Queer Directors

1. Pedro Almodóvar

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 ...

2. Gregg Araki

Writer | Mysterious Skin

Gregg Araki was born on December 17, 1959 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is a writer and director, known for Mysterious Skin (2004), White Bird in a Blizzard (2014) and Kaboom (2010).

3. François Ozon

Director | Dans la maison

François Ozon was born on November 15, 1967 in Paris, France. He is a director and writer, known for In the House (2012), 8 Women (2002) and Swimming Pool (2003).

4. Gianni Amelio

Director | Il ladro di bambini

After school, Amelio studied philosophy. He graduated with a doctorate. Amelio developed a keen interest in film at a young age. In 1970 he began working as a cameraman for the Italian state television RAI. A little later, Amelio worked as an assistant director for RAI. In 1970 he directed his ...

5. Gaspar Noé

Director | Enter the Void

Gaspar Noé is an Argentinian filmmaker and screenwriter who lives in France. He is the son of Luis Felipe Noé, an Argentinian artist. He directed I Stand Alone, Irréversible, Enter the Void, Love, Climax, Carne, Lux Æterna, Sodomites and Vortex. His films are known for having a sensory overload ...

6. 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).

7. 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, ...

8. Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Director | Memoria

Apichatpong Weerasethakul (b. 1970, Bangkok) grew up in Khon Kaen, a city in the north east of Thailand. He has a degree in Architecture from Khon Kaen University and a Master of Fine Arts in Filmmaking from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He has been making films and videos since the ...

9. André Téchiné

Writer | Les roseaux sauvages

André Téchiné was born on March 13, 1943 in Valence, Tarn-et-Garonne, France. He is a writer and director, known for Wild Reeds (1994), Rendez-vous (1985) and Being 17 (2016).

10. Q. Allan Brocka

Writer | Rick & Steve the Happiest Gay Couple in All the World

Q. Allan Brocka's work as a director and screenwriter spans a range of genres in television, animation, live action, documentary, commercial, and feature film. He is best known as the creator, director and showrunner of Rick & Steve the Happiest Gay Couple in All the World, a prime time animated ...

11. Luca Guadagnino

Director | Call Me by Your Name

Luca Guadagnino was born on August 10, 1971 in Palermo, Sicily, Italy. He is a director and producer, known for Call Me by Your Name (2017), Suspiria (2018) and Bones and All (2022).

12. Marco Simon Puccioni

Director | Il filo invisibile

Graduated in Architecture in Rome he gained a Fulbright scholarship and took up studies in film at the California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles. After several short experimental films and documentaries, he made his feature film debut in 2002 with "What you're looking for" (Quello Che Cerchi)...

13. Wash Westmoreland

Director | Still Alice

Hailing from Leeds, England, Westmoreland earned his college degree in Politics at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and soon after moved to America to pursue filmmaking. His 2014 film, "Still Alice," starring Julianne Moore, Kristen Stewart, Alec Baldwin and Kate Bosworth, saw Moore win ...

14. Ferzan Özpetek

Director | La finestra di fronte

He is a Turkish-Italian director, screenwriter and writer. In 1976, he first went to Perugia Foreigners University in Italy, learned Italian for a year, and then transferred to Rome La Sapienza University to study cinema. After completing his education there, he went to Accademia Navona and ...

15. Andrew Haigh

Director | All of Us Strangers

Andrew Haigh is a writer and director. His film work includes Weekend, which premiered at SXSW and won the audience award. 45 Years, premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, won 2 Silver Bears, and received an Academy Award nomination for lead actress Charlotte Rampling. Lean on Pete premiered in ...

16. 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). ...

17. João Pedro Rodrigues

Director | Fogo-Fátuo

João Pedro Rodrigues was born in 1966 in Lisbon, Portugal. He is a director and writer, known for Will-o'-the-Wisp (2022), Morrer Como Um Homem (2009) and The Last Time I Saw Macao (2012).

18. 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).

19. Marco Berger

Director | Ausente

Marco Berger was born on December 8, 1977 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is a director and writer, known for Absent (2011), The Blonde One (2019) and Taekwondo (2016).

20. Bavo Defurne

Director | Noordzee, Texas

Writer-Director Bavo Defurne is best known for _Souvenir_ starring Academy Award Nominee Isabelle Huppert . Defurne encourages his cast and crew to transform the story material into a visually beautiful and expressive tale. Unspoken desire, the human body and nature play a prominent role in his ...

21. Lukas Dhont

Director | Close

Belgian film director and screenwriter. He was featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list in 2019.

Dhont was born in Ghent, Belgium. His mother, Hilbe is a fashion teacher at an art school. He has a younger brother Michiel who is a producer. As a teenager, Dhont worked as a costume design assistant ...

22. Sébastien Lifshitz

Director | Wild Side

Sébastien Lifshitz was born on January 21, 1968 in Paris, France. He is a director and writer, known for Wild Side (2004), Little Girl (2020) and Casa Susanna (2022).

23. Olivier Ducastel

Director | Drôle de Félix

Olivier Ducastel was born on February 23, 1962 in Lyon, Rhône, France. He is a director and writer, known for The Adventures of Felix (2000), Paris 05:59: Théo & Hugo (2016) and Côte d'Azur (2005).

24. Jacques Martineau

Actor | Meatballs III: Summer Job

Jacques Martineau is known for Meatballs III: Summer Job (1986).

25. John Greyson

Director | Lilies - Les feluettes

John Greyson was born in 1960 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is a director and writer, known for Lilies (1996), Zero Patience (1993) and Fig Trees (2009).

26. Fabio Mollo

Director | Il sud è niente

Fabio was born in Reggio Calabria (Italy) in 1980. In 2002 graduated at the University of East London with a BA Honour Bachelor of Arts in Visual Theory, Film History. In 2007 he graduated at the Italian Film School "Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia" in Rome. His work has been selected to ...

27. James Ivory

Writer | Call Me by Your Name

The main part of his few movies were filmed in the quarter of a century in which he worked closely together with the Indian producer Ismail Merchant and the German writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. His first films are all set in India and are very much influenced by the style of Satyajit Ray and Jean ...

28. Isabel Sandoval

Director | Lingua Franca

Isabel Sandoval is known for Lingua Franca (2019), Apparition (2012) and Señorita (2011).

29. John Cameron Mitchell

Actor | Hedwig and the Angry Inch

John Cameron Mitchell was born on April 21, 1963 in El Paso, Texas, USA. He is an actor and director, known for Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001), Shortbus (2006) and How to Talk to Girls at Parties (2017).

30. Lisa Cholodenko

Director | The Kids Are All Right

Lisa Cholodenko earned an MFA at Columbia University Film School where she made an award-winning short film Dinner Party (1997) Her feature High Art (1998) won the National Society of Film Critics award for Ally Sheedy's performance and The Waldo Salt Screenwriting award at Sundance. Both "High Art...

31. Bill Condon

Director | Dreamgirls

Bill Condon was born on October 22, 1955 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a director and writer, known for Dreamgirls (2006), Gods and Monsters (1998) and Kinsey (2004).

32. 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 ...

33. 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 ...

34. Roland Emmerich

Writer | Independence Day

Roland Emmerich is a German film director and producer of blockbuster films like The Day After Tomorrow (2004), Godzilla (1998), Independence Day (1996) and The Patriot (2000). Before fame, he originally wanted to be a production designer, but decided to be a director, after watching the original ...

35. Robin Campillo

Writer | Eastern Boys

Robin Campillo was born on August 16, 1962 in Mohammédia, Morocco. He is a writer and editor, known for Eastern Boys (2013), 120 BPM (2017) and The Class (2008).

36. Jody Foster

Self | WGN Morning News

Author of "The Schmuck in My Office: How to Deal Effectively with Difficult People at Work" (2017).

37. Eytan Fox

Writer | Ha-Buah

Eytan Fox is one of Israel's leading directors. His films-among them Yossi & Jagger, Walk on Water, The Bubble, Yossi and Cupcakes-have been released theatrically in over 30 countries and have won 28 international awards, including from the Berlin Film Festival, the Tribeca Film Festival and the ...

38. Tsai Ming-liang

Director | Qingshaonian Nuozha

Born in Kuching, Malaysia, he graduated from the Drama and Cinema Department of the Chinese Cultural University of Taiwan and worked as a theatrical producer and TV director. His second feature film, Vive L'Amour (1994), won the Golden Lion (best picture) at the 1994 Venice Film Festival. His ...

39. Joe Mantello

Actor | The Normal Heart

Born December 27, 1962 in Rockford, Illinois, US as Joseph Mantello, he is an American actor, director, and producer, best known for his work in Broadway theatre. His mother Judy was of half Italian descent and his father Richard Mantello, an accountant, was of Italian descent. He graduated the ...

40. Laura Muscardin

Director | Billo - Il Grand Dakhaar

Born in Rome. Degree in Modern History from the University of Rome "La Sapienza". In the U.S.A. she was in film classes at U.S.C. and worked as stage manager and assistant director in an independent theater company in N.Y.

From 1992 to 1996 she ran "Gold Mist" an independent production company for ...

41. Francesco Costabile

Director | Una femmina

Francesco Costabile was born in 1980 in Cosenza, Calabria, Italy. Francesco is an assistant director and director, known for Una Femmina: The Code of Silence (2022), Dentro Roma (2006) and La sua gamba (2001).

42. Harry Macqueen

Director | Supernova

Harry was born in Leicester, England and is a British Actor, Writer and Director.

His acting debut came playing 'John Willard' in Richard Linklater's Me And Orson Welles. He is also known for Hinterland and Provenance and played Jed Quinn in the hit British TV show Eastenders. He won 'Best ...

43. Christophe Honoré

Writer | Plaire, aimer et courir vite

Christophe Honoré was born on April 10, 1970 in Carhaix-Plouguer, Finistère, France. He is a writer and director, known for Sorry Angel (2018), Love Songs (2007) and The Beautiful Person (2008).

44. Jonas Poher Rasmussen

Director | Flugt

Jonas Poher Rasmussen was born on May 19, 1981 in Kalundborg, Denmark. He is a director and writer, known for Flee (2021), Searching for Bill (2012) and What He Did (2015).

45. Sebastian Meise

Director | Große Freiheit

Sebastian Meise was born in 1976 in Kitzbühel, Tyrol, Austria. He is a director and writer, known for Great Freedom (2021), Still Life (2011) and Prises de vues (2003).

46. Carmine Amoroso

Writer | Cover boy: L'ultima rivoluzione

Carmine Amoroso was born in 1963 in Lanciano, Abruzzo, Italy. He is a writer and director, known for Cover Boy... Last Revolution (2006), Porn to Be Free (2016) and Dearest Relatives, Poisonous Relations (1992).

47. Nicholas Stoller

Writer | The Muppets

Nicholas Stoller is an English-American screenwriter and director. He is known best for directing the 2008 comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and writing/directing its 2010 spin-off/sequel, Get Him to the Greek. He also wrote The Muppets and directed the Seth Rogen comedy, Neighbors. He is a ...

48. Lilly Wachowski

Writer | The Matrix

Director, writer, and producer Lilly Wachowski was born in 1967 in Chicago, the daughter of Lynne, a nurse and painter, and Ron, a businessman. Lilly was educated at Kellogg Elementary School in Chicago, before moving on to Whitney M. Young High School. After graduating from high school, she ...

49. Lana Wachowski

Writer | The Matrix

Lana Wachowski and her sister Lilly Wachowski, also known as the Wachowskis, are the duo behind such ground-breaking movies as The Matrix (1999) and Cloud Atlas (2012). Born to mother Lynne, a nurse, and father Ron, a businessman of Polish descent, Wachowski grew up in Chicago and formed a tight ...

50. Emanuele Crialese

Writer | Respiro

Although born in Rome in 1965, Emanuele Crialese has Sicilian roots, to which he pays tribute in film after film. In 1991 he leaves for the USA where he studies film direction at New York University. After making several shorts, he directs his first feature-length movie Once We Were Strangers (1997)...

51. Sadie Benning

Director | Flat Is Beautiful

Sadie Benning was born on April 11, 1973 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. She is a director and cinematographer, known for Flat Is Beautiful (1998), It Wasn't Love (1992) and Between Two Ferns: The Movie (2019).

52. Tom Ford

Director | A Single Man

Tom Ford is an American fashion designer, film director, screenwriter and film producer. He gained fame as the creative director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. In 2006, Ford launched his own "Tom Ford" label.

Ford directed the films A Single Man (2009) and Nocturnal Animals (2016), both films were...

53. Ivan Cotroneo

Writer | Mine vaganti

Ivan Cotroneo was born on February 21, 1968 in Naples, Italy. He is a writer and director, known for Loose Cannons (2010), One Kiss (2016) and Kryptonite! (2011).

54. Tom Kalin

Director | Swoon

Tom Kalin is known for Swoon (1992), Savage Grace (2007) and They Are Lost to Vision Altogether (1989).

55. Jennie Livingston

Producer | Paris Is Burning

Jennie Livingston is known for Paris Is Burning (1990), Pose (2018) and Who's the Top? (2005).

56. Lucrecia Martel

Director | La mujer sin cabeza

Born in 1966 in Salta in the North of Argentina,Lucrecia Martel settled down in Buenos Aires where she attended the ENERC (National Film School). She started by directing a few shorts among which Historias Breves I: Rey muerto (1995), which garnered several awards in the international film festival...

57. Frédéric Mitterrand

Director | Lettres d'amour en Somalie

Frédéric Mitterrand was born on August 21, 1947 in Paris, France. He was a producer and director, known for Lettres d'amour en Somalie (1982), Madame Butterfly (1995) and Roberte (1979). He died on March 21, 2024 in France.

58. Ulrike Ottinger

Director | Johanna D'Arc of Mongolia

Ulrike Ottinger was born on June 6, 1942 in Konstanz, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. She is a director and writer, known for Joan of Arc of Mongolia (1989), China. Die Künste - der Alltag. Eine filmische Reisebeschreibung (1986) and Prater (2007).

59. Jeremy Podeswa

Director | Station Eleven

Jeremy Podeswa is an award winning feature film and television director who has been nominated four times for the Best Director Emmy, for HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" and "Game of Thrones" (twice), and for the Tom Hanks/ Steven Spielberg produced "The Pacific". He has also been nominated four times for...

60. Léa Pool

Director | Emporte-moi

Léa Pool was born on September 8, 1950 in Genève, Switzerland. She is a director and writer, known for Set Me Free (1999), The Passion of Augustine (2015) and La femme de l'hôtel (1984).

61. Luca Ragazzi

Actor | L'assedio

Luca Ragazzi is known for L'assedio (1980).

62. Wieland Speck

Director | Westler

Wieland Speck was born in 1951 in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. He is an actor and director, known for Westler (1985), The Sound of Fast Relief (1983) and Escape to Life: The Erika and Klaus Mann Story (2000).

63. Rose Troche

Director | Go Fish

Rose Troche was born in 1964 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She is a director and producer, known for Go Fish (1994), The Safety of Objects (2001) and Bedrooms and Hallways (1998).

64. Agustí Villaronga

Director | El niño de la luna

Agustí Villaronga was born on March 4, 1953 in Palma, Balearic Islands, Spain. He was a director and writer, known for Moon Child (1989), Black Bread (2010) and The Belly of the Sea (2021). He died on January 22, 2023 in Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

65. John Waters

Writer | Pecker

Growing up in Baltimore in the 1950s, John Waters was not like other children; he was obsessed by violence and gore, both real and on the screen. With his weird counter-culture friends as his cast, he began making silent 8mm and 16mm films in the mid-'60s; he screened these in rented Baltimore ...

66. Alice Wu

Director | The Half of It

Studied computer science at MIT and Stanford University, where she received her bachelors and masters degrees. Left a job designing software at Microsoft to write and direct her first film, Saving Face, which premiered at the Toronto and Sundance Film Festivals, where it was acquired and released ...

67. Tony Zosherafatain

Writer | Queer Camp

Tony Zosherafatain is an award-winning director, producer, writer, and actor known for his innovative stories. His work focuses on the ways in which people navigate identity and intersectional issues. He directed, wrote, and hosted the TV series Trans in Trumpland, which was shortlisted for Emmy ...

68. Pappi Corsicato

Director | Libera

Pappi Corsicato was born on June 12, 1960 in Naples, Campania, Italy. He is a director and writer, known for Libera (1993), Black Holes (1995) and Il seme della discordia (2008).

69. Roberta Torre

Director | Tano da morire

After studying philosophy at the University of Milan, he specialized in the Paolo Grassi School of dramatic art in dramaturgy and film direction at the Civic School of Cinema Luchino Visconti. At the same time he participated in the collective workshop Ipotesi Cinema, founded by Ermanno Olmi . Hers...

70. Paul B. Preciado

Director | Orlando, ma biographie politique

Paul B. Preciado was born on September 11, 1970 in Burgos, Castilla y León, Spain. He is an actor and director, known for Orlando, My Political Biography (2023), Fácil (2022) and El sueño de la sultana (2023).

71. Adele Tulli

Writer | Come te nessuno mai

Adele Tulli is known for But Forever in My Mind (1999), Rebel Menopause (2014) and Normal (2019).

72. Alessandro Guida

Producer | Maschile singolare

Alessandro Guida is known for Mascarpone (2021), Ritoccàti (2020) and Pupone (2019).

73. Piotr Domalewski

Writer | Cicha noc

Director, script writer, actor.

He developed his abilities in filmmaking on the set of the famous "Demon", where he was the assistant of director Marcin Wrona. During directing studies at WRiTV in Katowice, he made several short films, awarded at many festivals.

His full-length directorial debut film...

74. Tova Magnusson

Actress | Svart Lucia

Tova Magnusson was born on June 18, 1968 in Sorunda, Stockholms län, Sweden. She is an actress and director, known for Svart Lucia (1992), Rederiet (1992) and Mannen på balkongen (1993). She was previously married to Figge Norling.

75. Christophe Charrier

Director | Jonas

Christophe Charrier is known for I Am Jonas (2018), The Lost Patient (2022) and Boys Band Theorie (2013).

76. Catherine Breillat

Writer | À ma soeur!

Catherine Breillat is a Paris based filmmaker and writer who became famous for her distinctively personal films on sexuality, gender trouble and sibling rivalry. Accused of being a "porno auteuriste", Breillat allowed for an unbiased view of sexuality and extended the language of mainstream movies....

77. Bryan Singer

Director | X-Men

Bryan Singer is an American film director and producer who got his start writing and co-directing the short film Lions Den with his classmates while he attended USC. He was hired by 20th Century Fox to direct X-Men, which helped kick-start the superhero renaissance. He later directed three sequels....