Filmographies

1. Alejandro G. Iñárritu

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 ...

Ranking

1 - Birdman 2 - The Revenant 3 - Amores perros 4 - Biutiful 5 - Babel 6 - 21 Grams

2. Charlie Kaufman

Writer | I'm Thinking of Ending Things

Avid reader Charlie Kaufman wrote plays and made short films as a young student. He moved from Massapequa, New York to West Hartford, Connecticut in 1972 where he attended high school. As a comedic actor, he performed in school plays and, after graduation, he enrolled at Boston University but soon ...

Ranking

1 - Synecdoque, New York 2 - Anomalisa

3 - I'm Thinking of Ending Things

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 ...

Ranking

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

4. Cláudio Assis

Director | Baixio das Bestas

Cláudio Assis was born on December 19, 1959 in Caruaru, Pernambuco, Brazil. He is a director and actor, known for Baixio das Bestas (2006), Rat Fever (2011) and Amarelo Manga (2002).

Ranking

1 - Amerelo Manga 2 - Febre do Rato 3 - Baixio das Bestas 4 - Big Jato 5 - Piedade

5. Joel Coen

Producer | The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

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

Ranking

1 - No Country for Old Men [*] 2 - The Big Lebowski [*] 3 - Fargo 4 - Barton Fink 5 - Blood Simple 6 - O Brother, Where Art Thou? 7 - Inside Llewyn Davis 8 - Hail, Caesar! 9 - Miller's Crossing 10 - A Serious Man 11 - True Grit 12 - Raising Arizona 13 - The Ballad of Buster Scruggs 14 - The Man Who Wasn't There 15 - Burn After Reading 16 - The Hudsucker Proxy 17 - The Ladykillers 18 - Intolerable Cruelty

6. 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...

Ranking

1 - No Country for Old Men [*] 2 - The Big Lebowski [*] 3 - Fargo 4 - Barton Fink 5 - Blood Simple 6 - O Brother, Where Art Thou? 7 - Inside Llewyn Davis 8 - Hail, Caesar! 9 - Miller's Crossing 10 - A Serious Man 11 - True Grit 12 - Raising Arizona 13 - The Ballad of Buster Scruggs 14 - The Man Who Wasn't There 15 - Burn After Reading 16 - The Hudsucker Proxy 17 - The Ladykillers 18 - Intolerable Cruelty

7. 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 ...

Ranking

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

8. 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...

Ranking

1 - The Social Network 2 - Zodiac

3 - Fight Club 4 - Seven 5 - The Game 6 - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 7 - Gone Girl

8 - Alien 3 9 - Panic Room

10 - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

11 - Mank

9. 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 ...

Ranking

1 - Eraserhead [*] 2 - Inland Empire 3 - Blue Velvet 4 - Mulholland Drive 5 - The Straight Story 6 - Lost Highway 7 - The Elephant Man 8 - Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me 9 - Wild at Heart 10 - Dune

10. Glauber Rocha

Director | Terra em Transe

He studied Law. He also directed theatre pieces, wrote movie criticisms and took part in the creation and development of the 'cinema novo' movement in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, becoming its theoretical leader and first embassador in Europe. After "Barravento (1962)", a trilogy of films and "Antonio ...

Ranking

1 - Terra em Transe [*] 2 - O Dragão da Maldade Contra o Santo Guerreiro 3 - Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol 4 - Barravento 5 - A Idade da Terra 6 - O Leão de Sete Cabeças 7 - Cabeças Cortadas 8 - Câncer 9 - Claro

11. 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 ...

Ranking

1 - Irréversible 2 - Enter the Void 3 - Love 4 - I Stand Alone 5 - Climax

12. Harmony Korine

Director | Gummo

Harmony Korine was born in 1973 in Bolinas, California. His family moved to the east coast of the United States when he was five, and he spent his early years in Nashville, Tennessee, and New York. At the age of nineteen, he wrote the critically acclaimed screenplay Kids (1995) for director Larry ...

Ranking

1 - Gummo [*] 2 - Mister Lonely 3 - Spring Breakers 4 - The Beach Bum 5 - Trash Humpers 6 - Julien Donkey-Boy

13. James Gray

Director | The Immigrant

Writer/director James Gray made his first film Little Odessa (1994) at the age of twenty-five. The film, which starred Tim Roth, Edward Furlong, Vanessa Redgrave and Maximilian Schell, received critical acclaim and was the winner of the Venice Film Festival's prestigious Silver Lion Award in 1994.

...

Ranking

1 - Little Odessa [*]

2 - The Yards 3 - Two Lovers 4 - We Own the Night

5 - The Immigrant 6 - Ad Astra 7 - The Lost City of Z

8 - Armageddon Time

14. Jean-Pierre Melville

Writer | Le Samouraï

The name "Melville" is not immediately associated with film. It conjures up images of white whales and crackbrained captains, of naysaying notaries and soup-spilling sailors. It is the countersign to a realm of men and their deeds, both heroic and villainous. It is the American novel, with its ...

Ranking

1 - Le Cercle rouge [*]

2 - Le Samouraï 3 - L'Armée des ombres 4 - Bob le flambeur 5 - Le Doulos 6 - Le Silence de la mer

7 - Le Deuxième Souffle 8 - Léon Morin, prêtre 9 - L'Aîné des Ferchaux 10 - Les Enfants terribles

11 - Un flic 12 - Quand tu liras cette lettre

13 - Deux hommes dans Manhattan

15. John Carpenter

Writer | The Fog

John Howard Carpenter was born in Carthage, New York, to mother Milton Jean (Carter) and father Howard Ralph Carpenter. His family moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky, where his father, a professor, was head of the music department at Western Kentucky University. He attended Western Kentucky ...

Ranking

1 - The Thing [*] 2 - Halloween [*] 3 - Assault on Precinct 13 4 - Someone's Watching Me! 5 - Escape from New York 6 - They Live 7 - Christine 8 - Starman 9 - Dark Star 10 - In the Mouth of Madness 11 - The Fog 12 - Elvis 13 - Vampires 14 - The Ward 15 - Prince of Darkness 16 - Memoirs of an Invisible Man 17 - Big Trouble in Little China 18 - Village of the Damned 19 - Ghosts of Mars 20 - Escape from L.A.

16. Joshua Oppenheimer

Director | The Act of Killing

Joshua Oppenheimer was born on September 23, 1974 in Texas, USA. He is a director and producer, known for The Act of Killing (2012), The Entire History of the Louisiana Purchase (1998) and The Look of Silence (2014).

Ranking

1 - The Act of Killing 2 - The Look of Silence

17. Kleber Mendonça Filho

Director | Bacurau

Kleber Mendonça Filho is a Brazilian film director, screenwriter, producer, and critic. With a degree in journalism from the Federal University of Pernambuco, Kleber Mendonça Filho began his career as a film critic and journalist. He wrote for newspapers such as Jornal do Commercio and Folha DE S. ...

Ranking

1 - O Som ao Redor

2 - Bacurau 3 - Aquarius

4 - Retratos Fantasmas 5 - Crítico

18. Lucile Hadzihalilovic

Writer | Innocence

Lucile Emina Hadzihalilovic was born on May 7, 1961 in Lyon, Rhône, France, to Bosnian parents and grew up in Morocco. She studied Art History and Film Directing at the IDHEC. She has been working in film industry since 1980's, as director, editor, writer and actress in both short and feature films...

Ranking

1 - Innocence

2 - Evolution 3 - Earwig

19. 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 ...

Ranking [Fiction Films]

1 - Raging Bull [*] 2 - Taxi Driver [*]

3 - The King of Comedy 4 - Mean Streets 5 - The Age of Innocence 6 - Goodfellas

7 - Casino 8 - The Color of Money 9 - Cape Fear 10 - Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore 11 - After Hours 12 - The Irishman 13 - The Departed 14 - The Wolf of Wall Street 15 - Gangs of New York 16 - The Aviator 17 - Silence 18 - Who's That Knocking at My Door 19 - New York, New York 20 - The Last Temptation of Christ 21 - Killers of the Flower Moon 22 - Bringing Out the Dead 23 - Kundun 24 - Hugo 25 - Shutter Island

26 - Boxcar Bertha

Ranking [Documentaries]

1 - A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies 2 - My Voyage to Italy 3 - No Direction Home: Bob Dylan 4 - George Harrison: Living in the Material World 5 - American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince 6 - Italianamerican 7 - The Last Waltz 8 - Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese 9 - A Letter to Elia 10 - Public Speaking 11 - Shine a Light 12 - The 50 Year Argument

Unseen: New York City... Melting Pot; Street Scenes; Martin Scorsese: Back on the Block; Lady by the Sea: The Statue of Liberty

20. 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. ...

Ranking

1 - Only God Forgives 2 - Drive 3 - Bronson 4 - Pusher 5 - The Neon Demon 6 - Valhalla Rising 7 - Bleeder 8 - Pusher II 9 - Pusher 3 10 - Fear X

21. Orson Welles

Actor | Citizen Kane

His father, Richard Head Welles, was a well-to-do inventor, his mother, Beatrice (Ives) Welles, a beautiful concert pianist; Orson Welles was gifted in many arts (magic, piano, painting) as a child. When his mother died in 1924 (when he was nine) he traveled the world with his father. He was ...

Ranking

1 - Citizen Kane [*] 2 - The Trial [*] 3 - F for Fake [*]

4 - Touch of Evil 5 - Othello 6 - The Other Side of the Wind 7 - Macbeth 8 - Mr. Arkadin 9 - The Lady from Shanghai 10 - The Magnificent Ambersons 11 - Chimes at Midnight 12 - The Stranger 13 - The Immortal Story

22. 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...

Ranking

1 - The Master [*] 2 - There Will Be Blood [*]

3 - Phantom Thread

4 - Inherent Vice 5 - Punch-Drunk Love 6 - Licorice Pizza

7 - Boogie Nights 8 - Magnolia 9 - Hard Eight

* Junun

23. 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...

Ranking

1 - Pulp Fiction [*]

2 - Jackie Brown 3 - Death Proof

4 - Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood 5 - Kill Bill: Volume 1 6 - Kill Bill: Volume 2 7 - Reservoir Dogs

8 - Inglorious Basterds 9 - The Hateful Eight

10 - Django Unchained

24. Ryan Coogler

Director | Black Panther

Ryan Kyle Coogler is an African-American filmmaker and producer who is from Oakland, California. He is known for directing the Black Panther film series, Creed, a Rocky spin-off and Fruitvale Station. He frequently casts Michael B. Jordan in his works. He produced the Creed sequels, Judas and the ...

Ranking

1 - Creed 2 - Fruitvale Station 3 - Black Panther

25. Shane Carruth

Composer | Upstream Color

Writer-director Shane Carruth, a former software engineer, burst onto the independent movie scene with his extremely low-budget science-fiction film Primer (2004) in 2004. Carruth also played one of the two leads in the film and composed its music. "Primer" won the Grand Jury Prize and the Alfred P...

Ranking

1 - Upstream Color 2 - Primer

26. Spike Jonze

Producer | Her

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

Ranking

1 - Being John Malkovich 2 - Her 3 - Adaptation 4 - Where the Wild Things Are

27. 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 ...

Ranking

1 - 2001: A Space Odyssey [*] 2 - Eyes Wide Shut [*] 3 - The Shining [*] 4 - A Clockwork Orange [*]

5 - Barry Lyndon 6 - Full Metal Jacket 7 - Paths of Glory 8 - Dr. Strangelove 9 - The Killing 10 - Killer's Kiss 11 - Lolita 12 - Spartacus 13 - Fear and Desire

28. 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.

Ranking

1 - Shame 2 - Hunger 3 - 12 Years a Slave 4 - Widows

29. 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 ...

Ranking

1 - The Matrix [*]

2 - Speed Racer

3 - The Matrix Reloaded 4 - Bound

5 - The Matrix Revolutions

6 - Cloud Atlas 7 - Jupiter Ascending

30. 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 ...

Ranking

1 - The Matrix [*]

2 - Speed Racer

3 - The Matrix Reloaded 4 - Bound

5 - The Matrix Revolutions

6 - Cloud Atlas 7 - Jupiter Ascending

31. 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 ...

Ranking

1 - Moonrise Kingdom 2 - The Grand Budapest Hotel 3 - The Royal Tenenbaums 4 - Fantastic Mr. Fox 5 - Rushmore 6 - The Life Aquatic of Steve Zissou 7 - Isle of Dogs 8 - Bottle Rocket 9 - The Darjeeling Limited

32. Ana Lily Amirpour

Director | A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

Ana Lily Amirpour was born in Margate, Kent, England, UK. She is a director and writer, known for A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014), The Bad Batch (2016) and Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon (2021).

Ranking

1 - A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night 2 - The Bad Batch

33. Fellipe Barbosa

Director | Gabriel e a Montanha

Fellipe Barbosa was born in 1980 in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He is a director and editor, known for Gabriel and the Mountain (2017), Casa Grande (2014) and Domingo (2018).

Ranking

1 - Gabriel e a Montanha 2 - Casa Grande

* Laura

34. S. Craig Zahler

Writer | Bone Tomahawk

S. Craig Zahler was born on January 23, 1973 in Miami, Florida, USA. He is a writer and director, known for Bone Tomahawk (2015), Dragged Across Concrete (2018) and Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017).

Ranking

1 - Brawl in Cell Block 99 2 - Dragged Across Concrete 3 - Bone Tomahawk

35. Jonathan Glazer

Director | Under the Skin

Jonathan first found fame for his revolutionary work on Radiohead's 'Street Spirit' and Jamiroquai's multi-MTV award winning 'Virtual Insanity' video.

In 1999 he directed the ground-breaking Guinness 'Surfer', which picked up 2 D&AD Black Pencils and the top spot at most of the other awards ...

Ranking

1 - Sexy Beast 2 - Under the Skin 3 - Birth

36. Julian Radlmaier

Writer | Blutsauger

Julian Radlmaier is known for Bloodsuckers - A Marxist Vampire Comedy (2021), A Proletarian Winter's Tale (2014) and Self-Criticism of a Bourgeois Dog (2017).

Ranking

1 - Selbstkritik eines bürgerlichen Hundes 2 - Ein proletarisches Wintermärchen 3 - Ein Gespenst geht um in Europa

37. Joaquim Pedro de Andrade

Director | Macunaíma

Joaquim Pedro de Andrade was born on May 25, 1932 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He was a director and writer, known for Macunaima (1969), Guerra Conjugal (1974) and The Brazilwood Man (1982). He was married to Cristina Aché, Sarah de Castro Barbosa and Ana Maria Galano. He died on September 10, 1988 ...

Ranking

1 - Macunaíma 2 - Os Inconfidentes 3 - O Padre e a Moça 4 - O Homem do Pau Brasil 5 - Contos Eróticos 6 - Guerra Conjugal

* Garrincha, Alegria do Povo

38. 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...

Ranking

1 - La Ciénaga 2 - La niña santa 3 - La mujer sin cabeza 4 - Zama

39. Rogério Sganzerla

Director | O Bandido da Luz Vermelha

Rogério Sganzerla was born on May 4, 1946 in Joaçaba, Santa Catarina, Brazil. He was a director and writer, known for The Red Light Bandit (1968), O Signo do Caos (2005) and A Mulher de Todos (1969). He was married to Helena Ignez. He died on January 9, 2004 in São Paulo, Brazil.

Ranking

1 - O Bandido da Luz Vermelha [*] 2 - Nem Tudo é Verdade [*] 3 - Sem Essa, Aranha 4 - A Mulher de Todos 5 - Copacabana Mon Amour 6 - O Signo do Caos 7 - O Abismo

Documentaries

1 - Isto é Noel Rosa 2 - Tudo é Brasil

* According to Sganzerla's ex-wife, Helena Ignez, in the documentary Mr. Sganzerla: Os Signos da Luz, the original negative of Carnaval na Lama (1970) deteriorated and the only existing copy was given to an exhibition in France and was never returned. The film is still missing. Furthermore, Fora do Baralho (1971) is an unfinished documentary shot in Africa.

40. Affonso Uchoa

Director | Arábia

Affonso Uchoa is known for Araby (2017), Seven Years in May (2019) and The Hidden Tiger (2014).

Ranking

1 - Arábia [co-directed by João Dumans] 2 - A Vizinhança do Tigre

41. Marco Dutra

Writer | Enterre Seus Mortos

Born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil, filmmaker and composer Marco Dutra grew up obsessed with the horror and fantasy genres, and this influence is evident in his films, which bring shadows and ghosts (both real and imagined) into the domestic spaces of middle-class life. In 2017 his genre bending ...

Ranking

1 - Trabalhar Cansa [co-directed by Juliana Rojas] 2 - Quando Eu Era Vivo 3 - As Boas Maneiras [co-directed by Juliana Rojas] 4 - O Silêncio do Céu

42. Juliana Rojas

Director | As Boas Maneiras

The writer and director was born in Campinas, Brazil. Her solo work includes the award-winning short films O Duplo, which won a Special Mention at La Semaine de la Critique in Cannes, and The Passage of the Comet, as well as the feature film Necropolis Symphony, which won the FIPRESCI Prize at the ...

Ranking

1 - Trabalhar Cansa [co-directed by Marco Dutra] 2 - As Boas Maneiras [co-directed by Marco Dutra] 3 - Sinfonia da Necrópole

43. Jafar Panahi

Director | Taxi

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

Ranking

1 - The Mirror 2 - Closed Curtain

3 - The Circle 4 - This Is Not a Film

5 - Offside 6 - The White Balloon

7 - 3 Faces 8 - Taxi 9 - Crimson Gold

44. Richard Ayoade

Writer | Submarine

Richard Ellef Ayoade was born in Hammersmith, and grew up in Suffolk, in England, the son of a Norwegian mother, Dagny Amalie (Baassuik), and a Nigerian father, Layide Ade Laditi Ayoade. He studied Law at Cambridge university, and followed in the footsteps of British Comedy legends like Monty ...

Ranking

1 - The Double 2 - Submarine

* Arctic Monkeys at the Apollo

45. Maya Deren

Director | Meshes of the Afternoon

Maya Deren came to the USA in 1922 as Eleanora Derenkowsky. Together with her father Solomon Derenkowsky, a psychiatrist, and her mother Maria Fidler, an artist, she fled the pogroms organized by the Bolsheviks against the Jews. She studied journalism and political science at the Syracuse ...

Ranking

1 - Meshes of the Afternoon [*]

2 - At Land 3 - Ritual in Transfigured Time 4 - Meditation on Violence 5 - The Very Eye of Night 6 - A Study in Choreography for Camera 7 - Ensemble for Somnambulists 8 - The Private Life of a Cat 9 - Witch's Cradle

46. Gustavo Pizzi

Writer | Riscado

Gustavo Pizzi is a Brazilian director, screenwriter and producer born in Rio de Janeiro. He is best known for the fictional feature films Craft (2010) and Loveling (2018), which premiered at Sundance and was selected to several international film festivals. In 2020, he produced his first TV show, ...

Ranking

1 - Riscado 2 - Benzinho

* Pretérito Perfeito

47. Panos Cosmatos

Writer | Mandy

Panos Cosmatos is known for Mandy (2018), Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010) and Tombstone (1993).

Ranking

1 - Mandy 2 - Beyond the Black Rainbow

48. Ary Rosa

Director | Até o Fim

Ary Rosa is known for Até o Fim (2020), Island (2018) and Café com Canela (2017).

Ranking

1 - Café com Canela

2 - Ilha

3 - Voltei

4 - Até o Fim

49. Glenda Nicácio

Director | Até o Fim

Glenda Nicácio is known for Até o Fim (2020), Island (2018) and Café com Canela (2017).

Ranking

1 - Café com Canela

2 - Ilha

3 - Voltei

4 - Até o Fim

50. F.J. Ossang

Director | 9 doigts

F.J. Ossang was born on August 7, 1956 in Paris, France. He is a director and actor, known for 9 Fingers (2017), Silencio (2007) and Dharma Guns (La succession Starkov) (2010).

Ranking

1 - Dharma Guns (La succession Starkov) 2 - Le trésor des îles chiennes 3 - 9 doigts 4 - Docteur Chance 5 - L'affaire des divisions Morituri

51. Pablo Giorgelli

Director | Las acacias

Pablo Giorgelli was born in 1967 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is a director and writer, known for Las Acacias (2011), Invisible (2017) and La Encomienda (2021).

Ranking

1 - Las acacias 2 - Invisible

52. Jacques Tati

Writer | Playtime

The comic genius Jacques Tati was born Taticheff, descended from a noble Russian family. His grandfather, Count Dimitri, had been a general in the Imperial Army and had served as military attaché to the Russian Embassy in Paris. His father, Emmanuel Taticheff, was a well-to-do picture framer who ...

Ranking

1 - Playtime [*]

2 - Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot 3 - Jour de fête 4 - Mon oncle 5 - Trafic 6 - Parade

53. Kar-Wai Wong

Director | Yi dai zong shi

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

Ranking

1 - In the Mood for Love [*] 2 - Happy Together [*]

3 - Days of Being Wild

4 - Ashes of Time 5 - 2046

6 - Chungking Express 7 - Fallen Angels 8 - The Grandmaster 9 - As Tears Go By

10 - My Blueberry Nights

54. Miguel Gomes

Director | Aquele Querido Mês de Agosto

Miguel Gomes was born in 1972 in Lisbon, Portugal. He is a director and writer, known for Our Beloved Month of August (2008), Arabian Nights: Volume 2 - The Desolate One (2015) and Tabu (2012).

Ranking

1 - Tabu [*]

2 - As Mil e Uma Noites 3 - Aquele Querido Mês de Agosto 4 - A Cara Que Mereces

55. Ruth Beckermann

Director | Die Geträumten

Ruth Beckermann was born in 1952 in Vienna, Austria. She is a director and writer, known for The Dreamed Ones (2016), Mutzenbacher (2022) and Favoriten (2024).

Ranking

1 - Ein flüchtiger Zug nach dem Orient 2 - Return to Vienna

3 - Jenseits des Krieges 4 - Nach Jerusalem 5 - American Passages 6 - Waldheims Walzer 7 - Die Geträumten

8 - The Paper Bridge 9 - Homemad(e) 10 - Mutzenbacher 11 - Zorros Bar Mizwa 12 - Arena besetzt

13 - Those Who Go Those Who Stay

56. Leos Carax

Director | Holy Motors

Leos Carax made several short films and also wrote film criticism, then at the age of 24 years made a very strong first feature Boy Meets Girl (1984). The film played at the 1984 Cannes film festival and was a critical triumph. It paved the way for Carax's second feature Bad Blood (1986) (Bad Blood...

Ranking

1 - Holy Motors [*]

2 - Les Amants du Pont-Neuf 3 - Mauvais Sang

4 - Annette 5 - Boy Meets Girl

6 - Pola X

57. Pierre-Yves Vandeweerd

Director | Le cercle des noyés

Pierre-Yves Vandeweerd is known for Le cercle des noyés (2007), Territoire perdu (2011) and Sida d'ici et de là-bas (1998).

Ranking

1 - Les tourmentes 2 - Territoire perdu 3 - The Eternals 4 - Racines lointaines 5 - Le cercle des noyés

58. Marcelo Gomes

Writer | Cinema Aspirinas® e Urubus

Marcelo Gomes was born on October 28, 1963 in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. He is a writer and director, known for Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures (2005), Viajo Porque Preciso, Volto Porque te Amo (2009) and Waiting for the Carnival (2019).

Ranking

1 - Viajo Porque Preciso, Volto Porque Te Amo [co-directed by Karim Ainouz] 2 - Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus 3 - O Homem das Multidões [co-directed by Cao Guimarães] 4 - Joaquim 5 - Era Uma Vez Eu, Verônica

* Estou Me Guardando para Quando o Carnaval Chegar

59. Paulo Sacramento

Editor | Riocorrente

Paulo Sacramento is known for Riocorrente (2013), O Prisioneiro da Grade de Ferro (2003) and Amarelo Manga (2002).

Ranking

1 - O Prisioneiro da Grade de Ferro 2 - Riocorrente 3 - O Olho e a Faca

60. Petra Costa

Director | The Edge of Democracy

Petra Costa was born on July 8, 1983 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. She is a director and producer, known for The Edge of Democracy (2019), Olmo & the Seagull (2015) and Undertow Eyes (2009).

Ranking

1 - Elena 2 - Olmo e a Gaivota 3 - Democracia em Vertigem

61. Gabriel Mascaro

Writer | Divino Amor

Gabriel Mascaro (1983) is a filmmaker and visual artist from Recife, Brazil. His documentary Housemaids (Doméstica) premiered in competition at IDFA 2012 (Amsterdam). His first feature film, Ventos de agosto (August Winds), premiered in competition at Locarno in 2014 and was awarded with a special ...

Ranking [Fiction Films]

1 - Boi Neon 2 - Ventos de Agosto 3 - Divino Amor

62. António Reis

Writer | Trás-os-Montes

António Reis was born on August 27, 1927 in Valadares, Portugal. He was a writer and director, known for Trás-os-Montes (1976), Ana (1982) and Rosa de Areia (1989). He was married to Margarida Cordeiro. He died on September 10, 1991 in Valadares, Portugal.

Ranking

1 - Ana (1982) 2 - Trás-os-Montes (1976) 3 - Rosa de Areia (1989)

63. Margarida Cordeiro

Editor | Trás-os-Montes

Margarida Cordeiro was born in 1939 in Mogadouro, Portugal. She is an editor and director, known for Trás-os-Montes (1976), Ana (1982) and Rosa de Areia (1989).

Ranking

1 - Ana (1982) 2 - Trás-os-Montes (1976) 3 - Rosa de Areia (1989)

64. Sergio Leone

Writer | Once Upon a Time in America

Sergio Leone was virtually born into the cinema - he was the son of Roberto Roberti (A.K.A. Vincenzo Leone), one of Italy's cinema pioneers, and actress Bice Valerian. Leone entered films in his late teens, working as an assistant director to both Italian directors and U.S. directors working in ...

Ranking

1 - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly [*] 2 - Once Upon a Time in the West [*]

3 - Once Upon a Time in America 4 - For a Few Dollars More

5 - Duck, You Sucker! 6 - A Fistful of Dollars

7 - The Colossus of Rhodes

65. Richard Kelly

Writer | Donnie Darko

James Richard Kelly better known as Richard Kelly, is an American film director and writer, known for writing and directing the cult classic Donnie Darko in 2001. Kelly was born James Richard Kelly in Newport News, Virginia, the son of Lane and Ennis Kelly. He grew up in Midlothian, Virginia, where...

Ranking

1 - Donnie Darko

2 - The Box 3 - Southland Tales

66. Miranda July

Writer | Me and You and Everyone We Know

Filmmaker Magazine rated her #1 in their "25 New Faces of Indie Film" in 2004!

She is a performance artist and published short story writer. Since becoming a filmmaker, her debut feature, Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005) has won several film awards.

Daughter of Lindy Hough and Richard ...

Ranking

1 - Kajillionaire 2 - Me and You and Everyone We Know

3 - The Future

67. Jean Garret

Director | Tchau Amor

Jean Garret was born on April 16, 1946 in Açores, Portugal. He was a director and writer, known for Tchau Amor (1982), O Fotógrafo (1980) and A Força dos Sentidos (1978). He died on April 22, 1996 in São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.

Ranking

1 - A Força dos Sentidos 2 - Mulher, Mulher

3 - A Mulher Que Inventou o Amor 4 - Excitação 5 - Possuídas pelo Pecado

6 - Amadas e Violentadas

7 - O Fotógrafo 8 - Karina, Objeto do Prazer 9 - Gozo Alucinante 10 - Fuk Fuk à Brasileira

11 - Tchau, Amor 12 - Estranho Desejo 13 - O Beijo da Mulher Piranha

14 - Noite em Chamas 15 - Entra e Sai

16 - Meu Homem, Meu Amante

68. Daniel Nolasco

Director | Vento Seco

Daniel Nolasco is known for Dry Wind (2020), Mr. Leather (2019) and Uranus (2013).

Ranking

1 - Vento Seco 2 - Mr. Leather

3 - Paulistas

69. Neville de Almeida

Director | Matou a Família e Foi ao Cinema

Neville de Almeida was born in 1941 in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. He is a director and writer, known for Killed the Family and Went to the Movies (1991), Rio Babilonia (1983) and The Seven Kittens (1980).

Ranking

1 - Jardim de Guerra

2 - Os Sete Gatinhos 3 - Mangue-Bangue

4 - Matou a Família e Foi ao Cinema 5 - A Dama do Lotação

6 - Rio Babilônia

7 - A Frente Fria Que a Chuva Traz 8 - Navalha na Carne

70. Guillaume Brac

Director | Un monde sans femmes

Guillaume Brac is known for A World Without Women (2011), All Hands on Deck (2020) and Tonnerre (2013).

Ranking

1 - A World without Women

2 - Tonnerre 3 - All Hands on Deck 4 - Treasure Island

5 - July Tales

71. Gianfranco Rosi

Director | Fuocoammare

Gianfranco Rosi was born on November 30, 1963 in Asmara, Eritrea. He is a director and cinematographer, known for Fire at Sea (2016), Notturno (2020) and Sacro GRA (2013).

Ranking

1 - Fire at Sea

2 - Below Sea Level

3 - El Sicario, Room 164

4 - Notturno 5 - Sacro GRA

72. Helena Ignez

Actress | Luz nas Trevas: A Volta do Bandido da Luz Vermelha

Helena Ignez was born on May 23, 1942 in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. She is an actress and director, known for Light in Darkness: The Return of Red Light Bandit (2010), Canção de Baal (2007) and The Priest and the Girl (1966). She was previously married to Glauber Rocha and Rogério ...

Ranking

1 - Fakir

2 - Luz nas Trevas: A Volta do Bandido da Luz Vermelha

3 - A Moça do Calendário

4 - Ralé 5 - Canção de Baal 6 - Feio, Eu?

73. Sandra Lahire

Director | Lady Lazarus

Sandra Lahire is known for Lady Lazarus (1991), Serpent River (1989) and Uranium Hex (1987).

Ranking

1 - Serpent River 2 - Lady Lazarus 3 - Uranium Hex 4 - Terminals

5 - Arrows 6 - Plutonium Blonde 7 - Night Dances 8 - Eerie

74. Robert J. Flaherty

Director | Louisiana Story

Robert J. Flaherty was born on February 16, 1884 in Iron Mountain, Michigan, USA. He was a director and writer, known for Louisiana Story (1948), Man of Aran (1934) and Elephant Boy (1937). He was married to Frances H. Flaherty. He died on July 23, 1951 in Brattleboro, Vermont, USA.

Ranking

1 - Man of Aran [*] 2 - Nanook of the North [*]

3 - Louisiana Story 4 - Moana

5 - The Titan: Story of Michelangelo

6 - Elephant Boy

75. Alex Garland

Writer | Ex Machina

Alex Garland is an English novelist, screenwriter, film producer and director. He is best known for the films Ex Machina (2015) and Annihilation (2018).

Garland's others works as a writer includes The Beach (2000), 28 Days Later (2002), Sunshine (2007), Never Let Me Go (2011) and Dredd (2012).

He is ...

Ranking

1 - Ex Machina

2 - Men 3 - Annihilation

76. Pier Paolo Pasolini

Writer | Il Decameron

Pier Paolo Pasolini achieved fame and notoriety long before he entered the film industry. A published poet at 19, he had already written numerous novels and essays before his first screenplay in 1954. His first film Accattone (1961) was based on his own novel and its violent depiction of the life ...

Ranking

1 - Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom [*]

2 - Theorem 3 - The Gospel According to St. Matthew

4 - Accattone 5 - Mamma Roma 6 - Hawks and Sparrows

7 - Oedipus Rex 8 - La rabbia di Pasolini 9 - Love Meetings

10 - Pigsty 11 - The Decameron 12 - Arabian Nights 13 - The Canterbury Tales 14 - Medea 15 - Notes Towards an African Orestes

77. Kelly Reichardt

Director | Wendy and Lucy

Kelly Reichardt was born and raised in Miami-Dade Country, Florida, to a family of police officers. She had an interest in photography from a very young age. She started by using her father's camera, which he used for photographing crime scenes. She went to the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in ...

Ranking

1 - Meek's Cutoff

2 - First Cow 3 - Certain Women

4 - Night Moves 5 - Wendy and Lucy 6 - Showing Up 7 - Old Joy 8 - River of Grass

78. Leon Hirszman

Director | Eles Não Usam Black-Tie

One of the most important Brazilian directors of all time, Leon Hirszman is best remembered for the realistic manner of dealing with social and political themes in his works, from documentaries to feature films. His career started with a segment filmed for Cinco vezes Favela (1962) and The Deceased...

Ranking

1 - They Don't Wear Black Tie [*]

2 - S. Bernardo

3 - The Deceased 4 - ABC of a Strike

5 - Images of the Unconscious 6 - Bahia de Todos os Sambas

7 - The Girl from Ipanema

79. Justine Triet

Director | Anatomie d'une chute

Justine Triet is a graduate from the Paris National School of Fine Arts. Since then, she has directed a couple of films dealing with the place of the individual within a group: Sur place (2007) was shot right in the middle of the 2006 student protest; Solférino (2009) was filmed during the ...

Ranking

1 - Anatomy of a Fall 2 - In Bed with Victoria

3 - Age of Panic

4 - Sibyl

80. Sammo Kam-Bo Hung

Stunts | Ip Man

Born in Hong Kong, Sammo Hung's acting career began while he was training in acrobatics, martial arts and dance as a child at the China Drama Academy, and he received acclaim for his performance with a troupe called "The Seven Little Fortunes." He made his feature film debut as an actor at the age ...

Ranking

1 - Pedicab Driver

2 - Warriors Two 3 - Knockabout 4 - The Prodigal Son

5 - Encounter of the Spooky Kind 6 - Wheels on Meals 7 - Eastern Condors 8 - Enter the Fat Dragon 9 - Blade of Fury 10 - Winners & Sinners

11 - Mr. Nice Guy 12 - The Iron-Fisted Monk 13 - The Victim 14 - The Millionaires' Express 15 - Dragons Forever 16 - Moon Warriors 17 - Carry on Pickpocket 18 - Slickers vs. Killers 19 - Heart of Dragon 20 - My Lucky Stars

21 - The Bodyguard 22 - Spooky, Spooky 23 - Pantyhose Hero

24 - The Owl vs Bombo 25 - Twinkle, Twinkle, Lucky Stars 26 - Don't Give a Damn 27 - Once Upon a Time in China and America 28 - Ghost Punting

81. 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.

Ranking

1 - Down by Law 2 - Mystery Train 3 - Dead Man 4 - Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai

5 - Stranger Than Paradise 6 - The Limits of Control 7 - Paterson 8 - Coffee and Cigarettes 9 - Night on Earth

10 - Broken Flowers 11 - Only Lovers Left Alive 12 - Permanent Vacation 13 - Year of the Horse 14 - Gimme Danger

15 - The Dead Don't Die