I collected over 20 lists of the best film directors of all time and combined them into one meta-list. Here are the results – every director on at least two of the original source lists, organized chronologically by the director’s birth date. For each director, I have provided country of origin and work, birth and death dates, the number of “Best Director” lists that the person is on and a list of most-highly regarded films. The list of films by each director is also chronological.
Georges Méliès (France, 1861-1938) (on 3 Best Film Directors Lists)
The Four Troublesome Heads (1898)
The Astronomer’s Dream (1898)
A Trip to the Moon (1902)
An Impossible Voyage (1904)
Louis Feuillade (France, 1873-1925) (on 2 lists)
Fantômas (1913-1914)
Les Vampires (1915-1916)
Judex (1917)
D.W. Griffith (US, 1875-1948) (on 14 lists)
The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912)
The Birth of a Nation (1915)
Intolerance (1916)
Broken Blossoms (1919)
True Heart Susie (1919)
Way Down East (1920)
Orphans of the Storm (1921)
Victor Sjöström (Sweden/US, 1879-1960) (on 3 lists)
The Phantom Carriage (1920)
He Who Gets Slapped (1924)
The Wind (1928)
Cecil B. DeMille (US, 1881-1959) (on 6 lists)
The Ten Commandments (1923)
The King of Kings (1927)
Cleopatra (1934)
Samson and Delilah (1949)
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
The Ten Commandments (1956)
Sam Wood (US, 1884-1949) (on 2 lists)
A Night at the Opera (1935)
A Day at the Races (1937)
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
King’s Row (1942)
Pride of the Yankees (1942)
Oscar Micheaux (US, 1884-1951) (on 3 lists)
The Homesteader (1919)
Within Our Gates (1920)
Body and Soul (1925)
God’s Stepchildren (1938)
Erich von Stroheim (Austria-Hungary/US, 1885-1957) (on 6 lists)
Foolish Wives (1922)
Greed (1924)
The Merry Widow (1925)
The Wedding March (1928)
Queen Kelly (1929)
G.W. Pabst (Austria-Hungary, now Czech Republic/Austria/US, 1885-1967) (on 3 lists)
The Joyless Street (1925)
Pandora’s Box (1929)
Diary of a Lost Girl (1929)
Kameradschaft (1931)
The Threepenny Opera (1931)
Michael Curtiz (Austria-Hungary/US, 1886-1962) (on 6 lists)
Captain Blood (1935)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
Casablanca (1942)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
F.W. Murnau (Germany/US, 1888-1931) (on 12 lists)
Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922)
The Last Laugh (Der letzte Mann) (1924)
Faust (1926)
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (1931)
W.S. Van Dyke (US, 1889-1943) (on 2 lists)
The Thin Man (1934)
After the Thin Man (1936)
San Francisco (1936)
Another Thin Man (1939)
It’s a Wonderful World (1939)
Victor Fleming (US, 1889-1949) (on 4 lists)
Red Dust (1932)
Captains Courageous (1937)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Jean Cocteau (France, 1889-1963) (on 3 lists)
The Blood of a Poet (Le Sang d’un poète) (1929)
Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bête) (1946)
Orpheus (Orphée) (1950)
Carl Theodor Dreyer (Denmark, 1889-1968) (on 9 lists)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
Vampyr (1932)
Day of Wrath (1943)
Ordet (1955)
Gertrud (1964)
Charlie Chaplin (UK/US/Switzerland, 1889-1977) (on 16 lists)
The Kid (1921)
The Gold Rush (1925)
The Circus (1928)
City Lights (1931)
Modern Times (1936)
The Great Dictator (1940)
Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
Abel Gance (France, 1889-1981) (on 3 lists)
La Roue (1923)
Napoléon (1927)
J’Accuse (1937)
Fritz Lang (Austria/Germany/US, 1890-1976) (on 15 lists)
Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (1922)
Metropolis (1927)
M (1931)
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933)
Fury (1936)
The Woman in the Window (1944)
Scarlet Street (1945)
The Big Heat (1953)
Ernst Lubitsch (Germany/US, 1892-1947) (on 14 lists)
Trouble in Paradise (1932)
One Hour with You (1932)
Design for Living (1933)
Ninotchka (1939)
The Shop Around The Corner (1940)
To Be or Not To Be (1942)
Heaven Can Wait (1943)
Aleksandr Dovzhenko (Russian Empire, now Ukraine, 1894-1956) (on 3 lists)
Zvenigora (1928)
Arsenal (1929)
Earth (1930)
Aerograd (1935)
Josef von Sternberg (Austria/US, 1894-1969) (on 7 lists)
Underworld (1927)
The Docks of New York (1928)
The Last Command (1928)
The Blue Angel (1930)
Morocco (1930)
Dishonored (1931)
Shanghai Express (1932)
The Scarlet Empress (1934)
The Devil Is A Woman (1935)
Jean Renoir (France, 1894-1979) (on 15 lists)
La Chienne (1931)
Boudu Saved From Drowning (1932)
The Crime of Monsieur Lange (1936)
A Day In The Country (Partie de campagne) (1936)
Grand Illusion (1937)
La Bête Humaine (1938)
The Rules of the Game (1939)
The River (1951)
French Can-Can (1954)
Buster Keaton (US, 1895-1966) (on 11 lists)
Our Hospitality (1923)
Sherlock Jr. (1924)
The Navigator (1924)
Seven Chances (1925)
The General (1927)
Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)
The Cameraman (1928)
John Ford (US, 1895-1973) (on 17 lists)
Stagecoach (1939)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
My Darling Clementine (1946)
Fort Apache (1948)
The Quiet Man (1952)
The Searchers (1956)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
Lewis Milestone (US, 1895-1980) (on 2 lists)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Of Mice and Men (1939)
A Walk in the Sun (1945)
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
Dziga Vertov (Russia, 1896-1954) (on 7 lists)
Man with a Movie Camera (1929)
Howard Hawks (US, 1896-1977) (on 16 lists)
Scarface (1932)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
His Girl Friday (1940)
Ball of Fire (1941)
To Have and Have Not (1944)
The Big Sleep (1946)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
Rio Bravo (1959)
Frank Capra (Italy/US, 1897-1991) (on 10 lists)
It Happened One Night (1934)
Mr. Deeds Goes To Town (1936)
Lost Horizon (1937)
You Can’t Take It With You (1938)
Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939)
Meet John Doe (1941)
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)
Sergei Eisenstein (Russia, 1898-1948) (on 14 lists)
Strike (1925)
Battleship Potemkin (1925)
October (Ten Days the Shook the World) (1928)
Que Viva Mexico! (1932)
Alexander Nevsky (1938)
Ivan the Terrible, Part 1 (1944)
Ivan the Terrible, Part 2 (1946, released 1958)
Kenji Mizoguchi (Japan, 1898-1956) (on 10 lists)
Sisters of the Gion (1936)
The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum (1939)
The Life of Oharu (1952)
Ugestu Monogatari (1953)
Sansho the Bailiff (Sansho Dayu) (1954)
The Crucified Lovers (Chikamatsu Monogatari) (1954)
Street of Shame (1956)
Preston Sturges (US, 1898-1959) (on 9 lists)
The Great McGinty (1940)
Christmas in July (1940)
The Lady Eve (1941)
Sullivan’s Travels (1941)
The Palm Beach Story (1942)
The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944)
Hail The Conquering Hero (1944)
Unfaithfully Yours (1948)
Leo McCarey (US, 1898-1969) (on 2 lists)
Duck Soup (1933)
The Awful Truth (1937)
Make Way for Tomorrow (1937)
The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945)
An Affair to Remember (1957)
Charles Laughton (UK/US, 1899-1962) (on 2 lists)
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
Alfred Hitchcock (UK, 1899-1980) (on 19 lists)
Blackmail (1929)
The 39 Steps (1935)
The Lady Vanishes (1938)
Rebecca (1940)
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Notorious (1946)
Strangers on a Train (1951)
Rear Window (1954)
Vertigo (1958)
North by Northwest (1959)
Psycho (1960)
The Birds (1963)
George Cukor (US, 1899-1983) (on 7 lists)
Dinner at Eight (1933)
Camille (1936)
Holiday (1938)
The Women (1939)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Gaslight (1944)
Adam’s Rib (1949)
Born Yesterday (1950)
A Star Is Born (1954)
My Fair Lady (1964)
Luis Buñuel (Spain/France/Mexico, 1900-1983) (on 15 lists)
Un Chien Andalou (1929)
L’Age d’Or (1930)
Los Olvidados (The Young and the Damned) (1950)
Viridiana (1961)
The Exterminating Angel (1962)
The Diary of a Chambermaid (1964)
Simon of the Desert (1965)
Belle de Jour (1967)
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)
The Phantom of Liberty (1974)
The Obscure Object of Desire (1977)
Douglas Sirk (Germany/US, 1900-1987) (on 9 lists)
Magnificent Obsession (1954)
All that Heaven Allows (1955)
Written On The Wind (1956)
There’s Always Tomorrow (1956)
The Tarnished Angels (1957)
Imitation of Life (1959)
Walt Disney (US, 1901-1966) (on 3 lists)
Steamboat Willie (1928)
Plane Crazy (1928)
The Skeleton Dance (1929)
The Golden Touch (1935)
Vittorio De Sica (Italy/France, 1901-1974) (on 6 lists)
The Children Are Watching Us (1944)
Shoeshine (1946)
Bicycle Thieves (1949)
Miracle in Milan (1951)
Umberto D. (1952)
Two Women (1960)
Marriage, Italian Style (1964)
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1970)
Robert Bresson (France, 1901-1999) (on 10 lists)
Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne (1945)
Diary of a Country Priest (1951)
A Man Escaped (1956)
Pickpocket (1959)
Au Hasard Balthazar (1966)
Mouchette (1967)
A Gentle Woman (1969)
L’Argent (1983)
Max Ophüls (Germany/US/France, 1902-1957) (on 10 lists)
Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)
The Reckless Moment (1949)
Caught (1949)
La Ronde (1950)
The Earrings of Madame de.. (1953)
Lola Montès (1955)
William Wyler (Germany/US, 1902-1981) (on 8 lists)
Dodsworth (1936)
Jezebel (1938)
Wuthering Heights (1939)
The Letter (1940)
The Little Foxes (1941)
Mrs. Miniver (1942)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
The Heiress (1949)
Roman Holiday (1953)
The Big Country (1958)
Ben-Hur (1959)
Leni Riefenstahl (Germany, 1902-2003) (on 5 lists)
The Blue Light (1932)
Triumph of the Will (1935)
Olympia, Part One: Festival of the Nations (1938)
Olympia, Part Two: Festival of Beauty (1938)
Yasujiro Ozu (Japan, 1903-1963) (on 11 lists)
I Was Born, But… (1932)
Late Spring (1949)
Early Summer (1951)
Tokyo Story (1953)
Good Morning (1959)
Late Autumn (1960)
The End of Summer (1961)
An Autumn Afternoon (1962)
Vincente Minnelli (US, 1903-1986) (on 10 lists)
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
An American in Paris (1951)
The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
The Band Wagon (1953)
Lust For Life (1956)
Some Came Running (1958)
George Stevens (US, 1904-1975) (on 3 lists)
Swing Time (1936)
Gunga Din (1939)
Penny Serenade (1941)
Woman of the Year (1942)
A Place in the Sun (1951)
Shane (1953)
Giant (1956)
Jacques Tourneur (France/US, 1904-1977) (on 3 lists)
Cat People (1942)
I Walked with a Zombie (1943)
The Leopard Man (1943)
Out of the Past (1947)
The Flame and the Arrow (1950)
Nightfall (1957)
Night of the Demon (Curse of the Demon) (1958)
Jean Vigo (France, 1905-1934) (on 5 lists)
A Propos de Nice (1930)
Zéro de conduite (1933)
L’Atalante (1934)
Otto Preminger (Austria-Hungary/US, 1905-1986) (on 6 lists)
Laura (1944)
Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950)
The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
Exodus (1960)
Advise & Consent (1962)
Michael Powell (UK, 1905-1990) (on 12 lists)
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (with Emeric Pressburger) (1943)
A Canterbury Tale (with Emeric Pressburger) (1944)
I Know Where I’m Going (with Emeric Pressburger) (1945)
A Matter of Life and Death (Stairway to Heaven) (with Emeric Pressburger) (1946)
Black Narcissus (with Emeric Pressburger) (1947)
The Red Shoes (with Emeric Pressburger) (1948)
Peeping Tom (1960)
Luchino Visconti (Italy, 1906-1976) (on 9 lists)
Ossessione (1943)
La Terra Trema (1948)
Senso (1954)
Rocco and His Brothers (1960)
The Leopard (1963)
The Damned (1969)
Death in Venice (1971)
Carol Reed (UK, 1906-1976) (on 3 lists)
Night Train to Munich (1940)
Odd Man Out (1947)
The Fallen Idol (1948)
The Third Man (1949)
Roberto Rossellini (Italy, 1906-1977) (on 8 lists)
Rome, Open City (1945)
Paisan (1946)
Germany, Year Zero (1947)
The Flowers of St. Francis (1950)
Europa ’51 (1952)
Journey to Italy (Voyage in Italy) (1954)
The Rise to Power of Louis XIV (1966)
John Huston (US, 1906-1987) (on 13 lists)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Key Largo (1948)
The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
The African Queen (1951)
The Misfits (1961)
Fat City (1972)
The Man Who Would Be King (1975)
The Dead (1987)
Billy Wilder (Austria/Germany/US, 1906-2002) (on 12 lists)
Double Indemnity (1944)
The Lost Weekend (1945)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Ace in the Hole (The Big Carnival) (1951)
Stalag 17 (1953)
Sabrina (1954)
The Seven Year Itch (1955)
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
The Apartment (1960)
One, Two, Three (1961)
The Fortune Cookie (1966)
Henri-Georges Clouzot (France, 1907-1977) (on 5 lists)
Le Corbeau (1943)
Quai des Orfevres (1947)
The Wages of Fear (1953)
Diabolique (1955)
Laurence Olivier (UK, 1907-1989) (on 3 lists)
Henry V (1944)
Hamlet (1948)
Richard III (1955)
Fred Zinnemann (Poland/Austria/Germany/France/US, 1907-1997) (on 5 lists)
The Search (1948)
The Men (1950)
High Noon (1952)
From Here to Eternity (1953)
The Nun’s Story (1959)
A Man for All Seasons (1966)
Jacques Tati (France, 1908-1982) (on 6 lists)
Jour de Fete (1952)
Mr. Hulot’s Holiday (1953)
Mon Oncle (1958)
Playtime (1967)
Traffic (1972)
David Lean (UK, 1908-1991) (on 13 lists)
Brief Encounter (1945)
Great Expectations (1946)
Oliver Twist (1948)
Hobson’s Choice (1954)
Summertime (1955)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Doctor Zhivago (1965)
Ryan’s Daughter (1970)
A Passage to India (1984)
Joseph L. Mankiewicz (US, 1909-1993) (on 5 lists)
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)
A Letter to Three Wives (1949)
House of Strangers (1949)
All About Eve (1950)
Julius Caesar (1953)
The Barefoot Contessa (1954)
Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)
Sleuth (1972)
Elia Kazan (Turkey/US, 1909-2003) (on 11 lists)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
Gentlemen’s Agreement (1947)
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
On the Waterfront (1954)
East of Eden (1955)
Baby Doll (1956)
A Face in the Crowd (1957)
Wild River (1960)
Splendor in the Grass (1961)
America, America (1963)
Akira Kurosawa (Japan, 1910-1998) (on 18 lists)
Rashomon (1950)
Ikiru (1952)
Seven Samurai (1954)
Throne of Blood (1957)
Yojimbo (1961)
High and Low (1963)
Red Beard (1965)
Ran (1985)
Nicholas Ray (US, 1911-1979) (on 7 lists)
They Live By Night (1948)
In A Lonely Place (1950)
On Dangerous Ground (1951)
The Lusty Men (1952)
Johnny Guitar (1954)
Rebel Without A Cause (1955)
Bigger than Life (1956)
Samuel Fuller (US, 1912-1977) (on 5 lists)
The Steel Helmet (1951)
Pickup on South Street (1953)
Shock Corridor (1963)
The Naked Kiss (1964)
The Big Red One (1980)
White Dog (1982)
Gene Kelly (US, 1912-1996) (on 3 lists)
On the Town (with Stanley Donen) (1949)
Singin’ in the Rain (with Stanley Donen) (1952)
It’s Always Fair Weather (with Stanley Donen) (1955)
Invitation to the Dance (1952, released 1956)
Gordon Parks (US, 1912-2006) (on 3 lists)
The Learning Tree (1969)
Shaft (1971)
Michelangelo Antonioni (Italy, 1912-2007) (on 10 lists)
Story of a Love Affair (1950)
L’Avventura (1960)
La Notte (1961)
L’Eclisse (1962)
Red Desert (1964)
Blow-Up (1966)
The Passenger (1975)
Stanley Kramer (US, 1913-2001) (on 3 lists)
The Defiant Ones (1958)
Inherit the Wind (1960)
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967)
Robert Wise (US, 1914-2005) (on 5 lists)
Born to Kill (1947)
The Set-Up (1949)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
I Want to Live! (1958)
Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)
West Side Story (with Jerome Robbins) (1961)
The Haunting (1963)
The Sound of Music (1965)
The Andromeda Strain (1971)
Orson Welles (US, 1915-1985) (on 19 lists)
Citizen Kane (1941)
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
The Stranger (1946)
The Lady From Shanghai (1947)
Othello (1952)
Touch of Evil (1958)
The Trial (1962)
Chimes at Midnight (1966)
F for Fake (1973)
Maya Deren (Ukraine/US, 1917-1961) (on 2 lists)
Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)
At Land (1944)
A Study in Choreography for Camera (1945)
Ritual in Transfigured Time (1946)
Jean-Pierre Melville (France, 1917-1973) (on 5 lists)
Les Enfants Terrible (1950)
Bob le Flambeur (1956)
Le Doulos (1961)
Le Deuxieme Souffle (1966)
Le Samouraï (1967)
Army of Shadows (1969)
Le Cercle Rouge (1970)
Un Flic (Dirty Money) (1972)
Jean Rouch (France/Niger, 1917-2004) (on 2 lists)
Moi, un noir (Me, a Black) (1958)
Chronicle of a Summer (1961)
Robert Aldrich (US, 1918-1983) (on 5 lists)
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Attack! (1956)
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
The Dirty Dozen (1967)
Ida Lupino (UK/US, 1918-1995) (on 5 lists)
Outrage (1950)
The Bigamist (1953)
The Hitch-Hiker (1953)
Ingmar Bergman (Sweden, 1918-2007) (16)
The Seventh Seal (1957)
Wild Strawberries (1957)
The Virgin Spring (1960)
Through a Glass Darkly (1961)
Winter Light (1962)
The Silence (1963)
Persona (1966)
Cries and Whispers (1972)
Autumn Sonata (1978)
Fanny and Alexander (1982)
Shirley Clarke (US, 1919-1997) (on 2 lists)
The Connection (1960)
The Cool World (1963)
Portrait of Jason (1966)
Federico Fellini (Italy, 1920-1993) (on 18 lists)
I Vitelloni (1953)
La Strada (1954)
Nights of Cabiria (1957)
La Dolce Vita (1960)
8 ½ (1963)
Juliet of the Spirits (1965)
Fellini Satyricon (1969)
Roma (1972)
Amarcord (1973)
Eric Rohmer (France, 1920-2010) (on 6 lists)
My Night at Maud’s (1969)
Claire’s Knee (1970)
Chloe in the Afternoon (1972)
Perceval le Gallois (1978)
The Aviator’s Wife (1981)
Pauline at the Beach (1983)
The Green Ray (Summer) (1986)
Boyfriends and Girlfriends (1987)
A Tale of Winter (1992)
An Autumn Tale (1998)
Sergio Leone (Italy, 1921-1989) (on 11 lists)
The Colossus of Rhodes (1961)
A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
For a Few Dollars More (1965)
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (1966)
Once Upon A Time in The West (1968)
Duck, You Sucker! (1971)
Once Upon A Time in America (1984)
Satyajit Ray (India, 1921-1992) (on 13 lists)
Pather Panchali (1955)
Aparijito (The Unvanquished) (1956)
The Music Room (1958)
The World of Apu (1959)
Devi (1960)
The Big City (Mahangar) (1963)
The Lonely Wife (Charulata) (1964)
Hero (Nayak) (1966)
Days and Nights in the Forest (1970)
George Roy Hill (US, 1921-2002) (on 4 lists)
Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Slaughterhouse-Five (1972)
The Sting (1973)
Slap Shot (1977)
The World According to Garp (1982)
Chris Marker (France, 1921-2012) (on 4 lists)
La Jetée (1962)
Le Joli Mai (1963)
A Grin Without a Cat (1977)
Sans Soleil (1983)
AK (1985)
Pier Paolo Pasolini (Italy, 1922-1975) (on 7 lists)
Accattone (1961)
Mamma Roma (1962)
The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964)
The Hawks and Sparrows (1966)
Teorema (1968)
The Decameron (1971)
Arabian Nights (1974)
Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
Arthur Penn (US, 1922-2010) (on 3 lists)
The Miracle Worker (1962)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Little Big Man (1970)
Night Moves (1975)
Alain Resnais (France, 1922-2014) (on 11 lists)
Night and Fog (1955)
Hiroshima, Mon Amour (1959)
Last Year at Marienbad (1961)
Muriel, or The Time of Return (1963)
Providence (1977)
Mon Oncle d’Amerique (1980)
Ousmane Sembène (Senegal, 1923-2007) (on 5 lists)
Borom Sarret (1963)
Black Girl (1966)
Mandabi (1968)
Xala (1975)
Ceddo (1977)
Guelwaar (1992)
Moolaadé (2004)
Sidney Lumet (US, 1924-2011) (on 10 lists)
12 Angry Men (1957)
Long Day’s Journey into Night (1962)
The Pawnbroker (1964)
Fail Safe (1964)
The Hill (1965)
Serpico (1973)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Network (1976)
Prince of the City (1981)
The Verdict (1982)
Running on Empty (1988)
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007)
Stanley Donen (US, 1924- ) (on 6 lists)
Royal Wedding (1951)
Singin’ in the Rain (with Gene Kelly) (1952)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
Funny Face (1957)
Indiscreet (1958)
Charade (1963)
Two for the Road (1967)
Sam Peckinpah (US, 1925-1984) (on 10 lists)
Ride The High Country (1962)
The Wild Bunch (1969)
The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970)
Straw Dogs (1971)
The Getaway (1972)
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)
Cross of Iron (1977)
Robert Altman (US, 1925-2006) (on 11 lists)
MASH (1970)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
The Long Goodbye (1973)
Nashville (1975)
3 Women (1977)
The Player (1992)
Short Cuts (1993)
Gosford Park (2001)
Albert Maysles (US, 1926-1987) & David Maysles (US, 1931-2015) (on 4 lists)
Salesman (1968)
Gimme Shelter (1970)
Grey Gardens (1975)
John Schlesinger (UK, 1926-2003) (on 5 lists)
Billy Liar (1963)
Darling (1965)
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)
Shohei Imamura (Japan, 1926-2006) (on 2 lists)
Pigs and Battleships (1961)
The Insect Woman (1963)
The Pornographers (1966)
Vengeance Is Mine (1979)
The Ballad of Narayama (1983)
Mel Brooks (US, 1926- ) (on 6 lists)
The Producers (1968)
Blazing Saddles (1974)
Young Frankenstein (1974)
Silent Movie (1976)
High Anxiety (1977)
History of the World, Part 1 (1981)
Spaceballs (1987)
Andrzej Wajda (Poland, 1926- ) (on 5 lists)
Kanal (1957)
Ashes and Diamonds (1958)
The Promised Land (1975)
Man of Marble (1977)
Katyn (2007)
Jerry Lewis (US, 1926- ) (on 2 lists)
The Bellboy (1960)
The Ladies Man (1961)
The Nutty Professor (1963)
The Patsy (1964)
Ken Russell (UK, 1927-2011) (on 3 lists)
Women in Love (1969)
The Music Lovers (1970)
The Devils (1971)
Tommy (1975)
Altered States (1980)
The Lair of the White Worm (1988)
Tomás Gutiérrez Alea (Cuba, 1928-1996) (on 2 lists)
Death of a Bureaucrat (1966)
Memories of Underdevelopment (1968)
The Last Supper (1976)
Alan J. Pakula (US, 1928-1998) (on 2 lists)
Klute (1971)
The Parallax View (1974)
All the President’s Men (1976)
Sophie’s Choice (1982)
Presumed Innocent (1990)
Stanley Kubrick (US, 1928-1999) (on 18 lists)
The Killing (1956)
Paths of Glory (1957)
Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Barry Lyndon (1975)
The Shining (1980)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Jacques Rivette (France, 1928- 2016) (on 2 lists)
L’Amour fou (Mad Love) (1968)
Out 1: Noli Me Tangere (1971)
Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974)
La Belle Noiseuse (1991)
Agnès Varda (France, 1928- ) (on 7 lists)
Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962)
Vagabond (1985)
Jacquot de Nantes (1991)
The Gleaners and I (2000)
Nicolas Roeg (UK, 1928- ) (on 5 lists)
Performance (w/ Donald Cammell) (1970)
Walkabout (1971)
Don’t Look Now (1973)
The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession (1980)
The Witches (1990)
Hal Ashby (US, 1929-1988) (on 2 lists)
Harold and Maude (1971)
The Last Detail (1973)
Shampoo (1975)
Coming Home (1978)
Being There (1979)
John Cassavetes (US, 1929-1989) (on 11 lists)
Shadows (1959)
Faces (1968)
Husbands (1970)
Minnie and Moskowitz (1971)
A Woman under the Influence (1974)
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)
Opening Night (1977)
Love Streams (1984)
Vera Chytilová (Czechoslovakia, now Czech Republic, 1929-2014) (on 3 lists)
Something Different (1963)
Daisies (1966)
Fruit of Paradise (1970)
John Frankenheimer (US, 1930-2002) (on 3 lists)
Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Seven Days in May (1964)
The Train (1964)
Seconds (1966)
Claude Chabrol (France, 1930-2010) (on 3 lists)
The Cousins (Les Cousins) (1958)
Les Bonnes Femmes (The Good Girls) (1960)
This Man Must Die (The Beast Must Die) (1969)
The Unfaithful Wife (1969)
Le Boucher (The Butcher) (1970)
La Cérèmonie (1995)
Jean-Luc Godard (France, 1930- ) (on 13 lists)
Breathless (À bout de souffle) (1960)
Vivre sa vie (My Life to Live) (1962)
Contempt (1963)
Band of Outsiders (Bande à part) (1964)
Alphaville (1965)
Pierrot le Fou (1965)
Two or Three Things I Know About Her (1967)
Weekend (1967)
Clint Eastwood (US, 1930- ) (on 8 lists)
Play Misty for Me (1971)
High Plains Drifter (1973)
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
Pale Rider (1985)
Unforgiven (1992)
A Perfect World (1993)
The Bridges of Madison County (1995)
Mystic River (2003)
Million Dollar Baby (2004)
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
Frederick Wiseman (US, 1930- ) (on 2 lists)
Titicut Follies (1967)
High School (1968)
Welfare (1975)
Mike Nichols (Germany/US, 1931-2014) (on 5 lists)
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
The Graduate (1967)
Catch-22 (1970)
Carnal Knowledge (1971)
Silkwood (1983)
Working Girl (1988)
Postcards from the Edge (1990)
The Birdcage (1996)
Primary Colors (1998)
Closer (2004)
Francois Truffaut (France, 1932-1984) (on 14 lists)
The 400 Blows (1959)
Shoot the Piano Player (1960)
Jules and Jim (1962)
Soft Skin (La Peau douce) (1964)
Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
Stolen Kisses (1968)
The Wild Child (1970)
Two English Girls (1971)
Day for Night (1973)
The Last Metro (1980)
Andrei Tarkovsky (USSR, 1932-1986) (on 12 lists)
Ivan’s Childhood (1962)
Andrei Rublev (1966)
Solaris (1972)
The Mirror (1975)
Stalker (1979)
The Sacrifice (1986)
Louis Malle (France/US, 1932-1995) (on 5 lists)
The Lovers (1958)
Elevator to the Gallows (1958)
The Fire Within (1963)
Murmur of the Heart (1971)
Lacombe, Lucien (1974)
Atlantic City (1980)
My Dinner with Andre (1982)
Au Revoir, Les Enfants (1987)
Nagisa Oshima (Japan, 1932-2013) (on 3 lists)
Violence at Noon (1966)
Death by Hanging (1968)
Boy (1969)
The Ceremony (1971)
In the Realm of the Senses (1976)
Miloš Forman (Czechoslovakia/US, 1932- ) (on 7 lists)
Loves of a Blonde (1965)
The Fireman’s Ball (1967)
Taking Off (1971)
One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
Amadeus (1984)
The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996)
Melvin van Peebles (US, 1932- ) (on 3 lists)
Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971)
Roman Polanski (Poland/France/US, 1933- ) (on 12 lists)
Knife in the Water (1962)
Repulsion (1965)
Cul-de-sac (1966)
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Chinatown (1974)
The Tenant (1976)
Tess (1981)
Death and the Maiden (1994)
The Pianist (2002)
Woody Allen (US, 1935- ) (on 15 lists)
Sleeper (1973)
Love and Death (1975)
Annie Hall (1977)
Manhattan (1979)
Stardust Memories (1980)
Zelig (1983)
Broadway Danny Rose (1984)
The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Radio Days (1987)
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
Husbands and Wives (1992)
Midnight in Paris (2011)
William Friedkin (US, 1935- ) (on 2 lists)
The French Connection (1971)
The Exorcist (1973)
Cruising (1980)
To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)
Killer Joe (2011)
Ken Loach (UK, 1936- ) (on 3 lists)
Kes (1969)
Land and Freedom (1996)
The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006)
Looking for Eric (2009)
Ridley Scott (UK, 1937- ) (on 10 lists)
The Duellists (1977)
Alien (1979)
Blade Runner (1982)
Thelma & Louise (1991)
Legend (1985)
Gladiator (2000)
Black Hawk Down (2001)
Kingdom of Heaven (Director’s Cut) (2006)
American Gangster (2007)
Prometheus (2012)
Francis Ford Coppola (US, 1939- ) (on 15 lists)
The Godfather (1972)
The Conversation (1974)
The Godfather, Part II (1974)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
The Outsiders (1983)
Rumble Fish (1983)
Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988)
The Godfather, Part III (1990)
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
The Rainmaker (1997)
Abbas Kiarostami (Iran, 1940-2016) (on 8 lists)
Where is My Friend’s House? (1987)
Close-Up (1990)
Life and Nothing More…/And Life Goes On… (1992)
Through the Olive Trees (1994)
Taste of Cherry (1997)
The Wind Will Carry Us (1999)
Ten (2002)
Certified Copy (2010)
Brian De Palma (US, 1940- ) (on 7 lists)
Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
Carrie (1976)
Dressed to Kill (1980)
Blow Out (1981)
Scarface (1983)
Body Double (1984)
The Untouchables (1987)
Carlito’s Way (1993)
Bernardo Bertolucci (Italy, 1940- ) (on 7 lists)
Before the Revolution (1964)
The Conformist (1970)
The Spider’s Strategem (1970)
Last Tango In Paris (1972)
1900 (1976)
The Last Emperor (1987)
Stealing Beauty (1996)
The Dreamers (2003)
Terry Gilliam (US, 1940- ) (on 6 lists)
Time Bandits (1981)
Brazil (1985)
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)
The Fisher King (1991)
Twelve Monkeys (1995)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
Krzysztof Kieślowski (Poland, 1941-1996) (on 6 lists)
The Decalogue (1988)
The Double Life of Veronique (1991)
Three Colors: Blue (1993)
Three Colors: White (1993)
Three Colors: Red (1994)
Hayao Miyazaki (Japan, 1941- ) (on 5 lists)
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
Castle in the Sky (1986)
My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)
Porco Rosso (1992)
Princess Mononoke (1997)
Spirited Away (2001)
Derek Jarman (UK, 1942-1994) (on 2 lists)
Jubilee (1978)
Caravaggio (1986)
The Last of England (1987)
Edward II (1991)
Blue (1993)
Martin Scorsese (US, 1942- ) (on 19 lists)
Mean Streets (1973)
Taxi Driver (1976)
Raging Bull (1980)
The King of Comedy (1982)
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
Goodfellas (1990)
Casino (1995)
Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
The Aviator (2004)
The Departed (2006)
Werner Herzog (Germany, 1942- ) (on 11 lists)
Even Dwarfs Started Small (1970)
Land of Silence and Darkness (1971)
Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974)
Stroszek (1977)
Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)
Fitzcarraldo (1982)
Lessons of Darkness (1992)
Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997)
My Best Fiend: Klaus Kinski (1999)
Grizzly Man (2005)
Rescue Dawn (2006)
Encounters at the End of the World (2007)
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009)
Michael Haneke (Austria, 1942- ) (on 4 lists)
Funny Games (1997)
The Piano Teacher (2001)
Caché (Hidden) (2005)
The White Ribbon (2009)
Amour (2012)
Terrence Malick (US, 1943- ) (on 11 lists)
Badlands (1973)
Days of Heaven (1978)
The Thin Red Line (1998)
The New World (2005)
The Tree of Life (2011)
David Cronenberg (Canada, 1943- ) (on 9 lists)
Rabid (1977)
The Brood (1979)
Scanners (1981)
Videodrome (1983)
The Dead Zone (1983)
The Fly (1986)
Dead Ringers (1988)
Naked Lunch (1991)
Crash (1996)
Existenz (1999)
Spider (2002)
A History of Violence (2005)
Eastern Promises (2007)
Mike Leigh (UK, 1943- ) (on 3 lists)
High Hopes (1988)
Life is Sweet (1990)
Naked (1993)
Secrets and Lies (1996)
Vera Drake (2004)
Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)
Another Year (2010)
Michael Mann (US, 1943- ) (on 3 lists)
Thief (1981)
Manhunter (1987)
The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
Heat (1995)
The Insider (1999)
Jonathan Demme (US, 1944-2017) (on 7 lists)
Caged Heat (1974)
Citizens Band (1977)
Melvin and Howard (1980)
Stop Making Sense (1984)
Something Wild (1986)
Married to the Mob (1988)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Philadelphia (1993)
Rachel Getting Married (2008)
George Lucas (US, 1944- ) (on 5 lists)
THX 1138 (1971)
American Graffiti (1973)
Star Wars (1977)
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Charles Burnett (US, 1944- ) (on 4 lists)
Killer of Sheep (1977)
To Sleep with Anger (1990)
Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Germany, 1945-1982) (on 7 lists)
The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972)
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974)
Fox and His Friends (1975)
In the Year of 13 Moons (1978)
The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979)
Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980)
Lola (1981)
Veronika Voss (1982)
Wim Wenders (Germany, 1945- ) (on 6 lists)
Alice in the Cities (1974)
Kings of the Road (1976)
The American Friend (1977)
Paris, Texas (1984)
Wings of Desire (1987)
Buena Vista Social Club (1999)
Pina (2011)
David Lynch (US, 1946- ) (on 13 lists)
Eraserhead (1977)
The Elephant Man (1980)
Blue Velvet (1986)
Wild At Heart (1990)
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992)
Lost Highway (1997)
Mulholland Dr. (2001)
Oliver Stone (US, 1946- ) (on 7 lists)
Platoon (1986)
Wall Street (1987)
Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
JFK (1991)
Natural Born Killers (1994)
Nixon (1995)
Steven Spielberg (US, 1947- ) (on 15 lists)
Duel (1971)
Jaws (1975)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Jurassic Park (1993)
Schindler’s List (1993)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Catch Me If You Can (2002)
Minority Report (2002)
Munich (2005)
Rob Reiner (US, 1947- ) (on 4 lists)
This is Spinal Tap (1984)
Stand By Me (1986)
The Princess Bride (1987)
When Harry Met Sally… (1989)
Misery (1990)
The American President (1995)
Hou Hsiao-Hsien (China, 1947- ) (on 2 lists)
A Time To Live and a Time To Die (1985)
Dust in the Wind (1986)
A City of Sadness (1989)
The Puppetmaster (1993)
Goodbye South, Goodbye (1996)
Flowers of Shanghai (1998)
Millenium Mambo (2001)
Café Lumiere (2003)
Three Times (2005)
Claire Denis (France, 1948- ) (on 7 lists)
Chocolat (1988)
Beau Travail (1999)
Trouble Every Day (2001)
Friday Night (2002)
The Intruder (2004)
35 Shots of Rum (2008)
White Material (2009)
Errol Morris (US, 1948- ) (on 4 lists)
Gates of Heaven (1978)
Vernon, Florida (1981)
The Thin Blue Line (1988)
Fast, Cheap & Out of Control (1997)
Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. (1999)
The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (2003)
Tabloid (2011)
John Carpenter (US, 1948- ) (on 3 lists)
Halloween (1978)
Escape from New York (1981)
The Thing (1982)
Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
They Live (1988)
Pedro Almodóvar (Spain, 1949- ) (on 8 lists)
Law of Desire (1987)
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
Live Flesh (1997)
All about My Mother (1999)
Talk to Her (2002)
Bad Education (2004)
Volver (2006)
The Skin I Live In (2011)
Sally Potter (UK, 1949- ) (on 3 lists)
Orlando (1992)
Yes (2004)
Ginger & Rosa (2012)
Chantal Akerman (Belgium, 1950- ) (on 4 lists)
Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)
I, You, He, She (1976)
News From Home (1977)
The Meetings of Anna (1978)
Golden Eighties (1986)
Almayer’s Folly (2011)
John Sayles (US, 1950- ) (on 3 lists)
Matewan (1987)
Eight Men Out (1988)
City of Hope (1991)
Passion Fish (1992)
Lone Star (1996)
Limbo (1999)
Kathryn Bigelow (US, 1951- ) (on 7 lists)
Near Dark (1987)
Point Break (1991)
Strange Days (1995)
The Hurt Locker (2009)
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
Zhang Yimou (China, 1951- ) (on 6 lists)
Red Sorghum (1987)
Raise the Red Lantern (1991)
The Story of Qiu Ju (1992)
To Live (1994)
Not One Less (1999)
Hero (2002)
House of Flying Daggers (2004)
Robert Zemeckis (US, 1952- ) (on 6 lists)
Used Cars (1980)
Romancing the Stone (1984)
Back to the Future (1985)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
Back to the Future, Part II (1989)
Forrest Gump (1994)
Contact (1997)
Cast Away (2000)
Gus Van Sant (US, 1952- ) (on 5 lists)
Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
My Own Private Idaho (1991)
To Die For (1995)
Good Will Hunting (1997)
Elephant (2003)
Milk (2008)
Jim Jarmusch (US, 1953- ) (on 5 lists)
Stranger Than Paradise (1984)
Down By Law (1986)
Mystery Train (1989)
Night on Earth (1991)
Dead Man (1995)
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)
Broken Flowers (2005)
Joel Coen (US, 1954- ) & Ethan Coen (US, 1957- ) (on 12 lists)
Blood Simple (1984)
Raising Arizona (1987)
Miller’s Crossing (1990)
Barton Fink (1991)
Fargo (1996)
The Big Lebowski (1998)
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
No Country for Old Men (2007)
Burn After Reading (2008)
A Serious Man (2009)
True Grit (2010)
Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
Jane Campion (New Zealand, 1954- ) (on 9 lists)
Sweetie (1989)
An Angel at My Table (1990)
The Piano (1993)
The Portrait of a Lady (1996)
Holy Smoke! (1999)
In the Cut (2003)
Bright Star (2009)
James Cameron (Canada, 1954- ) (on 8 lists)
Piranha II: The Spawning (1981)
The Terminator (1984)
Aliens (1986)
The Abyss (1989)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
True Lies (1995)
Titanic (1997)
Aliens of the Deep (2005)
Avatar (2009)
Ang Lee (Taiwan/US, 1954- ) (on 7 lists)
The Wedding Banquet (1993)
Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)
Sense and Sensibility (1995)
The Ice Storm (1997)
Ride with the Devil (1999)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Lust, Caution (2007)
Life of Pi (2012)
Michael Moore (US, 1954- ) (on 4 lists)
Roger & Me (1989)
Bowling for Columbine (2002)
Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
Sicko (2007)
Amy Heckerling (US, 1954- ) (on 2 lists)
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
Clueless (1995)
Catherine Hardwicke (US, 1955- ) (on 2 lists)
Thirteen (2003)
Twilight (2008)
Lars von Trier (Denmark, 1956- ) (on 6 lists)
Europa (Zentropa) (1991)
Breaking the Waves (1996)
The Kingdom (1994-1997)
The Idiots (1998)
Dogville (2003)
Dancer in the Dark (2000)
Antichrist (2009)
Melancholia (2011)
Danny Boyle (UK, 1956- ) (on 4 lists)
Trainspotting (1996)
28 Days Later (2002)
Sunshine (2007)
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
127 Hours (2010)
Mira Nair (India/US, 1957- ) (on 6 lists)
Salaam Bombay! (1988)
Mississippi Masala (1991)
Monsoon Wedding (2001)
The Namesake (2006)
Spike Lee (US, 1957- ) (on 11 lists)
She’s Gotta Have It (1986)
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Mo’ Better Blues (1990)
Jungle Fever (1991)
Malcolm X (1992)
Clockers (1995)
He Got Game (1998)
Summer of Sam (1999)
25th Hour (2002)
Inside Man (2006)
Aki Kaurismäki (Finland, 1957- ) (on 2 lists)
Shadows in Paradise (1986)
Ariel (1988)
Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989)
The Match Factory Girl (1990)
Drifting Clouds (1996)
The Man without A Past (2002)
Le Havre (2011)
Tim Burton (US, 1958- ) (on 10 lists)
Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (1985)
Beetlejuice (1988)
Batman (1989)
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Batman Returns (1992)
Ed Wood (1994)
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Big Fish (2003)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
Frankenweenie (2012)
Wong Kar-Wai (China, 1958- ) (on 6 lists)
Days of Being Wild (1990)
Chungking Express (1994)
Ashes of Time (1994)
Fallen Angels (1995)
Happy Together (1997)
In the Mood for Love (2000)
2046 (2004)
Richard Linklater (US, 1960- ) (on 3 lists)
Dazed and Confused (1993)
Before Sunrise (1995)
School of Rock (2003)
Before Sunset (2004)
Before Midnight (2013)
Boyhood (2014)
Susanne Bier (Denmark, 1960- ) (on 3 lists)
Open Hearts (2002)
Brothers (2004)
After the Wedding (2006)
Things We Lost in the Fire (2007)
In a Better World (2010)
Peter Jackson (New Zealand, 1961- ) (on 7 lists)
Bad Taste (1987)
Dead Alive (1992)
Heavenly Creatures (1994)
The Frighteners (1996)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
King Kong (2005)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
Todd Haynes (US, 1961- ) (on 4 lists)
Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1987)
Safe (1995)
Far From Heaven (2002)
I’m Not There (2007)
Carol (2015)
David Fincher (US, 1962- ) (on 8 lists)
Alien 3 (1992)
Seven (1995)
The Game (1997)
Fight Club (1999)
Panic Room (2002)
Zodiac (2007)
The Social Network (2010)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
Gone Girl (2014)
Quentin Tarantino (US, 1963- ) (on 13 lists)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Jackie Brown (1997)
Kill Bill, Vol. 1 (2003)
Kill Bill, Vol. 2 (2004)
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Steven Soderbergh (US, 1963- ) (on 6 lists)
Sex, Lies and Videotape (1989)
King of the Hill (1993)
Out of Sight (1998)
The Limey (1999)
Traffic (2000)
Erin Brockovich (2000)
Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
Solaris (2002)
Contagion (2011)
Guillermo del Toro (Mexico/US, 1964- ) (on 2 lists)
Cronos (1993)
The Devil’s Backbone (2001)
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)
Pacific Rim (2013)
Wes Anderson (US, 1969- ) (on 7 lists)
Bottle Rocket (1996)
Rushmore (1998)
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
The Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Lynne Ramsay (UK: Scotland, 1969- ) (on 3 lists)
Ratcatcher (1999)
Morvern Callar (2002)
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2012)
Spike Jonze (US, 1969- ) (on 3 lists)
Being John Malkovich (1999)
Adaptation (2002)
Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
Her (2013)
F. Gary Gray (US, 1969- ) (on 2 lists)
Friday (1995)
The Negotiator (1998)
The Italian Job (2003)
Straight Outta Compton (2015)
Darren Aronofsky (US, 1969- ) (on 2 lists)
Pi (1998)
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
The Wrestler (2008)
Black Swan (2010)
Paul Thomas Anderson (US, 1970- ) (on 8 lists)
Hard Eight (1996)
Boogie Nights (1997)
Magnolia (1999)
Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
There Will Be Blood (2007)
The Master (2012)
Inherent Vice (2014)
Christopher Nolan (UK/US, 1970- ) (on 6 lists)
Memento (2000)
Batman Begins (2005)
The Prestige (2006)
The Dark Knight (2008)
Inception (2010)
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Interstellar (2014)
Sofia Coppola (US, 1971- ) (on 7 lists)
The Virgin Suicides (1999)
Lost in Translation (2003)
Marie Antoinette (2006)
Somewhere (2010)
The Bling Ring (2013)
Dee Rees (US, 1978- ) (on 2 lists)
Pariah (1993)
Bessie (2015)
Samira Makhmalbaf (Iran, 1980- ) (on 2 lists)
The Apple (1998)
Blackboards (2000)
September 11 (2002)
At Five in the Afternoon (2003)