⦿ Introduction ⦿ 1,000 GF (alpha) ⦿ 1,000 GF (1000-1) ⦿ 1,000 GF (1-1000) ⦿ 1,000 GF (by year) ⦿ 1,000 GF (sortable table) ⦿ 1,000 GF (plain) ⦿ 1,000 GF (ranking history) ⦿ Alternative Titles ⦿ Analysis ⦿ Sources/Critics ⦿ Top 250 Directors ⦿ Starting List (sortable table) ⦿ Ex-1000 GF ⦿ Resources/Links
The Top 250 Directors
Listed below are, according to TSPDT's calculations, the 250 most critically acclaimed filmmakers of all-time. As per the 1,000 Greatest Films, this list has been compiled from a large resource of film lists. Additionally, also factored in are many 'Best Director' polls. Alongside each director's name (in brackets) is the position each director held in last year's version. To qualify for this top 250, each director (or directing team) needs to have a minimum of two films cited in ballots/lists that have been collated.
1. Alfred Hitchcock (1) 13 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 32 other films cited
2. Orson Welles (2) 8 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 11 other films cited
3. Stanley Kubrick (3) 11 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 2 other films cited
4. Federico Fellini (4) 9 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 15 other films cited
5. Jean-Luc Godard (5) 14 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 52 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
6. Francis Ford Coppola (6) 5 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 19 other films cited
7. Ingmar Bergman (7) 14 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 21 other films cited
8. Akira Kurosawa (8) 12 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 15 other films cited
9. Jean Renoir (9) 10 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 21 other films cited
10. John Ford (10) 14 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 37 other films cited
11. Yasujiro Ozu (11) 7 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 25 other films cited
12. Martin Scorsese (12) 10 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 26 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
13. Andrei Tarkovsky (13) 7 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 2 other films cited
14. Luis Buñuel (14) 15 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 13 other films cited
15. Charles Chaplin (15) 9 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 27 other films cited
16. Robert Bresson (16) 9 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 5 other films cited
17. Billy Wilder (17) 5 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 19 other films cited
18. Carl Theodor Dreyer (18) 5 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 9 other films cited
19. F.W. Murnau (19) 5 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 6 other films cited
20. Michelangelo Antonioni (20) 8 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 12 other films cited
21. Howard Hawks (21) 10 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 23 other films cited
22. David Lynch (22) 9 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 6 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
23. Fritz Lang (23) 8 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 29 other films cited
24. Kenji Mizoguchi (24) 6 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 21 other films cited
25. François Truffaut (25) 7 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 16 other films cited
26. Steven Spielberg (28) ⬆ 9 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 26 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
27. Roberto Rossellini (26) 8 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 16 other films cited
28. Sergei Eisenstein (27) 6* films in the 1,000 Greatest / 5 other films cited [*October was co-directed by Grigori Aleksandrov]
29. Chantal Akerman (29) 5 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 24 other films cited
30. Wong Kar-wai (30) 4 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 7 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
31. Abbas Kiarostami (31) 6 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 19 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
33. Luchino Visconti (32) 7 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 10 other films cited
34. Vittorio De Sica (33) 3 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 16 other films cited
36. Satyajit Ray (34) 5 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 18 other films cited
37. Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger (35) 6 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 8 other films cited [see also no. 173]
38. Ernst Lubitsch (38) 7 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 29 other films cited
40. Alain Resnais (39) 6 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 20 other films cited
41. Sergio Leone (41) 3 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 3 other films cited
42. Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly (42) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 2 other films cited
44. Jean Vigo (43) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 2 other films cited
45. Roman Polanski (45) 5 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 15 other films cited
46. Ridley Scott (46) 3 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 16 other films cited
47. Rainer Werner Fassbinder (47) 7 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 24 other films cited
48. Buster Keaton (48) 7* films in the 1,000 Greatest / 15 other films cited [*5 films were co-directed by or credited to Clyde Bruckman, Edward Sedgwick, Charles F. Resiner, John Blystone & Donald Crisp]
49. Robert Altman (49) 5 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 25 other films cited
50. Agnès Varda (50) 4 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 19 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
51. Terrence Malick (52) ⬆ 5 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 5 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
53. Jacques Tati (51) 3 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 4 other films cited
54. Werner Herzog (54) 5 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 26 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
56. Hou Hsiao-hsien (55) 5 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 12 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
57. Dziga Vertov (57) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 9 other films cited
58. Chris Marker (58) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 20 other films cited
59. Claire Denis (60) ⬆ 4 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 12 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
60. D.W. Griffith (59) 4 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 35 other films cited
61. Edward Yang (61) 3 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 5 other films cited
62. Bernardo Bertolucci (62) 4 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 15 other films cited
63. Paul Thomas Anderson (65) ⬆ 6 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 4 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
64. Quentin Tarantino (64) 4 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 7 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
65. John Huston (63) 8 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 24 other films cited
66. Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (66) 7 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 10 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
67. Michael Curtiz (67) 3* films in the 1,000 Greatest / 33 other films cited [*The Adventures of Robin Hood was co-directed by William Keighley]
69. Vincente Minnelli (69) 5 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 26 other films cited
70. Sam Peckinpah (70) 4 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 9 other films cited
71. Nicholas Ray (68) 5 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 15 other films cited
72. Douglas Sirk (71) 4 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 21 other films cited
73. Wim Wenders (73) 4 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 20 other films cited
74. Hayao Miyazaki (74) 3 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 10 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
75. Spike Lee (77) ⬆ 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 24 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
76. Lars von Trier (79) ⬆ 5 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 13 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
77. Apichatpong Weerasethakul (78) ⬆ 5 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 9 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
78. Béla Tarr (76) 3 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 5 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
80. Carol Reed (75) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 16 other films cited
82. Preston Sturges (82) 4 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 5 other films cited
83. Jacques Rivette (81) 4 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 19 other films cited
84. Michael Haneke (85) ⬆ 6 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 7 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
86. Jane Campion (86) 3 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 10 other films cited
88. Marcel Carné (84) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 9 other films cited
90. Erich von Stroheim (88) 3 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 4 other films cited
91. David Cronenberg (93) ⬆ 5 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 18 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
92. Nicolas Roeg (90) 3* films in the 1,000 Greatest / 6 other films cited [*Performance was co-directed by Donald Cammell]
93. Gillo Pontecorvo (91) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 3 other films cited
94. Jacques Demy (94) 3 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 7 other films cited
96. Jean-Pierre Melville (95) 3 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 9 other films cited
97. Victor Erice (96) 3 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 4 other films cited
98. Claude Lanzmann (98) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 4 other films cited
99. Pedro Almodóvar (99) 3 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 17 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
100. Jacques Tourneur (100) 4 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 14 other films cited
101. Joseph L. Mankiewicz (101) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 19 other films cited
102. Brian De Palma (102) 5 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 18 other films cited
104. Theo Angelopoulos (103) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 10 other films cited
106. Glauber Rocha (104) 4 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 4 other films cited
107. Clint Eastwood (107) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 33 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
110. King Vidor (108) 3 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 25 other films cited
111. James Cameron (109) 5 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 4 other films cited
112. Tsai Ming-liang (114) ⬆ 3 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 11 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
113. William Wyler (112) 3 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 22 other films cited
114. Jean-Marie Straub & Danièle Huillet (113) 4* films in the 1,000 Greatest / 27 other films cited [*The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach was credited to Jean-Marie Straub as the sole director. Danièle Huillet, however, was the co-screenwriter]
116. Lucrecia Martel (118) ⬆ 3 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 1 other film cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
118. Michael Cimino (116) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 3 other films cited
119. Ousmane Sembene (115) 3 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 7 other films cited
120. Stan Brakhage (120) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 40 other films cited
121. David Fincher (126) ⬆ 4 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 7 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
122. Elem Klimov (122) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 4 other films cited
123. Mikio Naruse (119) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 24 other films cited
125. Bong Joon-ho (127) ⬆ 3 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 5 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
126. Céline Sciamma (130) ⬆ 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 3 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
127. Sergei Parajanov (123) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 6 other films cited
128. Michael Snow (124) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 11 other films cited
130. Charles Burnett (128) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 7 other films cited
132. Richard Linklater (134) ⬆ 4 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 12 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
133. Andrzej Wajda (129) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 23 other films cited
134. Alexander Dovzhenko (131) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 6 other films cited
137. Djibril Diop Mambéty (132) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 3 other films cited
138. Terry Gilliam (144) ⬆ 2* films in the 1,000 Greatest / 10 other films cited [*Monty Python and the Holy Grail was co-directed by Terry Jones]
140. Robert J. Flaherty (138) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 4 other films cited
141. Věra Chytilová (136) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 7 other films cited
143. Jean Cocteau (140) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 4 other films cited
145. Raoul Walsh (142) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 42 other films cited
146. Todd Haynes (151) ⬆ 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 8 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
148. Ang Lee (152) ⬆ 3 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 10 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
149. Otto Preminger (147) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 24 other films cited
150. Robert Aldrich (150) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 25 other films cited
151. Zhang Yimou (149) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 13 other films cited
152. Abel Gance (146) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 13 other films cited
155. Hal Ashby (154) 3 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 7 other films cited
156. Samuel Fuller (155) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 18 other films cited
157. Andy Warhol (153) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 31 other films cited
159. Wes Anderson (172) ⬆ 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 8 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
160. Emir Kusturica (159) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 5 other films cited
161. Manoel de Oliveira (158) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 28 other films cited
163. Gus Van Sant (175) ⬆ 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 13 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
164. Jia Zhangke (162) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 11 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
166. Mikhail Kalatozov (163) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 3 other films cited
167. Pedro Costa (169) ⬆ 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 9 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
168. Aleksandr Sokurov (160) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 24 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
170. Ritwik Ghatak (165) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 4 other films cited
171. Christopher Nolan (167) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 8 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
172. Maya Deren (164) 1* film in the 1,000 Greatest / 6 other films cited [*Meshes of the Afternoon was co-directed by Alexander Hammid]
173. Michael Powell (170) ⬆ 2* films in the 1,000 Greatest / 7 other films cited [see also no. 37] [*The Thief of Bagdad was co-directed by Ludwig Berger & Tim Whelan]
174. Henri-Georges Clouzot (171) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 8 other films cited
175. Alfonso Cuarón (185) ⬆ 3 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 5 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
176. Victor Sjöström (168) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 8 other films cited
177. Louis Malle (173) 0 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 24 other films cited
179. Arthur Penn (177) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 9 other films cited
180. Shohei Imamura (180) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 15 other films cited
181. Alexander Mackendrick (179) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 8 other films cited
182. John Boorman (181) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 13 other films cited
183. G.W. Pabst (182) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 15 other films cited
184. Hirokazu Koreeda (199) ⬆ 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 11 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
185. Fei Mu (176) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 2 other films cited
187. Leos Carax (189) ⬆ 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 5 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
188. Luis García Berlanga (183) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 9 other films cited
189. George Miller (190) ⬆ 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 8 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
191. Robert Wise (195) ⬆ 2* films in the 1,000 Greatest / 21 other films cited [*West Side Story was co-directed by Jerome Robbins]
193. Marguerite Duras (188) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 12 other films cited
195. Ermanno Olmi (184) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 14 other films cited
196. Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack (197) ⬆ 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 2 other films cited
197. Lana Wachowski & Lilly Wachowski (187) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 6 other films cited
198. Joseph Losey (193) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 25 other films cited
199. Tod Browning (196) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 7 other films cited
200. Barry Jenkins (198) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 3 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
201. Lynne Ramsay (205) ⬆ 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 4 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
202. Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne (200) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 7 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
204. Frank Borzage (201) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 24 other films cited
205. Jonas Mekas (203) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 12 other films cited
206. Peter Jackson (208) ⬆ 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 13 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
207. King Hu (207) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 8 other films cited
208. Larisa Shepitko (204) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 1 other film cited
209. Tomás Gutiérrez Alea (206) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 4 other films cited
212. Anthony Mann (209) 0 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 27 films cited
215. Aki Kaurismäki (210) 0 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 18 films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
216. Sofia Coppola (221) ⬆ 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 6 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
217. Georges Franju (212) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 6 other films cited
218. Georges Méliès (214) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 27 other films cited
219. Kelly Reichardt (234) ⬆ 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 6 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
220. Lindsay Anderson (219) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 6 other films cited
222. Francesco Rosi (216) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 10 other films cited
223. Kathryn Bigelow (228) ⬆ 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 7 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
224. Nuri Bilge Ceylan (230) ⬆ 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 6 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
225. Fred Zinnemann (225) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 15 other films cited
226. René Clair (220) 0 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 20 films cited
227. Jean Rouch (222) 2* films in the 1,000 Greatest / 14 other films cited [*Chronicle of a Summer was co-directed by Edgar Morin]
228. Jacques Becker (224) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 7 other films cited
231. Don Siegel (229) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 18 other films cited
232. Roy Andersson (245) ⬆ 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 6 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
233. Chen Kaige (223) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 3 other films cited
234. Julie Dash (227) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 3 other films cited
236. Hong Sang-soo (243) ⬆ 0 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 25 films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
237. Boris Barnet (232) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 8 other films cited
238. Robert Hamer (231) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 7 other films cited
239. Michel Gondry (238) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 8 other films cited / The 21st Century's Top 100 Directors
240. Oliver Stone (237) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 12 other films cited
241. David Hand (236) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 0 other films cited
242. Derek Jarman (233) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 15 other films cited
243. Robert Wiene (240) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 4 other films cited
245. Jerry Lewis (244) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 10 other films cited
246. Aleksei German (241) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 3 other films cited
248. Miklós Jancsó (239) 2 films in the 1,000 Greatest / 7 other films cited
249. Monte Hellman (248) 1 film in the 1,000 Greatest / 7 other films cited
Directors that fell off the list (with previous ranking in brackets)-: Peter Greenaway (247) and Ken Russell (250).
⦿ Introduction ⦿ 1,000 GF (alpha) ⦿ 1,000 GF (1000-1) ⦿ 1,000 GF (1-1000) ⦿ 1,000 GF (by year) ⦿ 1,000 GF (sortable table) ⦿ 1,000 GF (plain) ⦿ 1,000 GF (ranking history) ⦿ Alternative Titles ⦿ Analysis ⦿ Sources/Critics ⦿ Top 250 Directors ⦿ Starting List (sortable table) ⦿ Ex-1000 GF ⦿ Resources/Links