The Directors' Poll
The directors' poll is part of the prestigious once-a-decade Sight and Sound “Greatest Films of All Time” survey. While the critics’ poll reflects the opinions of hundreds of film critics and scholars, the directors’ poll gathers the personal top-ten selections of internationally respected filmmakers, offering a unique perspective on cinema’s greatest achievements from the artists who make films themselves.
The results form a directors’ list of the 100 greatest films of all time, often including surprising and deeply personal picks that differ from the critics’ ranking.
22. Pather Panchali (Satyajit Ray, 1955)
37. Au Hasard Balthazar (Robert Bresson, 1966)
38. La strada (Federico Fellini, 1956)
38. La Règle du Jeu ("Rules of the Game") (Jean Renoir, 1939)
48. L’avventura (Michelangelo Antonioni 1960)
41. Playtime (Jacques Tati, 1967)
41. The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955)
41. A Man Escaped (Robert Bresson, 1956)
41. Vagabond (Agnès Varda, 1985)
41. Come and See (Elem Klimov, 1985)
46. Le Mépris (Jean-Luc Godard 1963)
46. Once upon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone, 1968)
46. City Lights (Charlie Chaplin, 1931)
46. L’Atalante (Jean Vigo, 1934)
46. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
46. Don't Look Now (Nicolas Roeg, 1973)
52. La Maman et la Putain ("The Mother and the Whore") (Jean Eustache, 1973)
52. Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, 1951)
52. La Notte (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1961)
52. The Piano (Jane Campion, 1992)
52. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1974)
52. Viridiana (Luis Buñuel, 1961)
52. Cléo from 5 to 7 (Agnès Varda, 1962)
52. Fanny and Alexander (Ingmar Bergman, 1982)
52. Eraserhead (David Lynch, 1977)
62. Late Spring (Ozu Yasujiro, 1949)
62. Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid, 1943)
62. Sunset Blvd. (Billy Wilder 1950)
62. La ciénaga (Lucrecia Martel, 2001)
66. Sátántangó (Béla Tarr 1994)
62. Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2004)
62. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott 1982)
62. Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962)
62. Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959)
62. Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975)
72. Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974)
73. The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman, 1957)
74. Ikiru (Akira Kurosawa, 1952)
75. L'Argent (Robert Bresson, 1984)
76. The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
77. Salò (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1974)
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
2. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)
3. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
4. Tokyo Story (Ozu Yasujiro, 1953)
4. Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (Chantal Akerman, 1975)
6. Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)
6. 8½ (Federico Fellini, 1963)
8. Mirror (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1975)
9. Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966)
9. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar Wai, 2001)
9. Close-Up (Abbas Kiarostami, 1989)
12. Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976)
12. Barry Lyndon (Stanley Kubrick, 1975)
14. Beau Travail (Claire Denis, 1998)
14. Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, 1954)
14. À Bout de Souffle ("Breathless") (Jean-Luc Godard, 1960)
14. Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979)
18. Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
18. A Woman under the Influence (John Cassavetes, 1974)
20. Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa, 1950)
20. Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica, 1948)
22. The Battle of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966)
22. Mulholland Dr. (David Lynch, 2001)
22. Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980)
26. Andrei Rublev (Andrei Tarkovsky 1966)
26. The Godfather, Part II (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
28. GoodFellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990)
29. Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989)
30. Ordet (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1955)
30. The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1927)
30. Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, 1929)
33. Sunrise A Song of Two Humans (F.W. Murnau, 1927)
33. The 400 Blows (François Truffaut, 1959)
35. La Jetée (Chris Marker 1962)
35. La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini 1960)
37. Au Hasard Balthazar (Robert Bresson, 1966)
38. La strada (Federico Fellini, 1956)
38. La Règle du Jeu ("Rules of the Game") (Jean Renoir, 1939)
48. L’avventura (Michelangelo Antonioni 1960)
41. Playtime (Jacques Tati, 1967)
41. The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955)
41. A Man Escaped (Robert Bresson, 1956)
41. Vagabond (Agnès Varda, 1985)
41. Come and See (Elem Klimov, 1985)
46. Le Mépris (Jean-Luc Godard 1963)
46. Once upon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone, 1968)
46. City Lights (Charlie Chaplin, 1931)
46. L’Atalante (Jean Vigo, 1934)
46. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
46. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Stanley Kubrick, 1963)
46. Don't Look Now (Nicolas Roeg, 1973)
52. La Maman et la Putain ("The Mother and the Whore") (Jean Eustache, 1973)
52. Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, 1951)
52. La Notte (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1961)
52. The Piano (Jane Campion, 1992)
52. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1974)
52. Viridiana (Luis Buñuel, 1961)
52. Cléo from 5 to 7 (Agnès Varda, 1962)
52. Fanny and Alexander (Ingmar Bergman, 1982)
52. Eraserhead (David Lynch, 1977)
62. Late Spring (Ozu Yasujiro, 1949)
62. Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid, 1943)
62. Sunset Blvd. (Billy Wilder 1950)
62. La ciénaga (Lucrecia Martel, 2001)
66. Sátántangó (Béla Tarr 1994)
62. Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2004)
62. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott 1982)
62. Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962)
62. Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959)
62. Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975)
72. Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974)
73. The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman, 1957)
74. Ikiru (Akira Kurosawa, 1952)
75. L'Argent (Robert Bresson, 1984)
76. The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
77. Salò (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1974)
78. A Seperation (Asghar Farhadi, 2011)
79. Kes (Ken Loach, 1969)
80. Where's the Friend's House? (Abbas Kiarostami, 1987)
72. The Searchers (John Ford, 1956)
72. Touki Bouki (Djibril Diop Mambéty 1973)
72. A Brighter Summer Day (Edward Yang 1991)
72. Sans soleil (Chris Marker 1982)
72. Modern Times (Charlie Chaplin 1936)
72. News from Home (Chantal Akerman, 1976)
72. Blue Velvet (David Lynch 1986)
72. The Spirit of the Beehive (Victor Erice, 1973)
72. Shoah (Claude Lanzmann, 1985)
72. Wild Strawberries (Ingmar Bergman, 1957)
72. The Red Shoes (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger 1948)
72. The Ascent (Larissa Shepitko, 1967)
72. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Charlie Kaufman, 2004)
72. Moonlight (Barry Jenkins 2016)
72. Colour of Pomegranates (Sergei Parajanov, 1968)
72. The Conformists (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1970)
72. Caché (Michael Haneke, 2005)
72. Parasite (Bong Joon Ho, 2019)
72. Taste of Cherry (Abbas Kiarostami, 1977)
93. Wanda (Barbara Loden, 1970)
93. Battleship Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein, 1925)
93. Pickpocket (Robert Bresson, 1959)
93. Yi Yi (Edward Yang, 1999)
93. Throne of Blood (Akira Kurosawa, 1957)