When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Heres how it works.
Making movies is an art form built on collaboration.
A single movie takes armies of talented artisans to turn cinematic dreams into reality.
But when it comes down to it, it’s the one who says “Action!”
who quite literally gets the cameras rolling.
Believe it or not, the history of directors hasn’t always been so clear-cut.
Murnau, Fritz Lang, and Sergei Eisenstein.
But who else since them are directors of mandatory recognition?
These are just 35 must-see directors it’s crucial that you know about.
He received commercial and critical success with his 2024 erotic sports drama Challengers.
In 1997, he returned with The Thin Red Line.
His last movie was Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, released in 2007.
Ava DuVernay
26.
He made several films in his native Japan throughout the 1990s before finding worldwide infamy with Audition in 1999.
In 2001, his film Ichi the Killer drew controversy for its stomach-churning gore.
He died only a few weeks after completing his last movie, Eyes Wide Shut, in 1999.
From that moment they decided to become directors.
After their 1996 neo-noir Bound, they changed action blockbusters forever with their revolutionary epic The Matrix in 1999.
In 2021, Lana Wachowski alone helmed the highly anticipated fourth Matrix film, The Matrix Resurrections.
John Hughes
Few directors, living or dead, harnessed the messiness of youth like John Hughes.
By the mid ’90s, Hughes had totally withdrawn from public life.
He died in 2009.
Satoshi Kon
The Japanese animation industry has no shortage of prolific directors, like Hayao Miyazaki and Hideaki Anno.
But Satoshi Kon is singular.
His work has influenced other major filmmakers like Darren Aronofsky and Christopher Nolan.
Guillermo del Toro
No one loves monsters like Guillermo del Toro.
In 2006, he won acclaim for his Spanish-language fantasia Pan’s Labyrinth.
James Cameron
He’s behind some of the biggest movies of all time, no question.
In 2009, Cameron unleashed Avatar (2009), one of the biggest movies of all time.
It was only matched by none other than his 2022 sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water.
In 1993, she directed Sleepless in Seattle, which was a major critical and commercial hit.
He won critical acclaim for his 2000 feature In the Mood for Love.
In 2013, he directed the martial arts biopic The Grandmaster.
Her debut was the film Le Pointe Courte, released in 1955.
In 2019 he directed the eldritch horror The Lighthouse, and in 2022 helmed the Viking epic The Northman.
In 2013, he made his English film debut with Stoker, starring Mia Wasikowska and Nicole Kidman.
Woo returned to Hollywood with his Christmas action movie Silent Night in 2023.
Christopher Nolan
3.
He drew more acclaim with his socially conscious 1989 drama Do the Right Thing.
