the Bad the Weird 3.) A Bittersweet Life 4.) A Tale of Two Sisters 5.) The Last Stand

50. 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 ...

1.) Parasite 2.) Memories of Murder 3.) Mother 4.) The Host 5.) Okja 6.) Snowpiercer

51. 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...

1.) 3:10 to Yuma 2.) Walk the Line 3.) Logan 4.) Cop Land 5.) Girl, Interrupted 6.) Identity 7.) Heavy 8.) Kate & Leopold 9.) The Wolverine 10.) Knight and Day

52. 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...

1.) Up in the Air 2.) Juno 3.) Thank You for Smoking

53. 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 ...

1.) Ed Wood 2.) Beetlejuice 3.) Edward Scissorhands

54. Guy Ritchie

Director | Sherlock Holmes

Guy Ritchie was born in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK on September 10, 1968. After watching Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) as a child, Guy realized that what he wanted to do was make films. He never attended film school, saying that the work of film school graduates was boring and ...

1.) Snatch 2.) Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels 3.) Sherlock Holmes

55. Zack Snyder

Director | 300

Zachary Edward "Zack" Snyder (born March 1, 1966) is an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter, best known for action and science fiction films. Snyder made his feature film debut with the 2004 remake Dawn of the Dead and has gone on to be known for his comic book movies and ...

1.) Dawn of the Dead 2.) 300 3.) Man of Steel

56. Doug Liman

Producer | Edge of Tomorrow

Douglas Eric Liman is a Jewish-American filmmaker and producer who directed Swingers, The Bourne Identity, Chaos Walking, Jumper, Go, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Fair Game, Locked Down, Edge of Tomorrow, The Wall and American Made. He executive produced the Bourne sequels except The Bourne Legacy, The ...

1.) Go 2.) Swingers 3.) Edge of Tomorrow

57. Lynne Ramsay

Director | You Were Never Really Here

Lynne Ramsay was born on December 5, 1969 in Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland, UK. She is a director and writer, known for You Were Never Really Here (2017), We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) and Ratcatcher (1999). She was previously married to Rory Stewart Kinnear.

1.) Morvern Caller 2.) We Need To Talk About Kevin 3.) You Were Never Really Here 4.) Ratcatcher

58. Andrea Arnold

Director | American Honey

Andrea Arnold was born on April 5, 1961 in Dartford, Kent, England, UK. She is an actress and director, known for American Honey (2016), Fish Tank (2009) and Red Road (2006).

1.) Fish Tank 2.) American Honey 3.) Red Road

59. 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 ...

1.) Badlands 2.) Days of Heaven 3.) The Tree of Life

60. Antoine Fuqua

Producer | The Magnificent Seven

Antoine Fuqua is an American film director, known for his work in the film Training Day as well as The Replacement Killers, Tears of the Sun, King Arthur, Shooter, Brooklyn's Finest, Olympus Has Fallen and The Equalizer.

He has directed music videos for such artists as Arrested Development, Prince, ...

1.) Training Day 2.) The Equalizer 3.) Brooklyn's Finest

61. 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).

1.) Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri 2.) Seven Psychopaths 3.) In Bruges

62. Cristian Mungiu

Producer | 4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile

Cristian Mungiu was born on April 27, 1968 in Iasi, Romania. He is a producer and writer, known for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007), Graduation (2016) and Beyond the Hills (2012).

1.) 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days 2.) Graduation 3.) Beyond the Hills

63. Jeremy Saulnier

Cinematographer | Blue Ruin

Jeremy Saulnier has slyly defined a unique cinematic aesthetic that complements his idiosyncratic narrative premises. His sophomore feature, Blue Ruin (2013) a quirky, crime drama set in a pretty, but grimier part of suburban America was a festival darling and supplanted his name within the ...

1.) Green Room 2.) Blue Ruin

64. Gareth Edwards

Visual_effects | Monsters

Gareth James Edwards was born on June 1, 1975 in the English town of Nuneaton, Warwickshire. Growing up, he admired movies such as the 1977 classic "Star Wars", and went on to pursue a film career. He even cites George Lucas and Steven Spielberg as his biggest influences. Edwards studied BA (Hons) ...

1.) Rogue One: A Star Wars Story 2.) Godzilla

65. Gareth Evans

Writer | Serbuan maut

Welsh born writer/director, in 2003 directed a short film "Samurai Monogatari" telling the tale of a Samurai waiting to be executed. The short was in Japanese language and starred students from Tokyo who were studying at Cardiff University at the time.

In 2003 he also graduated with an MA in ...

1.) The Raid 2 2.) The Raid: Redemption 3.) Merantau

66. Peter Berg

Actor | Chicago Hope

Peter Berg is an American actor, director, writer, and producer. His first role was in the Adam Rifkin road movie Never on Tuesday (1988). He went on to star in the World War 2 film A Midnight Clear (1992). Roles in Fire in the Sky (1993) and Cop Land (1997) followed, and the Tom Cruise films ...

1.) Lone Survivor 2.) Patriots Day 3.) Deepwater Horizon 4.) Friday Night Lights 5.) The Kingdom

67. Mike Flanagan

Writer | The Fall of the House of Usher

Mike Flanagan is a prolific writer, director, and editor. He entered into an exclusive overall deal with Amazon Studios in 2023 for television projects (after a similar exclusive deal with Netflix from 2018-2022), and has made feature films for Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, Netflix and more. ...

1.) Gerald's Game 2.) Midnight Mass 3.) Doctor Sleep 4.) The Haunting of Hill House 5.) Oculus 6.) Hush 7.) Absentia

68. Terry Gilliam

Writer | Brazil

Terry Gilliam was born near Medicine Lake, Minnesota. When he was 12 his family moved to Los Angeles where he became a fan of MAD magazine. In his early twenties he was often stopped by the police who suspected him of being a drug addict and Gilliam had to explain that he worked in advertising. In ...

1.) Brazil 2.) Twelve Monkeys 3.) Time Bandits 4.) Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas 5.) The Fisher King

69. 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 ...

1.) Ocean's 11 2.) Traffic 3.) Out of Sight 4.) Sex, Lies, and Videotapes 5.) Erin Brockovich 6.) The Girlfriend Experience 7.) The Laundromat

70. 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, ...

1.) The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) 2.) Mistress America 3.) While We're Young 4.) Margot at the Wedding 5.) Frances Ha

71. Ethan Coen

Producer | The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

The younger brother of Joel, Ethan Coen is an Academy Award and Golden Globe winning writer, producer and director coming from small independent films to big profile Hollywood films. He was born on September 21, 1957 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In some films of the brothers- Ethan & Joel wrote, Joel...

1.) No Country For Old Men 2.) Blood Simple 3.) Barton Flink 4.) Fargo 5.) True Grit

72. 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 ...

1.) Miller's Crossing 2.) Raising Arizona 3.) Inside Llewyn Davis 4.) The Man Who Wasn't There 5.) The Big Lebowski

73. Taika Waititi

Producer | What We Do in the Shadows

Taika Waititi, also known as Taika Cohen, hails from the Raukokore region of the East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand, and is the son of Robin (Cohen), a teacher, and Taika Waititi, an artist and farmer. His father is Maori (Te-Whanau-a-Apanui), and his mother is of Ashkenazi Jewish, Irish...

1.) Thor: Ragnarok 2.) Hunt for the Wilderpeople 3.) What We Do in the Shadows

74. Charles Chaplin

Writer | The Great Dictator

Considered to be one of the most pivotal stars of the early days of Hollywood, Charlie Chaplin lived an interesting life both in his films and behind the camera. He is most recognized as an icon of the silent film era, often associated with his popular character, the Little Tramp; the man with the ...

1.) The Kid 2.) Modern Times 3.) City Lights 4.) The Gold Rush 5.) The Great Dictator

75. Ingmar Bergman

Writer | Smultronstället

Ernst Ingmar Bergman was born July 14, 1918, the son of a priest. The film and T.V. series, The Best Intentions (1992) is biographical and shows the early marriage of his parents. The film Sunday's Children (1992) depicts a bicycle journey with his father. In the miniseries Private Confessions (...

1.) The Seventh Seal 2.) The Virgin Spring 3.) Persona 4.) Cries & Whispers 5.) Wild Strawberries

76. John Ford

Director | The Quiet Man

John Ford came to Hollywood following one of his brothers, an actor. Asked what brought him to Hollywood, he replied "the train". He became one of the most respected directors in the business, in spite of being known for his westerns, which were not considered "serious" film. He won six Oscars, ...

1.) The Searchers 2.) Stagecoach 3.) The Quiet Man 4.) The Grapes of Wrath 5.) The Informer

77. Akira Kurosawa

Writer | Kakushi-toride no san-akunin

After training as a painter (he storyboards his films as full-scale paintings), Kurosawa entered the film industry in 1936 as an assistant director, eventually making his directorial debut with Sanshiro Sugata (1943). Within a few years, Kurosawa had achieved sufficient stature to allow him greater...

1.) Seven Samurai 2.) Rashomon 3.) The Hidden Fortress 4.) Drunken Angel 5.) To Live

78. Pascal Laugier

Director | Ghostland

Pascal Laugier was born on October 16, 1971 in France. He is a director and writer, known for Incident in a Ghostland (2018), Martyrs (2008) and The Tall Man (2012).

1.) Martyrs 2.) House of Voices 3.) Ghostland 4.) The Tall Man

79. Na Hong-jin

Writer | Chugyeokja

Na Hong-jin born in 1974 is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. His debut film The Chaser (2008) won Best Director at the 45th Grand Bell Awards in 2008. The film also won the award for Best Film. His follow up film, The Yellow Sea, was released in South Korea on December 15, 2010. It is...

1.) The Wailing 2.) The Chaser 3.) The Yellow Sea

80. Ben Wheatley

Director | Free Fire

Ben Wheatley was born in May 1972 in Billericay, Essex, England, UK. He is a director and writer, known for Free Fire (2016), Kill List (2011) and Sightseers (2012).

1.) Kill List 2.) Sightseers 3.) Down Terrance 4.) Free Fire 5.) A field in England

81. Jean-Marc Vallée

Director | C.R.A.Z.Y.

Jean-Marc Vallée was a Canadian filmmaker, editor and screenwriter from Montreal. He directed Black List, C.R.A.Z.Y., The Young Victoria, Wild, Dallas Buyers Club, Los Locos, Loser Love and Café de Flore. He also created the HBO shows Big Little Lies and Sharp Objects. He was married to Chantal ...

1.) C.R.A.Z.Y. 2.) Wild 3.) Big Little Lies 4.) Dallas Buyers Club 5.) Demolition 6.) Sharp Objects

82. 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). ...

1.) Safe 2.) Far From Heaven 3.) Poison 4.) Carol 5.) I'm Not There 6.) Wonderstruck 7.) Velvet Goldmine

83. 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...

1.) Eastern Promises 2.) eXistenZ 3.) The Fly 4.) Crash 5.) The Dead Zone 6.) Videodrome 7.) Maps to the Stars 8.) Dead Ringers 9.) The Brood 10.) Scanners 11.) Spider 12.) A History of Violence 13.) M. Butterfly 14.) A Dangerous Method 15.) Naked Lunch 16.) Shrivers

84. Christopher McQuarrie

Writer | The Usual Suspects

Christopher McQuarrie is an acclaimed producer, director and an Academy Award® winning writer. McQuarrie grew up in Princeton Junction, New Jersey and in lieu of college, he spent the first five years out of school traveling and working at a detective agency. He later moved to Los Angeles to pursue...

Director:

1.) Mission Impossible: Fallout 2.) Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation 3.) The Way of the Gun 4.) Jack Reacher

Writer: 1.) Mission Impossible: Fallout 2.) Edge of Tomorrow 3.) Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation 4.) The Usual Suspects 5.) The Way of the Gun

85. J.C. Chandor

Producer | A Most Violent Year

J.C. Chandor is known for A Most Violent Year (2014), Margin Call (2011) and All Is Lost (2013). He has been married to Mary Cameron Goodyear since 2004. They have two children.

1.) Margin Call 2.) Triple Frontier 3.) A Most Violent Year 4.) All is Lost

86. Chad Stahelski

Producer | John Wick: Chapter 4

He came from a kick-boxing background; he entered the film field as a stunt performer at the age of 24. Before that, he worked as an instructor at the Inosanto Martial Arts Academy in California, teaching Jeet Kune Do/Jun Fan. After doing numerous roles in low budget martial art movies like Mission...

1.) John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum 2.) John Wick: Chapter 2 3.) John WIck

87. Ang Lee

Director | Wo hu cang long

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, ...

1.) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2.) Lust, Caution 3.) The Ice Storm 4.) Brokeback Mountain 5.) Sense and Sensibility 6.) Eat Drink Man Woman

88. Benny Safdie

Actor | Good Time

Born and raised in New York City: in both Queens & Manhattan. He attended the school of Communication at Boston University. He often collaborates with his brother Josh Safdie. He is a director, writer, editor and actor known for Daddy Longlegs(2009),Heaven Knows What(2014), Good Time (2017), Uncut ...

1.) Uncut Gems 2.) Good Times 3.) Heaven Knows What 4.) Daddy Longlegs

89. Josh Safdie

Director | Uncut Gems

Born and raised in New York City: in both Queens & Manhattan. He attended the school of Communication at Boston University. He often collaborates with his brother Benny Safdie. The brothers have both cited early experiences in front of their father's camera as the reasons for their pursing ...

1.) Uncut Gems 2.) Good Times 3.) Heaven Knows What 4.) Daddy Longlegs

90. Trey Edward Shults

Director | Waves

Trey Edward Shults was born on October 6, 1988 in Montgomery, Texas, USA. He is a director and writer, known for Waves (2019), It Comes at Night (2017) and Krisha (2015).

1.) Waves 2.) Keisha 3.) It Comes at Night

91. Leigh Whannell

Actor | Saw

Leigh Whannell grew up in Melbourne, Australia, where, at the age of four, he developed an obsession with telling stories. Whether it be through acting, writing or filmmaking, his primary love was getting a reaction from an audience. In 1995, at the age of 18, he was accepted into the Royal ...

1.) Upgrade 2.) The Invisible Man 3.) Insidious Chapter 3

92. 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, ...

93. Fatih Akin

Director | Aus dem Nichts

Fatih Akin was born in 1973 in Hamburg of Turkish parentage. He began studying Visual Communications at Hamburg's College of Fine Arts in 1994. His collaboration with Wueste Film also dates from this time. In 1995, he wrote and directed his first short feature, "Sensin - You're The One!" ("Sensin -...

94. Eliza Hittman

Director | Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Eliza Hittman was born on January 1, 1979 in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. She is a director and producer, known for Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020), Beach Rats (2017) and It Felt Like Love (2013).

1.) Never Rarely Sometimes Always 2.) Beach Rats 3.) It Felt Like Love

95. Rian Johnson

Producer | Knives Out

Rian Johnson was born in Maryland and at a young age his family moved to San Clemente, California, where he was raised. After graduating from high school, he went on to attend the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. His first feature film, Brick (2005), was released in 2005 ...

1.) Brick 2.) Knives Out 3.) Looper 4.) The Last Jedi 5.) Glass Onion 6.) The Brothers Bloom

96. M. Night Shyamalan

Producer | Lady in the Water

Born in Puducherry, India, and raised in the posh suburban Penn Valley area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, M. Night Shyamalan is a film director, screenwriter, producer, and occasional actor, known for making movies with contemporary supernatural plots.

He is the son of Jayalakshmi, a Tamil ...

1.) Unbreakable 2.) The Sixth Sense 3.) Signs 4.) Knock at the Cabin 5.) The Village 6.) Split 7.) Glass 8.) Old 9.) The Visit

97. Jordan Peele

Writer | Nope

Jordan Peele is an Oscar- and Emmy-winning director, writer, actor, producer, and founder of Monkeypaw Productions. Peele's first feature film, "Get Out," was a critically acclaimed blockbuster, recognized with four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. The film would earn Peele the ...

1.) Nope 2.) Get Out 3.) Us

98. Jackie Chan

Actor | Ngo si seoi

Hong Kong's cheeky, lovable and best-known film star, Jackie Chan endured many years of long, hard work and multiple injuries to establish international success after his start in Hong Kong's manic martial arts cinema industry.

Jackie was born Kong-sang Chan on April 7, 1954, on Hong Kong's famous ...

1.) Police Story 2 2.) The Legend of Drunken Master 3.) Who Am I 4.) Police Story 5.) Project A

99. 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 ...

1.) Heavenly Creatures 2.) Return of the King 3.) Dead Alive 4.) The Frighteners 5.) King Kong 6.) Bad Taste

100. George Miller

Producer | Mad Max: Fury Road

George Miller is an Australian film director, screenwriter, producer, and former medical doctor. He is best known for his Mad Max franchise, with Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) and Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) being hailed as amongst the greatest action films of all time. Aside from the Mad Max ...

1.) Mad Max Fury Road



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