The Best Directors Ever - 2010s

1. Asghar Farhadi

Asghar Farhadi was born in 1972 in Iran. He became interested in cinema in his teenage years and started his filmmaking education by joining the Youth Cinema Society of Esfahan in 1986 where he made 8mm and 16mm short films. He received his Bachelors in Theater from University of Tehran's School of...

2604 points

2. Kore-eda Hirokazu

Director | Manbiki kazoku

Born in Tokyo in 1962. Originally intended to be a novelist, but after graduating from Waseda University in 1987 went on to become an assistant director at T.V. Man Union. Snuck off set to film Mou hitotsu no kyouiku - Ina shogakkou haru gumi no kiroku (1991). His first feature, Maborosi (1995), ...

2599 points

3. 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), ...

2386 points

4. Asif Kapadia

Director | The Warrior

Asif Kapadia is an Academy Award, Grammy and four time BAFTA winning Producer / Director / Writer who works across both film and television. Kapadia is known for his emotional engaging, visually striking, genre breaking films exploring 'outsiders' characters living in extreme circumstances, ...

1866 points

5. 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. ...

1777 points

6. 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 ...

1694 points

7. Andreas Dresen

Director | Halt auf freier Strecke

Andreas Dresen was born on August 16, 1963 in Gera, German Democratic Republic. He is a director and writer, known for Stopped on Track (2011), Cloud 9 (2008) and Grill Point (2002).

1652 points

8. 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 ...

1650 points

9. 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 ...

1613 points

10. 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...

1498 points

11. 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 ...

1466 points

12. 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 ...

1457 points

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 ...

1455 points

14. Thomas Vinterberg

Director | Jagten

With Sidste omgang (1993) (Last Round), his graduation short from The National Film School of Denmark, Thomas Vinterberg got an early taste of critical success. He received the Jury's and Producers' Awards at the International Student Film Fest in Munich and won the 1st Prize at the Tel Aviv Film ...

1374 points

15. 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).

1354 points

16. Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Producer | Bir Zamanlar Anadolu'da

Nuri Bilge Ceylan was born in Istanbul on January 26th, 1959. In 1976, he began studying chemical engineering at Istanbul Technical University, in a context of strong student unrest, boycotts and political polarization. In 1978, he switched courses to Electrical Engineering at Bogazici University. ...

1333 points

17. Damien Chazelle

Writer | La La Land

Damien Sayre Chazelle is an American director and screenwriter. He was born in Providence, Rhode Island. His mother, Celia Sayre (Martin) Chazelle, is an American-Canadian writer and professor of history at The College of New Jersey. His father, Bernard Chazelle, is a French-American Eugene Higgins...

1314 points

18. 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 ...

1312 points

19. 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 ...

1239 points

20. Olivier Nakache

Writer | Intouchables

Olivier Nakache was born on April 15, 1973 in Suresnes, Hauts-de-Seine, France. He is a writer and producer, known for The Intouchables (2011), The Specials (2019) and C'est la vie! (2017).

1217 points

21. Éric Toledano

Writer | Intouchables

Éric Toledano was born on July 3, 1971 in Paris, France. He is a writer and producer, known for The Intouchables (2011), The Specials (2019) and C'est la vie! (2017).

1217 points

22. 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-...

1206 points

23. Wojciech Smarzowski

Writer | Dom zly

Wojciech Smarzowski is a famous Polish screenwriter and director. He studied filmmaking at the Jagiellonian University and the National Film School in Lódz. He started his film career as a video camera operator. He received Polish Academy Award for Best Director for 4 times (2004, 2009, 2011, 2017)....

1191 points

24. 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 ...

1138 points

25. Nadine Labaki

Actress | Et maintenant on va où?

Nadine Labaki was born on February 18, 1974 in Beirut, Lebanon. She is an actress and director, known for Where Do We Go Now? (2011), Capernaum (2018) and Caramel (2007). She has been married to Khaled Mouzanar since October 2007.

1124 points

26. 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).

1098 points

27. 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 ...

1096 points

28. Felix van Groeningen

Director | Beautiful Boy

Felix van Groeningen was born on November 1, 1977 in Gent, Flanders, Belgium. He is a director and writer, known for Beautiful Boy (2018), The Broken Circle Breakdown (2012) and The Eight Mountains (2022).

1068 points

29. Maciej Pieprzyca

Director | Jestem morderca

Maciej Pieprzyca was born on May 5, 1964 in Katowice, Slaskie, Poland. He is a director and writer, known for I'm a Killer (2016), Life Feels Good (2013) and Icarus. The Legend of Mietek Kosz (2019).

1059 points

30. 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 ...

1044 points

31. Todd Phillips

Producer | Joker

Todd Phillips is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter.

Growing up on Long Island, New York, Todd Phillips fell in love with feature film teen comedies made in the 1980s, and claims they were his biggest influence in becoming a filmmaker. While studying film at New York University, ...

1044 points

32. Destin Daniel Cretton

Director | Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Destin Daniel Cretton is an American filmmaker, writer and producer from Haiku, Hawaii. He is known for directing The Glass Castle, I Am Not a Hipster, Short Term 12, Just Mercy and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. He is the second Asian-American filmmaker to direct a Marvel film ...

1044 points

33. 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).

1011 points

34. 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).

981 points

35. 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.

944 points

36. Pawel Pawlikowski

Director | Zimna wojna

A literature and philosophy graduate, with extensive post-graduate work at Oxford on German literature, Polish-born Pawel Pawlikowski started as a documentary filmmaker in British television.

His second feature, Last Resort (2000), earned him international critical acclaim at numerous festivals, ...

937 points

37. Tomasz Sekielski

Director | Tylko nie mów nikomu

Tomasz Sekielski is known for Tell No One (2019), Wladcy marionetek (2010) and Zabawa w chowanego (2020).

882 points

38. Juliano Ribeiro Salgado

Director | The Salt of the Earth

Juliano Ribeiro Salgado is known for The Salt of the Earth (2014), Paris la métisse (2005) and In the Hands of the Gods (2007).

874 points

39. Malik Bendjelloul

Director | Searching for Sugar Man

Malik Bendjelloul, born in Sweden, performed in Swedish TV-series "Ebba och Didrik" as a child in the nineties and later in life studied Journalism and media-production at the Linnaeus University of Kalmar. He has produced several musical documentaries for Swedish Television (SVT) where he also ...

865 points

40. Tom McCarthy

Writer | The Station Agent

Tom McCarthy is an American film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is best known for direct and write The Station Agent (2003), The Visitor (2007), Win Win (2011), and Spotlight (2015), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and was nominated for Best Director.

McCarthy...

856 points

41. Damián Szifron

Editor | Relatos salvajes

Damián Szifron was born on July 9, 1975 in Ramos Mejía, Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is a producer and editor, known for Wild Tales (2014), To Catch a Killer (2023) and Los simuladores (2002).

852 points

42. Yuriy Bykov

Director | Durak

Yuriy Bykov was born on August 15, 1981 in Novomichurinsk, Soviet Union is a Russian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He is best known for directing the social films The Major (2013), The Fool (2014) and the crime TV series The Method (2015).

In 2009, he directed a short film Nachalnik (2009), in ...

837 points

43. 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 ...

836 points

44. 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 "...

836 points

45. Edgar Reitz

Director | Die andere Heimat - Chronik einer Sehnsucht

Studied theatre science, German philology, art history, and publicism in Munich. Published some poems and short stories during early 1950s, co-edited the literature magazine "Spuren". In 1952, he took acting lessons, co-founded a student theatre which became established as the university's studio ...

836 points

46. Lenny Abrahamson

Director | Room

Lenny Abrahamson was born in Dublin in 1966. He studied physics and philosophy at Trinity College Dublin. While at university he directed short videos with the Trinity Video Society, which he co-founded with Ed Guiney. He graduated in 1991 with first class honours (gold medal). His first short film...

833 points

47. Miroslav Terzic

Director | Savovi

Miroslav Terzic was born in 1969 in Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia. He is a director and assistant director, known for Stitches (2019), Redemption Street (2012) and Underground (1995).

833 points

48. 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 ...

831 points

49. Matthew Akers

Cinematographer | Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present

Matthew Akers is known for Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present (2012), David Blaine: Real or Magic (2013) and David Blaine: Beyond Magic (2016).

830 points

50. Adrian Goiginger

Writer | Die beste aller Welten

Adrian Goiginger was born on February 22, 1991 in Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria. He is a writer and director, known for The Best of All Worlds (2017), Rickerl (2023) and The Fox (2022).

828 points

51. Yosef Baraki

Director | Mina Walking

Yosef Baraki is known for Mina Walking (2015), Der Kandidat (2012) and I Do My Work (2020).

828 points

52. Morten Tyldum

Director | Hodejegerne

Morten Tyldum was born on May 19, 1967 in Bergen, Norway. He is a director and producer, known for Headhunters (2011), The Imitation Game (2014) and Passengers (2016).

824 points

53. Nora Fingscheidt

Director | Systemsprenger

Nora Fingscheidt was born on February 17, 1983 in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, Germany. She is a director and writer, known for System Crasher (2019), The Unforgivable (2021) and Ohne diese Welt (2017).

821 points

54. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon

Director | Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Alfonso was born and raised in Laredo, Texas on the US/Mexico border. He received his BFA from NYU and his MFA from AFI. He began his career as personal assistant to Martin Scorsese, Nora Ephron, Robert De Niro and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. He has gone on to direct second unit for Ms. Ephron, ...

820 points

55. 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.

818 points

56. Tony Kaye

Director | Detachment

Tony Kaye was born in London, United Kingdom. He has made several well-known music videos, including the video for "Runaway Train" by Soul Asylum, which won a Grammy Award, "Dani California" by Red Hot Chili Peppers, "What God Wants" by Roger Waters, and "Help Me" and "God's Gonna Cut You Down" by ...

818 points

57. Mehmet Ada Öztekin

Director | Yedinci Kogustaki Mucize

During his university years in Antalya and Izmir, he worked as a manager in private radios. He prepared and presented the radio show "Gamli baykus". After years of radio broadcasting, his passion for cinema made his way to Istanbul. He started working in a production company and met Kaan Çaydamli ...

818 points

58. Banksy

Director | Exit Through the Gift Shop

Banksy is known for Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010), Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) and History of the Wall (2017).

818 points

59. Hwang Dong-hyuk

Writer | Ojing-eo geim

Hwang Dong-hyuk is known for Squid Game (2021), The Fortress (2017) and Silenced (2011).

815 points

60. Ruben Östlund

Director | Triangle of Sadness

Ruben Östlund was born on April 13, 1974 in Styrsö, Västra Götalands län, Sweden. He is a director and editor, known for Triangle of Sadness (2022), Force Majeure (2014) and The Square (2017). He was previously married to Andrea Östlund.

814 points

61. Spike Lee

Director | Do the Right Thing

Spike Lee was born Shelton Jackson Lee on March 20, 1957, in Atlanta, Georgia. At a very young age, he moved from pre-civil rights Georgia, to Brooklyn, New York. Lee came from artistic, education-grounded background; his father was a jazz musician, and his mother, a schoolteacher. He attended ...

813 points

62. Evgeny Afineevsky

Producer | Freedom on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom

Evgeny Afineevsky is an Oscar and Emmy-nominated director, whose current documentary, CRIES FROM SYRIA, was an Official Selection at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. Afineevsky won Best Director and earned nomination for Best Documentary from the Critics' Choice Documentary Awards. He and his film ...

813 points

63. Haifaa Al-Mansour

Director | Wadjda

Haifaa Al Mansour is the first female filmmaker in Saudi Arabia and is regarded as one of the most significant cinematic figures in the Kingdom. She finished her bachelor's degree in Literature at the American University in Cairo and completed a Master's degree in Directing and Film Studies from ...

812 points

64. Zaza Urushadze

Director | Mandariinid

Zaza Urushadze was born on October 30, 1965 in Tbilisi, Georgia. He was a director and writer, known for Tangerines (2013), Ak tendeba (1998) and The Confession (2017). He died on December 7, 2019 in Tbilisi, Georgia.

811 points

65. Dan Gilroy

Writer | Nightcrawler

Dan Gilroy was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Frank D. Gilroy, and sculptor and writer Ruth Dorothy. His brother Tony Gilroy is a screenwriter and director; and his fraternal twin brother, John Gilroy, is a film editor. Through his father, he is of ...

808 points

66. Martin Zandvliet

Director | Under sandet

Martin Zandvliet was born on January 7, 1971 in Fredericia, Denmark. He is an editor and director, known for Land of Mine (2015), Dirch (2011) and Applaus (2009).

808 points

67. 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 ...

807 points

68. 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...

806 points

69. Raoul Peck

Director | I Am Not Your Negro

Raoul Peck was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He is a director and writer, known for I Am Not Your Negro (2016), Lumumba (2000) and Lumumba: Death of a Prophet (1991).

806 points

70. Ferenc Török

Director | 1945

Ferenc Török was born on April 23, 1971 in Budapest, Hungary. He has received Béla Balázs Award, a state recognition for outstanding achievement in filmmaking. Török is a member of the European Film Academy. He is known for Moszkva tér (2001), Szezon (2004), Overnight, (2007), Isztambul (2011) and ...

805 points

71. Darius Marder

Writer | Sound of Metal

Darius Marder is known for Sound of Metal (2019), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012) and Loot (2008). He is married to Liza Cassidy. They have two children.

804 points

72. 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....

804 points

73. Srdan Golubovic

Director | Apsolutnih sto

Srdan Golubovic was born on August 24, 1972 in Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia. He is a director and producer, known for Absolute Hundred (2001), Father (2020) and The Trap (2007).

803 points

74. 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. ...

801 points

75. 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).

801 points

76. Garth Davis

Director | Lion

Garth Davis's work has been recognized in every major award show around the world. His rigorous commitment to detail, cinematic sensibilities and deep appreciation of the actor-director relationship are his trademark. Garth most recently directed Foe for Amazon, based on the novel of the same name ...

801 points

77. 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).

800 points

78. Laura Poitras

Producer | Citizenfour

Laura Poitras was born on February 2, 1964 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. She is a producer and director, known for Citizenfour (2014), The Oath (2010) and My Country, My Country (2006).

800 points

79. Oriol Paulo

Writer | El cuerpo

Oriol Paulo studied audiovisual communication at Pompeu Fabra University and film at the Los Angeles Film School.

As a scriptwriter, he wrote screenplays for small screen films such as Ecos (2006) and Codi 60 (2011), but is best known for his work in series such as Absolute majority (2004) and The ...

796 points

80. Zhangke Jia

Producer | Jiang hu er nü

Zhangke Jia was born on May 24, 1970 in Fenyang, Shanxi, China. He is a producer and director, known for Jiang hu er nü (2018), A Touch of Sin (2013) and Mountains May Depart (2015). He has been married to Tao Zhao since January 7, 2012.

696 points

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 ...

675 points

82. Susanne Bier

Director | Hævnen

Though Academy Award®, Golden Globe Award and Emmy Award winning writer and director Susanne Bier's work often plays out against a wide-reaching global backdrop, its focus is intimate, carefully exploring the explosive emotions and complexities of familial bonds. This unique combination is part of ...

654 points

83. Paolo Sorrentino

Writer | È stata la mano di Dio

Director and screenwriter Paolo Sorrentino was born in Naples in 1970, and and became an orphan when he lost both of his parents at the age of 16. At the age of 25, after studying for a few years at the Faculty of Economics and Business in University of Naples Federico II, he decided to work in the...

650 points

84. 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 ...

647 points

85. Luc Dardenne

Producer | Deux jours, une nuit

Luc Dardenne was born on March 10, 1954 in Awirs, Wallonia, Belgium. He is a producer and director, known for Two Days, One Night (2014), The Kid with a Bike (2011) and The Child (2005).

647 points

86. Greta Gerwig

Writer | Barbie

Greta Gerwig is an American actress, playwright, screenwriter, and director. She has collaborated with Noah Baumbach on several films, including Greenberg (2010), Frances Ha (2012), for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination, and Mistress America (2015). Gerwig made her solo directorial debut ...

645 points

87. 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...

643 points

88. Cãlin Peter Netzer

Producer | Pozitia copilului

Calin Peter Netzer was born on the 1st May 1975 in Petrosani [Petroschen], Romania. His family belongs to the Transylvanian Saxons, a cultural minority of German descent who lives since generations in Romania. He was raised mainly in Cluj [Klausenburg]. Netzer's father was a dentist and emigrated ...

643 points

89. Adam McKay

Producer | Don't Look Up

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 ...

642 points

90. Icíar Bollaín

Director | Te doy mis ojos

Born in Madrid, Iciar Bollain has worked as an actress in films such El Sur (1983), directed by Víctor Erice; Sublet (1991) directed by Chus Gutiérrez, Malaventura (1988) directed by Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón; El Mejor de los Tiempos (1990) and Un Paraguas para Tres (1992) directed by Felipe Vega, ...

642 points

91. 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 ...

622 points

92. 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.

622 points

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.

582 points

94. Tobias Lindholm

Writer | Druk

Tobias Lindholm was born on July 5, 1977 in Næstved, Denmark. He is a writer and director, known for Another Round (2020), The Hunt (2012) and A Hijacking (2012).

581 points

95. Stephen Chbosky

Writer | The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Stephen Chbosky was born on January 25, 1970 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), Wonder (2017) and Rent (2005). He has been married to Liz Maccie since September 18, 2010. They have two children.

581 points

96. John Michael McDonagh

Writer | The Guard

John Michael McDonagh was born in 1967 in London, England, UK. He is a writer and director, known for The Guard (2011), Calvary (2014) and The Forgiven (2021). He has been married to Elizabeth Eves since 2003.

575 points

97. Jay Roach

Director | Trumbo

Jay Roach was born on June 14, 1957 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. He is a producer and director, known for Trumbo (2015), Bombshell (2019) and Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997). He has been married to Susanna Hoffs since April 17, 1993. They have two children.

575 points

98. Barry Jenkins

Producer | If Beale Street Could Talk

Barry Jenkins was born on November 19, 1979 in Miami, Florida, USA. He is a producer and director, known for If Beale Street Could Talk (2018), Moonlight (2016) and Aftersun (2022).

573 points

99. 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...

560 points

100. 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 ...

556 points