Greatest Directors--X-Y-Z

1. Robert Zemeckis

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 ...

2. 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 ...

3. Jerry Zucker

Producer | Airplane!

Jerry Zucker was born on March 11, 1950 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for Airplane! (1980), Ghost (1990) and Top Secret! (1984). He has been married to Janet Zucker since May 1987. They have two children.

and Jim Abrahams and David Zucker

4. Sadao Yamanaka

Writer | Kuchibue o fuku bushi

The director and screenwriter Sadao Yamanaka (1909-1938) is a key figure in the development of early Japanese cinema. Although he made 27 films over a six-year period, only three of them survived in nearly complete form: Sazen Tange and the Pot Worth a Million Ryo (1935), Humanity and Paper Balloons...

5. Fred Zinnemann

Director | A Man for All Seasons

Initially grew up wanting to be a violinist, but while at the University of Vienna decided to study law. While doing so, he became increasingly interested in American film and decided that was what he wanted to do. He became involved in European filmaking for a short time before going to America to...

6. Woo-Ping Yuen

Stunts | Wo hu cang long

Woo-Ping Yuen was born on January 1, 1945 in Guangzhou, China. He is a director and actor, known for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Fearless (2006) and Kung Fu Hustle (2004).

7. 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...

8. Terence Young

Director | Dr. No

Born in Shanghai and Cambridge-educated, Terence Young began in the industry as a scriptwriter. In the 1940s he worked on a variety of subjects, including the hugely popular wartime romance Suicide Squadron (1941), set to Richard Addinsell's rousing "Warsaw Concerto". His original story was devised...

9. Franco Zeffirelli

Director | Romeo and Juliet

Franco Zeffirelli is an Italian director and producer of operas, films and television. He was also a senator from 1994 until 2001 for the Italian center-right Forza Italia party. Some of his operatic designs and productions have become worldwide classics.

He was known for several of the movies he ...

10. Rob Zombie

Writer | Grindhouse

Robert Bartleh Cummings, more famously known as Rob Zombie, was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts on January 12, 1965. He is the oldest son of Louise and Robert Cummings, and has a younger brother, Michael David (aka Spider One; b. 1968), who is the lead singer of Powerman 5000. Growing up, Zombie ...

11. Terry Zwigoff

Director | Ghost World

Born in Appleton, Wisconsin, Zwigoff held several jobs before making his breakthrough feature: the documentary Crumb (1994) in 1994. His previous jobs included musician, shipping clerk, printer and welfare office worker. In fact, Zwigoff traces his film career back to discovering a rare blues ...

12. David Yates

Director | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

David Yates was born on October 8, 1963 in St. Helens, Merseyside, England, UK. He is a director and producer, known for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), The Legend of Tarzan (2016) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011).

13. Mai Zetterling

Actress | The Witches

Mai Zetterling was born in Sweden in 1925, and lived briefly in Australia while still a child. She's known as a director and actor and trained on the Stockholm repertory stage, she began appearing in war-era films starting in her teens. Following her debut in Lasse Maja (1941), she made quite an ...

14. Thierry Zéno

Director | Vase de noces

Thierry Zéno was born on April 22, 1950 in Namur, Belgium. He was a director and producer, known for Wedding Trough (1974), Eugène Ionesco, voix et silences (1987) and Des morts (1979). He died on June 7, 2017 in Belgium.

15. Robert M. Young

Director | Alambrista!

Born in New York City. Made many award-winning documentaries including The Eskimo: Fight for Life (1970) and a documentary about the civil war in Angola. In 1978 he won the Camera d'Or at Cannes and Best Feature at San Sebastian for Alambrista! (1977).

16. Brian Yuzna

Producer | Beyond Re-Animator

Brian Yuzna was born on August 30, 1949 in Manila, Philippines. He is a writer and producer, known for Beyond Re-Animator (2003), The Dentist (1996) and Faust (2000). He is married to Cathy Yuzna. They have four children.

17. Andrey Zvyagintsev

Director | Nelyubov

Director and screenwriter Andrey Zvyagintsev is the winner of the Venice Film Festival (2003) and the Cannes Film Festival (2011, 2014, 2017). Two-time the Academy Awards and the BAFTA Awards nominee. Winner or the Golden Globe Awards (2015) for his film "Leviathan". In 2018, his latest work "...

18. Peter Yates

Director | Krull

Having seen Robbery (1967) and Bullitt (1968), it comes as no surprise that Peter Yates started out as a professional racing car driver and team manager - albeit briefly - before turning his attention to film. The son of a military man, he was educated at Charterhouse School and trained at RADA, ...

19. Bud Yorkin

Producer | Blade Runner 2049

Bud Yorkin was born on February 22, 1926 in Washington, Pennsylvania, USA. He was a producer and director, known for Blade Runner 2049 (2017), Sanford and Son (1972) and Blade Runner (1982). He was married to Cynthia Sikes and Peg Yorkin. He died on August 18, 2015 in Bel Air, Los Angeles, ...

20. Krzysztof Zanussi

Director | Struktura krysztalu

Born in 1939 in Warsaw, Poland. Documentary and feature film director. Studied physics at Warsaw University and philosophy at Jagiellonian University in Cracow. Graduated from Lodz Film Academy in 1966. Amateur film maker. His school diploma film 'Death of a Provincial' (Smierc prowincjala (1968)) ...

21. Yôji Yamada

Writer | Tasogare Seibei

Yamada Yoji graduated Tokyo University in 1954, the year he joined Shochiku as an assistant director. In 1969, he launched the popular "Tora-san" series, the world's longest theatrical film series. "The Twilight Samurai" (The Twilight Samurai (2002)) marks his 77th film as well as his 41th year as ...

22. Erick Zonca

Writer | La vie rêvée des anges

Erick Zonca was born on September 10, 1956 in Orléans, Loiret, France. He is a writer and director, known for The Dreamlife of Angels (1998), Julia (2008) and Black Tide (2018).

23. Ronny Yu

Director | Bak fat moh lui zyun

Born in Hong Kong, Ronny Yan-Tai Yu dreamed of making films since he was a child. At only 9 months of age, Yu contracted polio, resulting in a long recovery that prevented him from developing an active childhood and had to spend much time in isolation. To cope with the loneliness, Yu created ...

24. 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. ...

25. Karel Zeman

Writer | Bláznova kronika

Karel Zeman was a Czech film director, screenwriter, and animator. He is primarily remembered for creating fantasy and science fiction films which combined live-action and animation.

In 1910, Zeman was born in the village of Ostromer in Austria-Hungary. The village is located near the town of Nova ...

26. Takahisa Zeze

Director | Akai jôji

Takahisa Zeze was born on May 24, 1960 in Matama, Ôita, Japan [now Bungotakada, Ôita, Japan]. He is a director and writer, known for Akai jôji (1996), Kindan no sono: Za seifuku rezu (1992) and Owaranai sekkusu (1995).

27. Andrzej Zulawski

Writer | Possession

Born in Lvov, Ukraine; then he moved with his father Miroslaw Zulawski to Czechoslovakia and later to Poland. In the late 1950s, he studied cinema in France. In the 1960s, he was an assistant of the famous Polish film director Andrzej Wajda. His feature debut The Third Part of the Night (1971) was ...

28. Yuan Zhang

Director | Kan shang qu hen mei

Yuan Zhang was born in October 1963 in Nanjing, China. He is a director and producer, known for Kan shang qu hen mei (2006), Seventeen Years (1999) and East Palace, West Palace (1996).

29. Yang Zhang

Director | Luo ye gui gen

Yang Zhang was born in 1967 in Beijing, China. He is a director and writer, known for Getting Home (2007), Shower (1999) and Aiqing mala tang (1997).

30. Dervis Zaim

Director | Tabutta Rövasata

Born in 1964 in Famagusta, North Cyprus, Dervish Zaim graduated from Warwick University. He took a course in independent film production, organized in London by the Hollywood Film Institute. In 1995 his first novel won the prestigious "Yunus Nadi" literary prize in Turkey. Tabutta Rövasata (...

31. Sergei Yutkevich

Director | Otello

He has made been famous in the young soviet cinema by his films about Lenin (Lenin in Poland (1966) and others). He had a great international acclaim by his version of Othello (1956) and engaged to the Soviet cinema two French stars: Marina Vlady for Lika in Syuzhet dlya nebolshogo rasskaza (1969) ...

32. Yonfan

Director | Jìyuántái qihào

Yonfan wrote, directed and produced all 14 of his motion pictures.

He was born in Wuhan, China and brought up in Taiwan now lives in Hong Kong. Throughout his career, he gave Maggie Cheung her first on-screen romantic role and made Chow Yun-fat a box-office star, Story of Rose (1985), discovered ...

33. Yu Hyun-mok

Director | Eommawa byeolgwa malmijal

Yu Hyun-mok was born on July 2, 1925 in Sariwon, Hwanghae Province, North Korea. Yu was a director and editor, known for Eommawa byeolgwa malmijal (1995), Salamui adeul (1980) and Ilheobeolin cheongchun (1957). Yu died on June 28, 2009 in Ilsan, South Korea.

34. Nuanxing Zhang

Director | Sha Ou

Nuanxing Zhang was born in 1941 in China. Nuanxing was a director and writer, known for Sha Ou (1981), Sacrificed Youth (1986) and Nan zhong guo 1994 (1994). Nuanxing died on May 28, 1995 in China.

35. Kôzaburô Yoshimura

Director | Anjô-ke no butôkai

Kôzaburô Yoshimura was born on September 9, 1911 in Hiroshima, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Anjô-ke no butôkai (1947), A Night to Remember (1962) and Clothes of Deception (1951). He died on November 7, 2000 in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.

36. Jin Xie

Director | Fu rong zhen

Jin Xie was born on November 21, 1923 in Zhejiang, China. He was a director and writer, known for Hibiscus Town (1987), Legend of Tianyun Mountain (1980) and Two Stage Sisters (1964). He died on October 18, 2008 in Shangyu, Zhejiang Province, China.

37. Mitsuo Yanagimachi

Director | Ai ni tsuite, Tokyo

Mitsuo Yanagimachi was born on November 2, 1945 in Ibaraki, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for Ai ni tsuite, Tokyo (1992), Jukyusai no chizu (1979) and Farewell to the Land (1982).

38. Tizuka Yamasaki

Director | Gaijin - Os Caminhos da Liberdade

Brazilian-born Tizuka Yamasaki, a granddaughter of Japanese immigrants, has lived one of Brazil's most complicated identity crossroads. As a result, Yamasaki's films frequently deal with intersection of gender, race, nationality and ethnicity in Brazilian culture, pushing the question of what it ...