Best Filmmakers Today
by derekpayne87 | created - 11 Jul 2013 | updated - 23 Oct 2013 | PublicThese are the people that make films that really mean something. The people who make you think. Those whose films you're still digesting weeks or months later. Disclaimer: I, of course, have not seen movies by all today's directors.
1. Michael Haneke
Writer | Caché
A true master of his craft, Michael Haneke is one of the greatest film artists working today and one who challenges his viewers each year and work goes by, with films that reflect real portions of life in realistic, disturbing and unforgettable ways. One of the most genuine filmmakers of the world ...
In some ways a reincarnation of Bresson, this man is amazing.
2. Paul Thomas Anderson
Director | Punch-Drunk Love
Anderson was born in 1970. He was one of the first of the "video store" generation of film-makers. His father was the first man on his block to own a V.C.R., and from a very early age Anderson had an infinite number of titles available to him. While film-makers like Spielberg cut their teeth making...
He just keeps getting better. There Will Be Blood was great. The Master was better. I can't wait for Inherent Vice.
3. Martin McDonagh
Writer | In Bruges
Martin McDonagh was born on March 26, 1970 in Camberwell, London, England, UK. He is a writer and director, known for In Bruges (2008), Seven Psychopaths (2012) and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017).
He would be on top with a larger body of work. If he keeps up with what he's doing, I'll consider him one of the greatest of all time. Absolutely incredible.
4. 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 ...
From his earliest films, through the raw style he founded, and now the greatest master of cinematography of our time, he never fails to infuse depth of thought with his ever-changing style.
5. 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 ...
His (generally) judicial use of surrealism to explore his characters is extremely effective and well-pointed. The climax of "Requiem for a Dream" is powerful enough to absolve him of the train-wreck that is "The Fountain"
6. Bent Hamer
Director | Salmer fra kjøkkenet
Bent Hamer was born on December 18, 1956 in Sandefjord, Norway. He is a well-regarded film auteur, director, producer, and writer, known for Eggs (1995), Kitchen Stories (2003), O' Horten (2007) and Factotum (2005).
Hamer studied film theory and literature at the University of Stockholm and the ...
His films aren't typically what I go for, which makes it all the more impressive that he's on my list.
7. Leos Carax
Director | Holy Motors
Leos Carax made several short films and also wrote film criticism, then at the age of 24 years made a very strong first feature Boy Meets Girl (1984). The film played at the 1984 Cannes film festival and was a critical triumph. It paved the way for Carax's second feature Bad Blood (1986) (Bad Blood...
Perhaps the most underrated director of our time.
8. Larry Clark
Director | Bully
Was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma (1943). Son of Frances Clark (baby photographer) and Lewis Clark. Graduated from Central High school in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Attended Layton School of Art in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Studied under Walter Sheffer and Gerard Bakker. Film debut was the movie Kids (1995). He was ...
His films are an extension of his raw photography. He pulls no punches, and he shouldn't.
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 ...
Some call him a nihilist, yet he never fails to find hope, justice, or redemption in a world that seems to lack these traits.
10. Andrey Zvyagintsev
Director | Nelyubov
Director and screenwriter Andrey Zvyagintsev is the winner of the Venice Film Festival (2003) and the Cannes Film Festival (2011, 2014, 2017). Two-time the Academy Awards and the BAFTA Awards nominee. Winner or the Golden Globe Awards (2015) for his film "Leviathan". In 2018, his latest work "...
In Soviet Russia, movie is entertained by you.
11. Charlie Kaufman
Writer | I'm Thinking of Ending Things
Avid reader Charlie Kaufman wrote plays and made short films as a young student. He moved from Massapequa, New York to West Hartford, Connecticut in 1972 where he attended high school. As a comedic actor, he performed in school plays and, after graduation, he enrolled at Boston University but soon ...
One of the great writers of our day (though I didn't really like Adaptation) his direction in "Synecdoche, New York" will hopefully sprout into a new film movement.
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