Favorite directors
by Onderhond | created - 28 Nov 2017 | updated - 10 Dec 2020 | PublicRanked list of favorite directors
1. 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 ...
2. 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, ...
3. Shin'ya Tsukamoto
Actor | Tetsuo
Shin'ya Tsukamoto was born on January 1, 1960 in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. He is an actor and director, known for Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989), Vital (2004) and Tokyo Fist (1995).
4. Kôji Morimoto
Animation_department | The Animatrix
Kôji Morimoto was born on December 26, 1959 in Wakayama, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for The Animatrix (2003), Akira (1988) and Genius Party Beyond (2008). He is married to Atsuko Fukushima.
5. 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 ...
6. Sabu
Director | Mandei
Japanese director/writer/actor whose often kinetic, cyberpunk style is much imitated. He expressed appreciation over the similarity of the international hit German film "Run Lola Run" (1998) to his first film as a director/writer, "Dangan Runner" (1996). When asked at the Chicago International Film...
7. Gakuryû Ishii
Director | Yume no ginga
Gakuryû Ishii was born on January 15, 1957 in Hakata, Fukuoka, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for Labyrinth of Dreams (1997), Enjeru dasuto (1994) and Electric Dragon 80.000 V (2001).
8. Sion Sono
Director | Ai no mukidashi
Shion Sono is a Japanese director, writer and poet. Born in Aichi Perfecture in 1961 he started his career working as a poet before taking his first steps in film directing. As a student he shot a series of short films in Super 8 and managed to make his first feature films in the late 80s and early...
9. Gaspar Noé
Director | Enter the Void
Gaspar Noé is an Argentinian filmmaker and screenwriter who lives in France. He is the son of Luis Felipe Noé, an Argentinian artist. He directed I Stand Alone, Irréversible, Enter the Void, Love, Climax, Carne, Lux Æterna, Sodomites and Vortex. His films are known for having a sensory overload ...
10. Tetsuya Nakashima
Director | Kokuhaku
Tetsuya Nakashima was born on September 2, 1959 in Fukuoka, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for Confessions (2010), Kiraware Matsuko no isshô (2006) and Kamikaze Girls (2004).
11. Hiroshi Ishikawa
Director | Petaru dansu
Writer, cinematographer and director Hiroshi Ishikawa was born on May 18th, 1963 in Akita Prefecture in Japan. He was a television commercial director before taking on full-length films. Known for his minimalistic female-focused films. Ishikawa won the Silver Iris for best director at the New ...
12. Hitoshi Matsumoto
Writer | Dai-Nihonjin
Hitoshi Matsumoto and his childhood friend Masatoshi Hamada teamed up as comedy duo Downtown. When they had their own TV shows in late 80s, they became phenomenal pop culture among young Japanese people. Unlike other comedy duos in Japan, they are still together, and they dominate prime time TV ...
13. Mika Ninagawa
Director | XxxHolic
Mika Ninagawa was born on October 18, 1972 in Chofu, Japan. She is a director and writer, known for XxxHolic (2022), Followers (2020) and No Longer Human (2019).
14. 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. ...
15. 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.
16. Katsuhito Ishii
Director | Cha no aji
Katsuhito Ishii was born on December 31, 1966 in Niigata, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for The Taste of Tea (2004), Naisu no mori: The First Contact (2005) and Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003).
17. Johnnie To
Director | Hak se wooi
With over thirty directing and producing credits to his name, Johnnie To enjoyed international breakthroughs with Election (2005), Election 2 (2006) (aka "Triad Election") and Exiled (2006); those films enjoyed multiple international film festival appearances and were separately sold to more than ...
18. Chi-Yuarn Lee
Writer | Luan qing chun
Chi-Yuarn Lee is known for Luan qing chun (2008), Blowfish (2011) and Qiao ke li zhong ji (2006).
19. Takeshi Koike
Director | Redline
Takeshi Koike was born on January 26, 1968 in Kaminoyama, Yamagata, Japan. He is a director, known for Redline (2009), The Animatrix (2003) and Ninja Scroll (1993).
20. 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 ...
21. Toshiaki Toyoda
Director | Aoi haru
Toshiaki Toyoda was born on March 10, 1969 in Osaka, Osaka, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for Blue Spring (2001), 9 Souls (2003) and I'm Flash! (2012).
22. Makoto Shinkai
Writer | Suzume no Tojimari
Makoto Shinkai is a Japanese director, writer, producer, animator, editor, cinematographer, voice actor, manga artist and former graphic designer. Shinkai studied Japanese literature at Chuo University where he was a member of juvenile literature club where he drew picture books. In 1999, Shinkai ...
23. 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 ...
24. Christoffer Boe
Writer | Reconstruction
Christoffer Boe was born on May 7, 1974 in Rungsted Kyst, Denmark. He is a writer and director, known for Reconstruction (2003), Beast (2011) and Sex, Drugs & Taxation (2013).
25. Ho-Cheung Pang
Writer | Chi Ming yi Chun Kiu
In 1994, Pang Ho-cheung started his career in the media industry by working as a variety show scriptwriter for Asia Television. By this time, Pang was active in several media. He was working as a scriptwriter, a host for radio and television shows, a columnist, a magazine editor and a copywriter. ...
26. Darren Aronofsky
Writer | Pi
Darren Aronofsky was born February 12, 1969, in Brooklyn, New York. Growing up, Darren was always artistic: he loved classic movies and, as a teenager, he even spent time doing graffiti art. After high school, Darren went to Harvard University to study film (both live-action and animation). He won ...
27. 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 ...
28. Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Director | Un long dimanche de fiançailles
Jean-Pierre Jeunet is a self-taught director who was very quickly interested by cinema, with a predilection for a fantastic cinema where form is as important as the subject. Thus he started directing TV commercials and video clips (such as Julien Clerc in 1984). At the same time he met designer/...
29. Fabrice du Welz
Director | Alléluia
Fabrice du Welz was born on October 21, 1972 in Belgium. He is a director and writer, known for Alleluia (2014), Adoration (2019) and Calvaire (2004).
30. Masaaki Yuasa
Writer | Mind Game
Masaaki Yuasa was born on March 16, 1965 in Fukuoka, Japan. He is a writer and director, known for Mind Game (2004), Lu Over the Wall (2017) and Adventure Time (2010).
31. Akiyuki Shinbô
Director | Mahô shôjo Madoka magika: Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Akiyuki Shinbô was born on September 27, 1961 in Fukushima, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011), Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie Part III: The Rebellion Story (2013) and Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Movie 4 - Walpurgisnacht Rising (2024).
32. Mong-Hong Chung
Cinematographer | Yangguang puzhao
Mong-Hong Chung was born in 1965 in Pingtung, Taiwan. He is a cinematographer and writer, known for A Sun (2019), Soul (2013) and Parking (2008).
33. Michael Arias
Director | Tekkon kinkurîto
Award-winning filmmaker Michael Arias enjoys a colorful and varied career, spanning the worlds of live-action storytelling, visual effects, computer graphics, and anime, the unique realm of Japanese traditional animation.
He got his start at Dream Quest Images, working as a camera assistant on the ...
34. Satoshi Kon
Writer | Tôkyô goddofâzâzu
Satoshi Kon was born in 1963. He studied at the Musashino College of the Arts. He began his career as a Manga artist. He then moved to animation and worked as a background artist on many films (including Roujin Z (1991) by 'Katsuhiro Otomo'). Then, in 1995, he wrote an episode of the anthology film ...
35. Wes Anderson
Director | Fantastic Mr. Fox
Wesley Wales Anderson was born in Houston, Texas. His mother, Texas Ann (Burroughs), is an archaeologist turned real estate agent, and his father, Melver Leonard Anderson, worked in advertising and PR. He has two brothers, Eric and Mel. Anderson's parents divorced when he was a young child, an ...
36. Ryûichi Hiroki
Director | Vaiburêta
Ryûichi Hiroki was born on January 1, 1954 in Kôriyama, Fukushima, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for Vibrator (2003), Yawarakai seikatsu (2005) and Tôkyô gomi onna (2000).
37. Danny Boyle
Director | 127 Hours
Daniel Francis Boyle is a British filmmaker, producer and writer from Radcliffe, Greater Manchester. He is known for directing 28 Days Later, 127 Hours, Trainspotting, T2 Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire, Millions, Shallow Grave, The Beach, Yesterday, and Steve Jobs. He won many awards for ...
38. Satoshi Miki
Writer | Ore ore
Satoshi Miki was born on August 9, 1961 in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. He is a writer and director, known for It's Me, It's Me (2013), Adrift in Tokyo (2007) and What to Do with the Dead Kaiju? (2022).
39. Oxide Chun Pang
Director | Gin gwai
Oxide Chun Pang was born in 1965 in Hong Kong. He is a director and writer, known for The Eye (2002), Bangkok Dangerous (2000) and The Messengers (2007). He has been married to Angelica Lee since February 6, 2010. They have two children.
40. 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 ...
41. 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 ...
42. Ryûhei Kitamura
Director | The Midnight Meat Train
Ryûhei Kitamura was born on May 30, 1969 in Osaka, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for The Midnight Meat Train (2008), Azumi (2003) and Versus (2000).
43. Kazuyoshi Kumakiri
Director | Kichiku dai enkai
Kazuyoshi Kumakiri was born on September 1, 1974 in Obihiro, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for Kichiku dai enkai (1997), Hole in the Sky (2001) and Sketches of Kaitan City (2010).
44. Hu Guan
Director | Lao pao er
Hu Guan was born on August 1, 1968 in Beijing, China. He is a producer and director, known for Mr. Six (2015), The Eight Hundred (2020) and Dou niu (2009).
45. Wen Jiang
Actor | Rogue One
Wen Jiang was born on January 5, 1963 in Tangshan, China. He is an actor and director, known for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Let the Bullets Fly (2010) and Devils on the Doorstep (2000). He has been married to Yun Zhou since 2005. They have two children. He was previously married to ...
46. 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 ...
47. Tom Lin
Director | Jiu jiang feng
Tom Lin was born on February 8, 1976 in Hsinchu, Taiwan. He is a director and assistant director, known for Winds of September (2008), Starry Starry Night (2011) and Zinnia Flower (2015). He has been married to Kimi Hsia since May 31, 2019. He was previously married to Jo-Hsuan Huang.
48. Shunji Iwai
Writer | Love Letter
Having received his education at Yokohama National University, Shunji Iwai started out in the entertainment industry by directing music videos and television dramas, including the likes of Maria, Lunatic Love and Fireworks, for which he received the award for Best Newcomer from the Japanese ...
49. Daihachi Yoshida
Director | Kirishima, bukatsu yamerutteyo
Daihachi Yoshida was born on October 2, 1963 in Kagoshima, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for The Kirishima Thing (2012), Funuke: Show Some Love, You Losers! (2007) and Pale Moon (2014).
50. Naoko Ogigami
Writer | Karera ga honki de amu toki wa,
After graduation from Chiba University's Image Science program, Naoko Ogigami went to the United States in 1994 to study film at the University of Southern California. During this period, she worked as an assistant for TV commercials, promotional videos, and films, and also created short films of ...
51. 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), ...
52. Jianqi Huo
Director | qiu zhi bai hua
Jianqi Huo was born on January 20, 1958 in Beijing, China. He is a director and production designer, known for qiu zhi bai hua (2011), Nuan (2003) and Postmen in the Mountains (1999).
53. Yoshihiro Nishimura
Make_up_department | Tôkyô zankoku keisatsu
Yoshihiro Nishimura was born on April 1, 1967 in Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan. He is a producer, known for Tokyo Gore Police (2008), Meatball Machine Kodoku (2017) and The ABCs of Death (2012).
54. Yoshiaki Kawajiri
Animation_department | Jûbê ninpûchô
Graduated from Yokohama High School in 1968. After a few years working as animator at Mushi Production Animation, the company went bankrupt in 1972 and he joined Madhouse Studio. In the 70s he was promoted to animation director and finally debuted as film director in 1984's "SF New Century Lensman"...
55. Quentin Dupieux
Writer | Rubber
Quentin Dupieux was born on April 14, 1974 in Clamart, Hauts-de-Seine, France. He is a writer and director, known for Rubber (2010), Le daim (2019) and Reality (2014).
56. Soi Cheang
Director | Zhì chi
Soi Cheang was born on January 5, 1972 in Portuguese Macau [now China]. He is an actor and director, known for Limbo (2021), Dog Bite Dog (2006) and New Blood (2002).
57. Yibai Zhang
Director | Wo he wo de zu guo
Yibai Zhang was born in 1963 in Chongqing, Sichuan, China. He is a director and producer, known for My People, My Country (2019), Yoru no Shanghai (2007) and Fleet of Time (2014).
58. 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).
59. David Lynch
Writer | Twin Peaks
Born in precisely the kind of small-town American setting so familiar from his films, David Lynch spent his childhood being shunted from one state to another as his research scientist father kept getting relocated. He attended various art schools, married Peggy Lynch and then fathered future ...
60. Ching-Po Wong
Director | Zhou chu chu san hai
Ching-Po Wong is known for The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon (2023), Revenge: A Love Story (2010) and Triad Underworld (2004).
61. Pascal Laugier
Director | Ghostland
Pascal Laugier was born on October 16, 1971 in France. He is a director and writer, known for Incident in a Ghostland (2018), Martyrs (2008) and The Tall Man (2012).
62. Guy Ritchie
Director | Sherlock Holmes
Guy Ritchie was born in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK on September 10, 1968. After watching Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) as a child, Guy realized that what he wanted to do was make films. He never attended film school, saying that the work of film school graduates was boring and ...
63. Nicolas Winding Refn
Writer | The Neon Demon
Writer, director, and producer Nicolas Winding Refn was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1970, to Anders Refn, a film director and editor, and Vibeke Winding (née Tuxen), a cinematographer. Just before he turned 11, in 1981, he moved to New York with his parents, where he lived out his teen years. ...
64. 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 ...
65. Wilson Yip
Director | Ip Man
Wilson Yip is known for Ip Man (2008), Kill Zone (2005) and Ip Man 4: The Finale (2019).
66. Lars von Trier
Writer | Dancer in the Dark
Probably the most ambitious and visually distinctive filmmaker to emerge from Denmark since Carl Theodor Dreyer over 60 years earlier, Lars von Trier studied film at the Danish Film School and attracted international attention with his very first feature, The Element of Crime (1984). A highly ...
67. Ye Lou
Director | Fu cheng mi shi
Ye Lou was born (in 1965) and grew up in Shanghai, a city he would film beautifully in his Suzhou River (2000) (Suzhou River). After studying cinema at the Beijing Film Academy, the gifted young man debuted in the film career as an assistant director, a producer and a short subjects director. His ...
68. Mamoru Hosoda
Director | Samâ uôzu
Mamoru Hosoda is a Japanese film director and animator. Formerly employed at Toei Animation, he went to work at Madhouse from 2005 to 2011. Hosoda left Madhouse in 2011 to establish his own animation studio, Studio Chizu. He first came to public attention in the early 2000s with the first two films...
69. Paco Plaza
Director | [Rec]
Paco Plaza was born in 1973 in València, València, Comunitat Valenciana, Spain. He is a director and writer, known for REC (2007), Veronica (2017) and [Rec]² (2009). He is married to Leticia Dolera.
70. Danny Pang
Director | Gin gwai
The twin brothers Oxide and Danny Pang started their career in Hong Kong, where Oxide worked as colourist and Danny as editor. After moving to Bangkok, Oxide made the experimental film Who's Running. Bangkok Dangerous (2000) is the first film in which the brothers combine their talents.
71. 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 ...
72. Luc Besson
Writer | Le Cinquième Élément
Luc Besson spent the first years of his life following his parents, scuba diving instructors, around the world. His early life was entirely aquatic. He already showed amazing creativity as a youth, writing early drafts of The Big Blue (1988) and The Fifth Element (1997), as an adolescent bored in ...
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