31. Gauri Shinde
Gauri has established herself as one of Bollywood’s top filmmakers with English Vinglish, Chup, and Dear Zindagi.
- Nationality: Indian
- Started her career in 2001
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 5
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Dear Zindagi (2016)
Know About the Director:
32. Gia Coppola
Gia Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola’s granddaughter, and Sofia Coppola’s niece, makes her mark behind the camera. If the dreamlike Palo Alto (starring Emma Roberts and adapted from a book of short stories by James Franco) is any clue, she’s a talent to watch.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 2010
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 11
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Palo Alto (2013)
Know About the Director:
On the couch with Gia Coppola: Creative influences, familial advice and the art of restraint
33. Gillian Armstrong
Armstrong’s breakthrough was My Brilliant Career, but it might also define a diverse resume that includes Little Women, Mrs. Soffel, and Oscar and Lucinda. In addition, Armstrong exposed audiences to Australian powerhouses such as Cate Blanchett and Judy Davis. Her last project, Women He’s Undressed, was a documentary about Oscar-winning costume designer Orry-Kelly.
- Nationality: Australian
- Started her career in 1970
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 27
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Little Women (1994)
Know About the Director:
Gillian Armstrong Interview on Studio 10
34. Gillian Robespierre
While it’s delighted Robespierre is reuniting with her star Jenny Slate for an FX pilot, a director finds this promising — who can balance tragic honesty and slapstick humor with equal skill — should have movie producers vying for her. Isn’t it obvious?
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 2008
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 16
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Landline (2017)
Know About the Director:
‘Landline’ Q&A | Jenny Slate, Abby Quinn, Gillian Robespierre, and Elisabeth Holm
35. Gina Prince-Bythewood
Prince-Bythewood makes storming films. Still, her Beyond the Lights (2014) was one of the year’s most underappreciated jewels. As she demonstrated in her 2000 blockbuster Love & Basketball, Prince-Bythewood can liberate a film romance from formula and inject it with something genuine. Her characters aren’t the only ones in love; you’re also falling in love with them, thanks to the director’s obvious affection.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 1991
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 20
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: The Old Guard (2020)
Know About the Director:
Director Gina Prince-Bythewood discusses her new film “The Woman King”
36. Gurinder Chadha
Chadha directed Bend It Like Beckham, which launched the careers of numerous performers (including Keira Knightley, Parminder Nagra, and Archie Panjabi), Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging, which elevated the status of the now-ubiquitous Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
- Nationality: Indian
- Started her career in 1990
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 17
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Blinded By The Light (2019)
Know About the Director:
Gurinder Chadha speaks to Christiane Amanpour on CNN
37. Hannah Fidell
Fidell’s extraordinary ability to drill directly into the heart of a romantic connection was displayed in A Teacher and her most recent drama, 6 Years. Everything in her films feels intimate and authentic, especially the fighting. She’s a voyeur with flair.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 2010
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 13
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: The Long Dumb Road Trailer
Know About the Director:
Hannah Fidell discusses her film “The Long Dumb Road” at IndieWire’s Sundance Studio
38. Isabel Coixet
Coixet has directed several English-language films, including My Life Without Me, The Secret Life of Words (starring director Sarah Polley), and 2008’s Elegy, which provided Penélope Cruz with an underappreciated performance to slot neatly between her powerhouse turns in Volver and Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Coixet’s Learning to Drive reunites Elegy co-stars Patricia Clarkson and Ben Kingsley.
- Nationality: Spanish
- Started her career in 1984
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 41
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: The Bookshop (2017)
Know About the Director:
39. Jamie Babbit
Babbit directed many cult classic dramas. In addition to her Indie film, Addicted to Fresno, starring Judy Greer and Natasha Lyonne, Babbit has directed episodes of nearly every major TV show, including Girls, Silicon Valley, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 1996
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 77
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: But I’m a Cheerleader (1999)
Know About the Director:
Frameline37: Jamie Babbit Interview
40. Jennifer Getzinger
Getzinger helmed ten episodes of Mad Men, including “The Suitcase,” which is often regarded as the show’s best hour. The Emmys passed her up that year, but movie studios should not: if you have a clever adult drama needing a director, give Getzinger a chance.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 1998
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 36
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: WestWorld (2020)
Know About the Director:
Jennifer Getzinger (‘Outer Range’ director) on delicate balance of neo-Western and sci-fi thriller
41. Jennifer Kent
In an era when horror films aspire to found-footage ordinariness, Kent brought massive style to The Babadook, a bracingly inventive, fiercely felt film about a shy mother and her young son who are haunted not only by a creepy children’s book but also by family problems that have supernatural manifestations. Kent’s debut is one of the most promising in recent memory.
- Nationality: Australian
- Started her career in 2006
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 7
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Monster (2005)
Know About the Director:
Jennifer Kent & Baykali Ganambarr Discuss The Film, “The Nightingale”
42. Jennifer Yuh Nelson
Nelson is a trailblazer in the traditionally male-dominated world of animation: her directorial debut, Kung Fu Panda 2, was the first major studio-animated film directed solely by a woman (other women have co-directed as part of a directing duo), and it is the highest-grossing female-directed film ever, grossing $665 million worldwide.
- Nationality: South Korean
- Started her career in 1998
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 6
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)
Know About the Director:
THE DARKEST MINDS | On-set visit with Jennifer Yuh Nelson “Director”
43. Jill/Joel Soloway
Afternoon Delight, Soloway’s directorial debut, took self-absorbed Silver Lakers and dug under the façade for some sexual knots that were difficult to untangle. Soloway is an experienced television writer for shows such as Six Feet Under. Soloway digs deeper and takes formal risks in her acclaimed Amazon series Transparent.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 2010
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 9
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Afternoon Delight (2013)
Know About the Director:
Jill Soloway: Writer, Producer, Director, Badger
44. Jill Sprecher
Have you watched the film Clockwatchers? Parker Posey (at the height of her Posey-dom), Lisa Kudrow, and Toni Collette appeared in the 1997 comedy about temps, and it’s an unappreciated little gem. Sprecher also directed Thirteen Conversations About One Thing and Thin Ice, but she rarely works because funding is difficult. So give her an excellent small movie that she can continue entertaining us!
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 1997
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 3
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Thin Ice (2011)
Know About the Director:
45. Jocelyn Moorhouse
Moorhouse, an Australian, used her famous 1991 picture Proof to expose Russell Crowe and Hugo Weaving to American audiences. After that, Hollywood called, hiring her to direct How to Make an American Quilt and A Thousand Acres. Then there were no movies for nearly 20 years! Moorhouse has finally returned to the cinema with her Kate Winslet feature The Dressmaker, which provides Liam Hemsworth with his first genuinely charismatic leading role.
- Nationality: Australian
- Started her career in 1983
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 13
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: The Dressmaker (2015)
Know About the Director:
ACMI Conversations: Jocelyn Moorhouse talks Unconditional Love
46. Jodie Foster
Foster began directing in 1991, the same year she bagged an Oscar for her performance in Silence of the Lambs, and she’s returned to the director’s chair for films like Home for the Holidays regularly since her debut, Little Man Tate. Foster has focused her directing career in recent years. After helming Netflix episodes like House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black (the latter of which earned her an Emmy nod), she worked on the financial drama Money Monster, starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 1985
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 10
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Money Monster (2016)
Know About the Director:
Jodie Foster on directing Money Monster and her love of ’70s thrillers
47. Julia Leigh
The Cannes Film Festival is frequently chastised for allowing too few films by women in its competition. Still, Leigh’s debut Sleeping Beauty made a Cannes impact in an incredibly productive year for female directors, including Mawenn, Lynne Ramsay, and Naomi Kawase. Leigh’s daring retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story features Emily Browning as a call girl who spends most of her sessions fast asleep.
- Nationality: Australian
- Started her career in 2011
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 1
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Sleeping Beauty (2011)
Know About the Director:
2015 PEN World Voices Festival: The Art of Mentorship with Julia Leigh
48. Julia Loktev
Even the trailer for Loktev’s horrific terrorist picture Day Night, released in 2006, is more suspenseful than any film. This Russian-born filmmaker treats her characters like a provocative Rorschach blot, and what you see in, say, Gael Garcia Bernal and Hani Furstenberg (stars in Loktev’s 2011 film The Loneliest Planet) may be precisely what makes you uncomfortable about yourself.
- Nationality: Russian-American
- Started her career in 1998
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 3
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: The Loneliest Planet (2011)
Know About the Director:
Global Feminisms: Julia Loktev
49. Julie Delpy
Delpy, a two-time Oscar contender for her co-writing work on Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, has created another improbable franchise of her own: She wrote, directed, and starred in 2 Days in Paris and 2 Days in New York, and her raunchy, melancholy style of humor gave both culture-clash comedies a fresh new spin. She’s also continued to develop her significant roles with Lolo, in which she plays a single mother whose son doesn’t take kindly to her new partner, coming up next.
- Nationality: French
- Started her career in 1995
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 11
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Two Days In Paris (2007)
Know About the Director:
Julie Delpy discusses Writing & Directing | 2014 Directors Close-Up
50. Julie Taymor
Avatar, the highest-grossing film ever, grossed $2.7 billion globally. That’s not even half of what the theatrical performance of Julie Taymor’s The Lion King grossed: Last year, her imaginative reimagining of Disney’s film-musical grossed over $6 billion. Taymor has faced some of the most famous artists on the big screen: She’s directed three Shakespeare adaptations, a Beatles musical, and an Oscar-nominated Frida Kahlo biography.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 1986
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 12
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Frida (2002)
Know About the Director:
Director Julie Taymor’s creative journey, from ‘The Lion King’ to ‘The Glorias’
51. Karyn Kusama
Michelle Rodriguez was introduced to the world in Kusama’s first film, Girlfight. However, her second movie Aeon Flux was caught between two executive regimes at Paramount, and the second group of executives disemboweled it. Fortunately, Kusama rebounded with the underappreciated Jennifer’s Body, and she blasted South by Southwest with her dinner-party thriller The Invitation.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 2000
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 21
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: The Invitation (2015)
Know About the Director:
Karyn Kusama in Conversation | BFI At Home
52. Kasi Lemmons
Roger Ebert named Lemmons’s debut Eve’s Bayou his favorite film of 1997, writing that it established Lemmons as “one of today’s most gifted young American writer-directors.” Yet, Lemmons has made only a few films since that acclaim. Still, choosing to see the good side because Lemmons has been tied to an adaptation of Zadie Smith’s On Beauty for quite some time, and she’d be excellent for it.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 1996
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 11
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Harriet (2019)
Know About the Director:
Kasi Lemmons Reveals Directors Who Inspire Her | Reflected On Screen
53. Kelly Reichardt
Reichardt’s films (including Old Joy, Meek’s Cutoff, and Wendy and Lucy) place their protagonists in a world that doesn’t care about them, even though Reichardt does. That’s why she’s had a fantastic time working with top-tier actors drawn to her sympathetic representations.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 1994
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 12
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: First Cow (2019)
Know About the Director:
Michelle Williams on her Partnership with Kelly Reichardt
54. Kimberly Peirce
Peirce tackled gender issues 15 years before this winter’s buzzed-about The Danish Girl with her poignant Boys Don’t Cry, which won Hilary Swank an Oscar. Still, Peirce has directed only two films since then: Stop-Loss and Carrie, and while we enjoyed the former, the latter demonstrates that we’re not giving enough opportunities to one of the most talented filmmakers to emerge from a crowded class of 1999 that also included directors like Sam Mendes and Spike Jonze.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 1994
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 18
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Carrie (2013)
Know About the Director:
Kimberly Peirce at AFI Directing Workshop for Women 2014 Showcase
55. Kiran Rao
Kiran, an Indian film producer, screenwriter, and director, rose to prominence with her film Dhobi Ghat (Mumbai Diaries). She also worked as an assistant director on Lagaan and Swades: We Are the People.
- Nationality: Indian
- Started her career in 2010
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 1
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Dhobi Ghat (2010)
Know About the Director:
Kiran Rao in conversation with Director of ‘Ship Of Theseus’
*The video is in Hindi, the Director’s mother tongue.
56. Lana Wachowski
Lana Wachowski and her sister Lilly created the hugely influential Matrix trilogy. In contrast, they haven’t touched similar box-office highs since Lana is still considered a visionary thinker with rare visibility as a trans filmmaker in Hollywood.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 1995
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 14
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: The Matrix (1999)
Know About the Director:
Lana Wachowski receives the HRC Visibility Award
57. Laura Poitras
Poitras gained special access to secret leaker Edward Snowden, and her nonfiction film on the whistleblower, Citizenfour, won the Oscar for Best Documentary last year. The film was as sharp and sleek as any Hollywood thriller.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 2003
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 13
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: The Oath (2010)
Know About the Director:
‘All the Beauty and the Bloodshed’ with Laura Poitras | Academy Conversations
58. Leena Yadav
Leena, a film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor, made her feature film directorial debut with Shabd and has since directed films such as Teen Patti, Parched, and Rajma Chawal.
- Nationality: Indian
- Started her career in 2000
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 9
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Parched (2015)
Know About the Director:
Leena Yadav and Aseem Bajaj Interview with Sneha Menon Desai | Rajma Chawal | Netflix
*The videos are in Hindi, the Director’s regional language
59. Lesli Linka Glatter
Now and Then, her girls-growing-up tale was a slumber-party favorite (and has inspired speculation of a remake), but it has yet to be typecast. She also directed the Mad Men episode that included the show’s memorable lawnmower tragedy, and she has been an executive producer and director on Homeland since 2012. She has been nominated for Emmys for both shows.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 1985
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 67
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: The Walking Dead (2013)
Know About the Director:
Director Lesli Linka Glatter on her directing process
60. Leslye Headland
Hollywood would have given Headland the keys to the kingdom for directing the two comedies that are sharp and specific: Bachelorette and Sleeping With Other People. Of course, Headland’s sensibility has been kindled by television.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 2012
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 13
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Bachelorette (2012)
Know About the Director:
Leslye Headland on Directing Her First Movie
61. Lexi Alexander
Alexander, a former real-life fighting champion, specializes in beating everyone in her films Green Street Hooligans and Punisher: War Zone (the rare comic-book adaptation helmed by a woman). However, Alexander isn’t hesitant to fight back on Twitter, where she frequently calls out industry misogyny.
- Nationality: German
- Started her career in 2002
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 15
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Green Street Hooligans (2005)
Know About the Director:
Director, Lexi Alexander Speaks to MSU Students
62. Lisa Cholodenko
Thank God for Cholodenko, who crafts films about real people in an age when CG-inflated movies take satisfaction in creating digital characters. Her films’ characters, including The Kids Are All Right, High Art, Laurel Canyon, and the genuinely fantastic HBO miniseries Olive Kitteridge, live intriguing, foible-filled lives that appear to extend beyond the boundaries of the screen.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 1994
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 17
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: The Kids Are Alright (2010)
Know About the Director:
LFF Lisa Cholodenko Masterclass Highlights
63. Lone Scherfig
Scherfig directed another Best Picture nomination, knowing, empathetic An Education, the same year Kathryn Bigelow won her historic Best Director Oscar for The Hurt Locker (which starred Carey Mulligan). Scherfig’s specialization is young British people, as evidenced by following films such as The Riot Club and One Day.
- Nationality: Danish
- Started her career in 1987
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 21
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: An Education (2009)
Know About the Director:
Ask a filmmaker: Lone Scherfig | BFI
64. Lynn Shelton
There are few more fabulous comedies about contemporary masculinity than Shelton’s Humpday. Two straight males casually let their one-upmanship go out of hand to the point that they almost dared to sleep with each other in a game of macho chicken. Still, you can also count on Shelton to get spontaneity from highly trained actresses like Emily Blunt (in Your Sister’s Sister) and Keira Knightley (in Laggies); significantly, they appear to be having the time of their lives, and their joy is contagious.
Much associated with the mumblecore genre, the film world lost Shelton in 2020 to acute myeloid leukemia. As a tribute to her, the American Cinematheque hosted an online event starring Gillian Jacobs, Kerry Washington, Reese Witherspoon, and more posthumously.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 2006
- Films/TV series directed as of 2019: 28
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Humpday (2009)
Know About the Director:
Lynn Shelton on women directors: ‘There’s still a long way to go’
65. Marielle Heller
Give every film to Marielle Heller. What, you require more persuasion than that? Fine. Diary of a Teenage Girl, starring Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgard, and Kristen Wiig, is without a doubt the best first film we’ve seen in a long, long time. It’s empathetic, humorous, erotic, and daring, giving the impression that Heller can handle anything.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 2015
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 7
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Can You Ever Forgive Me (2018)
Know About the Director:
Marielle Heller on Making Films About Real People: “It’s a Real Balancing Act”
66. Marjane Satrapi
Satrapi delivers another curveball just when you think you know what she’s capable of. The animated Persepolis, about her Iranian and European coming-of-age, piqued Hollywood’s interest, and she and co-director Vincent Paronnaud followed it up with the live-action Chicken With Plums. But The Voices, a solo effort directed by Satrapi, surprised moviegoers. It starred Ryan Reynolds as a delightfully crazy murderer.
- Nationality: Iranian
- Started her career in 2007
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 5
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: The Voices (2014)
Know About the Director:
Conversation: Graphic Novelist, Director Marjane Satrapi
67. Martha Coolidge
Coolidge is the only female president of the Directors Guild of America, which is a significant achievement in and of itself. In addition, she’s directed a wide range of films, from the ’80s comedies Real Genius and Valley Girl to somber features like Rambling Rose and Introducing Dorothy Dandridge.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 1972
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 52
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Real Genius (1985)
Know About the Director:
68. Mary Harron
Bret Easton Ellis has never been an easy author to translate for film, yet Harron not only did it with American Psycho, but she also made a horror novel into a comedy. Her blood-soaked comedy helped Christian Bale become a celebrity, and their meticulously calibrated version of the crazed yuppie killer Patrick Bateman became instantly memorable.
- Nationality: Canadian
- Started her career in 1989
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 28
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Alias Grace (2017)
Know About the Director:
American Psycho: interview with Christian Bale, Bret Easton Ellis and Director Mary Herron (2000)
69. Maryam Keshavarz
Circumstance, Keshavarz’s film about two young lesbians in Tehran, was so popular at the Sundance Film Festival that you couldn’t walk around without hearing about it. The subject became controversial and did not go down well in Iran, where Keshavarz is now barred.
- Nationality: American
- Started her career in 2004
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 7
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Circumstance (2011)
Know About the Director:
‘The Persian Version’ Was Inspired by a Family Secret | Sundance 2023
70. Meghna Gulzar
Meghna’s journey and evolution have inspired her, with films such as Filhaal, Talvar, Raazi, and Chhapaak to her credit.
- Nationality: Indian
- Started her career in 2000
- Films/TV series directed as of 2023: 9
- Known for:
Movie Trailer: Raazi (2018)
Know About the Director:
Gulzar, Meghna Gulzar, Shantanu Ray Chaudhuri | Jaipur Literature Festival
