Top 100 Asian Directors

1. Sadao Yamanaka

The director and screenwriter Sadao Yamanaka (1909-1938) is a key figure in the development of early Japanese cinema. Although he made 27 films over a six-year period, only three of them survived in nearly complete form: Sazen Tange and the Pot Worth a Million Ryo (1935), Humanity and Paper Balloons...

2. Mu Fei

Director | Xiao cheng zhi chun

Mu Fei was born on October 10, 1906 in Shanghai, China. He was a director and writer, known for Spring in a Small Town (1948), Sea of Fragrant Snow (1934) and Night in the City (1933). He died on January 31, 1951 in China.

3. Hiroshi Shimizu

Director | Kanzashi

Hiroshi Shimizu was born on March 28, 1903 in Shizuoka, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Ornamental Hairpin (1941), Children in the Wind (1937) and Sono ato no hachi no su no kodomotachi (1951). He was married to Kinuyo Tanaka. He died on June 23, 1966 in Kyoto, Japan.

4. Kenji Mizoguchi

Director | Ugetsu monogatari

Coming from a lower class family Mizoguchi entered the production company Nikkatsu as an actor specialized in female roles. Later he became an assistant director and made his first film in 1922. Although he filmed almost 90 movies in the silent era, only his last 12 productions are really known ...

5. Yasujirô Ozu

Writer | Tôkyô monogatari

Tokyo-born Yasujiro Ozu was a movie buff from childhood, often playing hooky from school in order to see Hollywood movies in his local theatre. In 1923 he landed a job as a camera assistant at Shochiku Studios in Tokyo. Three years later, he was made an assistant director and directed his first ...

6. Teinosuke Kinugasa

Director | Jigokumon

Former female impersonator who entered films in 1917 as an actor, turned to directing in 1922 and made some of the most formally brilliant Japanese films of the following decades. The few of Kinugasa's early works to have reached the West betray a highly mature, sophisticated talent. His best-known...

7. Akira Kurosawa

Writer | Kakushi-toride no san-akunin

After training as a painter (he storyboards his films as full-scale paintings), Kurosawa entered the film industry in 1936 as an assistant director, eventually making his directorial debut with Sanshiro Sugata (1943). Within a few years, Kurosawa had achieved sufficient stature to allow him greater...

8. Satyajit Ray

Writer | Pather Panchali

Satyajit Ray was born in Calcutta on May 2, 1921. His father, Late Sukumar Ray was an eminent poet and writer in the history of Bengali literature. In 1940, after receiving his degree in science and economics from Calcutta University, he attended Tagore's Viswa-Bharati University. His first movie ...

9. Mikio Naruse

Director | Ukigumo

Considered a major figure of Japan's 'golden age of cinema', Mikio Naruse was a filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer who directed 89 films in the period 1930 to 1967. Although Naruse's work is lesser known in the twenty-first century than those of his contemporaries Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi...

10. Kon Ichikawa

Director | Inugami-ke no ichizoku

Kon Ichikawa has been influenced by artists as diverse as Walt Disney and Jean Renoir, and his films cover a wide spectrum of moods, from the comic to the overwhelmingly ironic and even the perverse. Ichikawa began his career as a cartoonist, and this influence is apparent in his skillful use of ...

11. Mehboob Khan

Director | Mother India

Mehboob Khan was born on September 9, 1907 in Bilimora, Baroda, Bombay Presidency, British India. He was a director and producer, known for Mother India (1957), Son of India (1962) and The Savage Princess (1952). He was married to Sardar Akhtar. He died on May 28, 1964 in Bombay, Maharashtra, India.

12. Guru Dutt

Actor | Pyaasa

Considered to be a man ahead of his time, Guru Dutt was one of the greatest icons of commercial Indian cinema. Although he made less than ten films, they are believed to be the best to come from Bollywood's Golden Age, known both for their ability to reach out to the common man and for their ...

13. Ritwik Ghatak

Director | Jukti, Takko Aar Gappo

Ritwik Ghatak was born on November 4, 1925 in Dacca, Bengal Presidency, British India [now in Dhaka, Bangladesh]. He was a director and writer, known for Jukti, Takko Aar Gappo (1974), Musafir (1957) and The Cloud-Capped Star (1960). He was married to Surama Ghatak. He died on February 6, 1976 in ...

14. Masaki Kobayashi

Director | Seppuku

Masaki Kobayashi was born on February 14, 1916 in Hokkaido, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Harakiri (1962), Samurai Rebellion (1967) and The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer (1961). He died on October 4, 1996 in Tokyo, Japan.

15. Hiroshi Teshigahara

Director | Suna no onna

Hiroshi Teshigahara was born the son of Sofu Teshigahara who was the founder of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana (flower arrangement). In 1950, he graduated from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in oil painting. In 1958, he became the director of Sogetsu Art Centre and took a ...

16. Kaneto Shindô

Writer | Ichimai no hagaki

Kaneto Shindô was born on April 22, 1912 in Hiroshima, Japan. He was a writer and director, known for Postcard (2010), The Naked Island (1960) and A Last Note (1995). He was married to Nobuko Otowa and Miyo Shindo. He died on May 29, 2012 in Hiroshima, Japan.

17. Masahiro Shinoda

Director | Shinjû: Ten no Amijima

Masahiro Shinoda was born on March 9, 1931 in Gifu, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for Double Suicide (1969), Chinmoku (1971) and Ballad of Orin (1977). He has been married to Shima Iwashita since 1967. They have one child.

18. Seijun Suzuki

Director | Tsigoineruwaizen

Seijun Suzuki was born in Nihonbashi, Tôkyô, on May 24, 1923. In 1943, he entered the army to fight at the front. In 1946, he enrolled in the film department of the Kamakura Academy and passed the assistant director's exam. For the next few years, he worked as an assistant director at several ...

19. Shinsuke Ogawa

Director | Sanrizuka: Dainitoride no hitobito

Shinsuke Ogawa was born on June 25, 1935 in Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan. He was a director and editor, known for Narita: The Peasants of the Second Fortress (1971), Magino Village: A Tale (1987) and A Japanese Village (1982). He died on February 7, 1992 in Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan.

20. Yoshishige Yoshida

Director | Ningen no yakusoku

Yoshishige Yoshida was born on February 16, 1933 in Fukui, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for A Promise (1986), Akitsu Springs (1962) and Wuthering Heights (1988). He was married to Mariko Okada. He died on December 8, 2022 in Japan.

21. Toshio Matsumoto

Director | Dogura magura

Matsumoto was born in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan and graduated from Tokyo University in 1955. His first short was Ginrin, which he made in 1955. His most famous film is Funeral Parade of Roses, featuring a transvestite trying to move up in the world of Tokyo Hostess clubs. Matsumoto published ...

22. Kinji Fukasaku

Director | Batoru rowaiaru

Kinji Fukasaku was born on July 3, 1930 in Mito, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Battle Royale (2000), Fall Guy (1982) and Crest of Betrayal (1994). He was married to Sanae Nakahara. He died on January 12, 2003 in Tokyo, Japan.

23. Toshio Masuda

Director | Shaso

Toshio Masuda was born on October 5, 1927 in Kobe, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for Shaso (1989), Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) and The Battle of Port Arthur (1980).

24. Wei Lo

Actor | Jing wu men

Wei Lo was born in 1918 in Jiangsu Province, China. He was an actor and director, known for Fist of Fury (1972), The Big Boss (1971) and Yellow-Faced Tiger (1974). He was married to Liang Hua Liu. He died on January 20, 1996 in Hong Kong.

25. Chia-Hsiang Wu

Director | Qian mian da dao

Chia-Hsiang Wu was born on August 3, 1919 in Anhui, China. He was an actor and assistant director, known for Qian mian da dao (1968), Si bu mi ren ren zi mi (1968) and Ai qing da pai mai (1971). He died on March 20, 1993 in Hong Kong, China.

26. King Hu

Director | Xia nü

He was educated in art school in Beijing, left China for Hong Kong in 1949 and entered the film industry in 1951 in the art department. In the 1950s he began acting and in 1958 joined Shaw Brothers as an actor and writer, and later a director. In 1967 he left to start his own studio in Taiwan, ...

27. Kamal Amrohi

Writer | Pakeezah

Kamal Amrohi was born on January 17, 1918 in Amroha, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, British India. He was a writer and director, known for Pakeezah (1972), Mahal (1949) and Daaera (1953). He was married to Meena Kumari. He died on February 11, 1993 in Bombay, Maharashtra, India.

28. Eiichi Yamamoto

Director | Kanashimi no Beradonna

Graduated in the Kyôto Prefecture. After several years working as animator in Ryûichi Yokoyama's animation Studio Otogi, Yamamoto joined Osamu Tezuka to found Mushi Production in 1961 and since until 1973 worked as producer, supervising director or director of a dozen of animation productions from ...

29. Sohrab Shahid Saless

Director | Tabiate bijan

Sohrab Shaheed Salles was born in Tehran in 1944 to a middle-class family and lived in Tehran. Shahid Saless was a storyteller as a child, with a passion for visualizing his narrations. During his teenage years, he showed an imaginative talent, writing and acting in plays with friends. In 1963, ...

30. Lino Brocka

Director | Gumapang ka sa lusak

Lino Brocka was born on April 7, 1939 in Pilar, Sorsogon, Luzon, Philippines. He was a director and writer, known for Dirty Affair (1990), Bayan Ko (1984) and Dipped in Gold (1970). He died on May 22, 1991 in Quezon City, Philippines.

31. Kidlat Tahimik

Director | Mababangong Bangungot

Kidlat Tahimik was born on October 3, 1942 in Baguio City, Benguet, Philippines. He is a director and actor, known for Perfumed Nightmare (1977), Balikbayan #1: Memories of Overdevelopment Redux III (2015) and Turumba (1981).

32. Boaz Davidson

Writer | Eskimo Limon

Boaz Davidson is the Head of Development and Creative Affairs for Millennium Films. He has been with the firm and its parent company, Nu Image, Inc., since 1992. However, he is equally well known as the writer-director of the critically acclaimed worldwide hit film Lemon Popsicle, which debuted at ...

33. Shôhei Imamura

Director | Kuroi ame

Shohei Imamura's films dig beneath the surface of Japanese society to reveal a wellspring of sensual, often irrational, energy that lies beneath. Along with his colleagues Nagisa Ôshima and Masahiro Shinoda, Imamura began his serious directorial career as a member of the New Wave movement in Japan....

34. Govindan Aravindan

Director | Esthappan

Govindan Aravindan was born on January 21, 1935 in Kottayam, Kerala, India. He was a director and writer, known for Esthappan (1980), Vasthuhara (1991) and Oridathu (1987). He died on March 16, 1991 in Trivandrum, Kerala, India.

35. Yilmaz Güney

Writer | Yol

Güney and his work were almost entirely unknown outside of his homeland Turkey until his 1981 escape from imprisonment in Turkey and his "discovery" the following year at the Cannes Film Festival for his autobiographical screenplay for Yol (1982), the festival's grand prize winner. Born in 1937 in ...

36. Serif Gören

Director | Yol

Serif Gören was born on October 14, 1944 in Ksanthi, Greece. He is a director and editor, known for Yol (1982), Endise (1974) and Derman (1983).

37. Kaige Chen

Director | Ba wang bie ji

Kaige Chen was born on August 12, 1952 in Beijing, China. He is a producer and director, known for Farewell My Concubine (1993), The Battle at Lake Changjin (2021) and Yellow Earth (1984). He has been married to Hong Chen since 1996. They have two children.

38. Nagisa Ôshima

Director | Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence

Nagisa Oshima's career extends from the initiation of the "Nuberu bagu" (New Wave) movement in Japanese cinema in the late 1950s and early 1960s, to the contemporary use of cinema and television to express paradoxes in modern society. After an early involvement with the student protest movement in ...

39. Hsiao-Hsien Hou

Producer | Cike Nie Yin Niang

Of the ten films that Hsiao-Hsien Hou directed between 1980 and 1989, seven received best film or best director awards from prestigious international films festivals in Venice, Berlin, Hawaii, and the Festival of the Three Continents in Nantes. In a 1988 worldwide critics' poll, Hou was championed ...

40. Hark Tsui

Producer | Di Renjie zhi Tongtian diguo

Tsui Hark recently became the fourth Chinese film director to join the board of judges for the 57th Cannes Film Festival in the feature films category this year.

An internationally acclaimed visionary director, Tsui started making experimental movies with 8mm film when he was only 13. After ...

41. Michel Khleifi

Director | Urs al-jalil

Michel Khleifi was born on November 3, 1950 in Nazareth, Israel. He is a director and writer, known for Wedding in Galilee (1987), Hikayatul jawahiri thalath (1995) and Nashid el-Hajar (1991).

42. Kazuo Hara

Director | Yuki yukite, shingun

Kazuo Hara was born on June 8, 1945 in Yamaguchi, Japan. He is a director and cinematographer, known for The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On (1987), A Dedicated Life (1994) and Sennan Asbestos Disaster (2016).

43. Katsuhiro Ôtomo

Writer | Akira

Katsuhiro Ôtomo is a Japanese manga artist, screenwriter and film director. He is best known as the creator of the manga Akira and its animated film adaptation.

In 1979, after writing multiple short-stories for the magazine Action, Otomo created his first science-fiction work, titled Fireball. ...

44. Isao Takahata

Director | Hotaru no haka

Isao Takahata was born on October 29, 1935 in Ise, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Grave of the Fireflies (1988), Pom Poko (1994) and The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013). He died on April 5, 2018 in Tokyo, Japan.

45. Yong-Kyun Bae

Director | Geomeuna dange huina baekseong

Mr. Bae studied visual arts in South Korea and France, and he's an art professor in Korea. His first and the only feature length film, "Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East?", probably is the only film in Korean film history to be released abroad first. Its sudden debut caused quite a stir Korea,...

46. Edward Yang

Writer | Yi yi

Born on November 6, 1947 in Shanghai, China, Edward Yang has become one of the most talented international filmmakers of his generation. Along with Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Tsai Ming-Liang, Yang ranks among the leading artists of the Taiwanese New Wave, and one of the world's most brilliant auteurs. ...

47. John Woo

Director | Ying hung boon sik

Born in southern China, John Woo grew up in Hong Kong, where he began his film career as an assistant director in 1969, working for Shaw Brothers Studios. He directed his first feature in 1973 and has been a prolific director ever since, working in a wide variety of genres before A Better Tomorrow ...

48. Tsai Ming-liang

Director | Qingshaonian Nuozha

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

49. Wayne Wang

Director | Smoke

Wayne Wang is a key figure in the development of independent filmmaking, alternating major Hollywood studio films such as »The Joy Luck Club« with smaller, independent work like »Smoke«. Continuing to work in the two different worlds, Wang directed an independent digital film, »The Center of the ...

50. Zhuangzhuang Tian

Director | Cha ma gu dao xi lie

Zhuangzhuang Tian was born in April 1952 in Beijing, China. He is a director and actor, known for Cha ma gu dao xi lie (2004), Springtime in a Small Town (2002) and The Blue Kite (1993).

51. 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 ...

52. Anh Hung Tran

Director | Mùi du du xanh

Anh Hung Tran was born on December 23, 1962 in Da Nang, Vietnam. He is a director and writer, known for The Scent of Green Papaya (1993), Norwegian Wood (2010) and The Taste of Things (2023). He is married to Nu Yên-Khê Tran.

53. Mamoru Oshii

Director | Kôkaku kidôtai

Mamoru Oshii is a Japanese filmmaker, television director and screenwriter. Famous for his philosophy-oriented storytelling, Oshii has directed a number of popular anime, including Urusei Yatsura (1981-1984), Angel's Egg (1985), Patlabor: The Movie (1989), Ghost in the Shell (1995), and Ghost in ...

54. Takeshi Kitano

Actor | Zatôichi

Takeshi Kitano originally studied to become an engineer, but was thrown out of school for rebellious behavior. He learned comedy, singing and dancing from famed comedian Senzaburô Fukami. Working as a lift boy on a nightclub with such features as comic sketches and striptease dancing, Kitano saw ...

55. 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 ...

56. Abbas Kiarostami

Writer | Copie conforme

Abbas Kiarostami was born in Tehran, Iran, in 1940. He graduated from university with a degree in fine arts before starting work as a graphic designer. He then joined the Center for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, where he started a film section, and this started his career ...

57. Majid Majidi

Writer | Bacheha-Ye aseman

Majid Majidi was born on April 17, 1959 in Tehran, Iran to a middle class family. He started acting in amateur theater groups at the age of fourteen. After receiving his high school diploma, he started studying art at the Institute of Dramatic Art in Tehran. After the Islamic Revolution of 1979, ...

58. Takashi Miike

Director | Jûsan-nin no shikaku

Takashi Miike was born in the small town of Yao on the outskirts of Osaka, Japan. His main interest growing up was motorbikes, and for a while he harbored ambitions to race professionally. At the age of 18 he went to study at the film school in Yokohama founded by renowned director Shôhei Imamura, ...

59. 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 ...

60. Kim Ki-duk

Writer | Bin-jip

He studied fine arts in Paris in 1990-1992. In 1993 he won the award for Best Screenplay from the Educational Institute of Screenwriting with "A Painter and A Criminal Condemned to Death". After two more screenplay awards, he made his directorial debut with Crocodile (1996) ("Crocodile"). Then he ...

61. Hayao Miyazaki

Writer | Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi

Hayao Miyazaki is one of Japan's greatest animation directors. The entertaining plots, compelling characters, and breathtaking visuals in his films have earned him international renown from critics as well as public recognition within Japan.

Miyazaki started his career in 1963 as an animator at the ...

62. Mira Nair

Director | Salaam Bombay!

Accomplished Film Director/Writer/Producer Mira Nair was born in India and educated at Delhi University and at Harvard. She began her film career as an actor and then turned to directing award-winning documentaries, including So Far From India and India Cabaret. Her debut feature film, Salaam ...

63. Yôji Yamada

Writer | Tasogare Seibei

Yamada Yoji graduated Tokyo University in 1954, the year he joined Shochiku as an assistant director. In 1969, he launched the popular "Tora-san" series, the world's longest theatrical film series. "The Twilight Samurai" (The Twilight Samurai (2002)) marks his 77th film as well as his 41th year as ...

64. Alan Mak

Director | Mou gaan dou

Alan Mak Siu Fai was born in Hong Kong in 1965. In 1986, he studied in the School of Drama at the Hong Kong Academy for Performance Arts. Upon graduation in 1990, he started his movie career.

Mak made his directorial debut in 1997, with his first film being Nude Fear, which was written and produced ...

65. Andrew Lau

Cinematographer | Mou gaan dou

Andrew Lau Wai-Keung was born in Hong Kong in 1960, and has been fond of photography as a child. He joined Shaw Brothers (HK) Ltd. after secondary school graduation. The first film he participated in as a semi-skilled worker in cinematography was Legendary Weapons of China directed by Chia-Liang Liu...

66. Park Chan-wook

Director | Oldeuboi

Park Chan-wook was born on August 23, 1963 in Seoul, South Korea. He is a producer and director, known for Oldboy (2003), The Handmaiden (2016) and Decision to Leave (2022). He is married to Eun-hee Kim. They have one child.

67. Pen-Ek Ratanaruang

Director | Ruang talok 69

Pen-Ek studied from 1977 to 1985 in New York at the Pratt Institute and worked as freelance illustrator and designer with Designframe Incorporate. In Thailand he worked for five years as art director, before making his début with Fun Bar Karaoke, that was screened at many festivals after its ...

68. Bahman Ghobadi

Director | Lakposhtha parvaz mikonand

Bahman Ghobadi was born in 1969 in Baneh, in the province of Iranian Kurdistan, near the Iran-Iraq border. Shortly after graduating from the National Audiovisual School, he made his first short, immediately acclaimed by the local critics. One of these short films, "Life in Fog" (1999) is even ...

69. Jee-woon Kim

Director | Joheunnom nabbeunnom isanghannom

Kim Ji-woon was born in Seoul, South Korea. He began his career as an actor before becoming a stage director with productions such as "Hot Sea" in 1994 and "Movie, Movie" in 1995. He then began scripting for films, his first work, 97's "Wonderful Seasons" won Best Screenplay award at Korea's ...

70. Hany Abu-Assad

Director | Omar

Hany Abu-Assad a Palestinian/Dutch movie director and writer. From the famous movies Abu-Assad has directed so far are : Rana's Wedding (2002), Paradise Now (2005) and Omar (2013), The mountains between us (2017). He has been nominated twice for Academy Awards for his movies 'Paradise Now' in 2006 ...

71. Xiaogang Feng

Actor | Lao pao er

Xiaogang Feng was born on March 18, 1958 in Beijing, China. He is a writer and producer, known for Mr. Six (2015), A World Without Thieves (2004) and Assembly (2007).

72. Ang Lee

Director | Wo hu cang long

Born in 1954 in Pingtung, Taiwan, Ang Lee has become one of today's greatest contemporary filmmakers. Ang graduated from the National Taiwan College of Arts in 1975 and then came to the U.S. to receive a B.F.A. Degree in Theatre/Theater Direction at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, ...

73. Fatih Akin

Director | Aus dem Nichts

Fatih Akin was born in 1973 in Hamburg of Turkish parentage. He began studying Visual Communications at Hamburg's College of Fine Arts in 1994. His collaboration with Wueste Film also dates from this time. In 1995, he wrote and directed his first short feature, "Sensin - You're The One!" ("Sensin -...

74. Marjane Satrapi

Director | Persepolis

Marjane Satrapi was born on November 22, 1969 in Rasht, Iran. She is a director and actress, known for Persepolis (2007), The Voices (2014) and Chicken with Plums (2011). She is married to Mattias Ripa. She was previously married to Reza.

A France-based Iranian comic artist and director that makes Iranian films in exile.

75. Ari Folman

Writer | The Congress

Ari Folman was born on December 17, 1962 in Haifa, Israel. He is a writer and director, known for The Congress (2013), Waltz with Bashir (2008) and Saint Clara (1996).

76. Na Hong-jin

Writer | Chugyeokja

Na Hong-jin born in 1974 is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. His debut film The Chaser (2008) won Best Director at the 45th Grand Bell Awards in 2008. The film also won the award for Best Film. His follow up film, The Yellow Sea, was released in South Korea on December 15, 2010. It is...

77. Elia Suleiman

Director | Yadon ilaheyya

Elia Suleiman was born on July 28, 1960 in Nazareth, Israel. He is a director and writer, known for Divine Intervention (2002), It Must Be Heaven (2019) and The Time That Remains (2009). He is married to Yasmine Hamdan.

78. Chuan Lu

Director | Kekexili

Lu Chuan is considered one of the most talented young directors in China, and his films are known for daring and commercially successful takes on historical and social issues.

After receiving a Master's degree in film studies from Beijing Film Academy in 1998, Lu Chuan started as a co-writer for ...

79. Scandar Copti

Director | Ajami

Copti is an Oscar-nominated Palestinian filmmaker born and raised in Yafa. In 2009, his first full-length feature film "Ajami" won the Camera d'Or Special Mention at the Cannes Film Festival. His film was also nominated for the 82nd Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Film category and won more than...

80. Yaron Shani

Director | Ajami

Yaron Shani was born in 1973 in Tel Aviv, Israel. He is a director and writer, known for Ajami (2009), Love Trilogy: Chained (2019) and Life Sentences (2013).

81. Semih Kaplanoglu

Producer | Yumurta

Semih Kaplanoglu is one of the most acclaimed writer-director-producers of contemporary filmmaking. Born and raised in Izmir, Turkey, he received BS in Cinema-Television from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Dokuz Eylul University, in 1984. Kaplanoglu made his debut feature in 2001 'Away From Home', and ...

82. Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Director | Memoria

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

83. Xiaoshuai Wang

Director | Rizhao Chongqing

Wang Xiaoshuai (Director, Writer, Producer)

Wang Xiaoshuai is one of very few masters who remains true to his art in spite of rampant commercialism in the Chinese film market. Evoking the trauma of ordinary Chinese people caught in extraordinary times, his works span different eras, yet consistently...

84. Seren Yüce

Director | Çogunluk

Seren Yüce was born in 1975 in Istanbul, Turkey. Seren is a director and assistant director, known for Majority (2010), Rüzgarda Salinan Nilüfer (2016) and The Edge of Heaven (2007). Seren has been married to Elif Bereketli since October 2022. They have one child.

85. Asghar Farhadi

Writer | Forooshande

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...

86. 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. ...

87. Atiq Rahimi

Writer | Khakestar-o-khak

Atiq Rahimi was born on February 26, 1962 in Kabul, Afghanistan. He is a writer and director, known for Earth and Ashes (2004), The Patience Stone (2012) and Our Lady of the Nile (2019).

88. Ritesh Batra

Director | The Lunchbox

Ritesh Batra created a world sensation in 2013 with his wonderful The Lunchbox (2013), a bittersweet romantic comedy as well as a sensitive portrait of the city of Mumbai, torn between tradition and progress. Loved by all and everywhere on the planet, "Dabba" is strikingly the young director's ...

89. Ziad Doueiri

Director | L'insulte

Ziad Doueiri (born in 1963) is a Lebanese-born cinematographer, film director and writer. He is best known for his award winning film West Beirut. At the age of 18, during the Lebanese civil war, Ziad leaves Lebanon to study in the US. He now lives in France and works in Europe and the US. Doueiri ...

90. Samuel Maoz

Director | Lebanon

Samuel Maoz was born on May 23, 1962 in Herzliya, Israel. He is a director and writer, known for Lebanon (2009), Foxtrot (2017) and It's Good to Die for Your Country.

91. 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.

92. 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), ...

93. Lee Chang-dong

Writer | Beoning

Lee Chang-Dong was born in 1954 in Daegu, which some consider the most right-wing city in South Korea. Lee is a former high-school teacher and an acclaimed novelist. He turned to cinema when he was over 40 years old. His debut film "Green Fish" (1997) brought immediate success and critical acclaim....

94. 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 ...

95. Saeed Roustayi

Writer | Baradaran-e Leila

Saeed Roustayi (born 14 August 1989) is an Iranian film director and screenwriter. He graduated from Soore University with a Bachelor of Film and Television in Directing. Life+1 Day is his first major cinematic work. At the Fajr International Film Festival, Roustayi won 2 Crystal Simorghs for best ...

96. Chloé Zhao

Director | Nomadland

Chloé Zhao or Zhao Ting (born March 31, 1982) is a Chinese film director, screenwriter, and producer. Her debut feature film, Songs My Brothers Taught Me (2015), premiered at Sundance Film Festival. Her second feature film, The Rider (2017), was critically acclaimed and received several accolades ...

97. Mohammad Rasoulof

Producer | Dast-neveshtehaa nemisoosand

Mohammad Rasoulof was born in Shiraz, Iran in 1972. He is an independent director, writer and producer. He studied sociology. Rasoulof started his filmmaking with documentaries and short films. For his first film 'Gagooman'(The Twilight, 2002) Rasoulof won the prize for the best film at the Fajr ...

98. Ryûsuke Hamaguchi

Director | Doraibu mai kâ

Ryusuke Hamaguchi is a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Hamaguchi, a graduate of Tokyo University and Tokyo University of Arts, attracted attention in his country with the movie Passion (2008), which he shot for his graduation.

Hamaguchi first gained international recognition with the film ...

99. Emin Alper

Director | Tepenin Ardi

Emin Alper (born in Karaman, Turkey) is a Turkish filmmaker and historian. His directorial debut, Beyond the Hill won the Caligari Film Prize in the 62nd Berlinale and Best Film at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. His second feature Frenzy won the Special Jury Prize after premiering in competition ...

100. Antoine Antabi

Director | Rest in Piece

Antoine Antabi is known for Rest in Piece (2022) and Silent Thoughts (2009).