callings of the archive
Film director Biographies
Every archived life recorded as film director, ordered by their place in the ledger.
Contemporary era
Naseeruddin Shah
b. July 20, 1950
Indian actor and director
Modern era
Ritwik Ghatak
November 4, 1925 – February 6, 1976
Indian Bengali filmmaker and script writer (1925–1976)
Modern era
Bimal Roy
July 12, 1909 – January 8, 1966
Indian film director (1909–1966)
Modern era
Mehboob Khan
1906 – May 28, 1964
Film director (1906–1964)
Modern era
K. Asif
June 14, 1922 – March 9, 1971
Indian director (1922–1971)
Modern era
Norodom Sihanouk
October 31, 1922 – October 15, 2012
Cambodian monarch and politician (1922–2012)
Modern era
P. Ramlee
March 22, 1929 – May 29, 1973
Malaysian singer, actor and film director (1929–1973)
Modern era
Forugh Farrokhzad
January 5, 1935 – February 13, 1967
Iranian poet (1935-1967)
Contemporary era
Ruhul Amin
b. 1971
Film director
Modern era
Zahir Raihan
August 19, 1935 – January 30, 1972
Bangladeshi novelist, writer & filmmaker (1935-1972)
Modern era
Bharathidasan
April 29, 1891 – April 21, 1964
Tamil poet, rationalist writer and Dravidian movement activist
Modern era
Jyoti Prasad Agarwala
June 17, 1903 – January 17, 1951
Playwright, songwriter, poet, writer and filmmaker (1903–1951)
Modern era
Dadasaheb Phalke
April 30, 1870 – February 16, 1944
Indian film producer, director and screenwriter (1870–1944)
Modern era
Ardeshir Irani
December 5, 1886 – October 14, 1969
Indian film director (1886–1969)
Modern era
Himansu Rai
1892 – May 19, 1940
Indian filmmaker (1892–1940)
Modern era
Fatma Begum
1892 – 1983
Indian actress and director
Modern era
Pramathesh Barua
October 24, 1903 – November 29, 1951
Indian actor (1903–1951)
Modern era
Sohrab Modi
November 2, 1897 – January 28, 1984
Indian film actor, director, producer (1897-1984)
Modern era
V. Shantaram
November 18, 1901 – October 30, 1990
Indian film director and actor (1901–1990)
Modern era
Baburao Painter
June 3, 1890 – January 16, 1954
Indian film maker and artist (1890-1954)
Modern era
Prithviraj Kapoor
November 3, 1906 – May 29, 1972
Indian actor (1906-1972)
Modern era
Jamshedji Framji Madan
April 27, 1857 – June 28, 1923
Indian film producer
Modern era
A. R. Kardar
October 2, 1904 – November 22, 1989
Indian actor and director
Modern era
W. Z. Ahmed
December 20, 1916 – April 15, 2007
Pakistani filmmaker
Modern era
Shamim Ara
March 22, 1938 – August 5, 2016
Pakistani actor and film director
Modern era
Uday Shankar
December 8, 1900 – September 26, 1977
Indian dancer, choreographer, and actor (1900-1977)
Modern era
Susan Sontag
January 16, 1933 – December 28, 2004
American writer and filmmaker, professor, and activist (1933–2004)
Modern era
Man Ray
August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976
American and French visual artist (1890–1976)
Modern era
Henri Cartier-Bresson
August 22, 1908 – August 3, 2004
French photographer (1908–2004)
Contemporary era
Annie Leibovitz
b. October 2, 1949
American photographer (born 1949)
Modern era
Herbert von Karajan
April 5, 1908 – July 16, 1989
Austrian conductor (1908–1989)
Modern era
Sergei Eisenstein
January 10, 1898 – February 11, 1948
Soviet filmmaker (1898–1948)
Modern era
Fritz Lang
December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976
Austrian filmmaker (1890–1976)
Modern era
Billy Wilder
June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002
Austrian and American filmmaker (1906–2002)
Modern era
Frank Capra
May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991
Italian-born American film director (1897–1991)
Modern era
John Ford
February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973
American film director (1894–1973)
Modern era
David Lean
March 25, 1908 – April 16, 1991
British filmmaker and editor (1908–1991)
Modern era
Sergio Leone
January 3, 1929 – April 30, 1989
Italian filmmaker (1929–1989)
Modern era
Jean-Luc Godard
December 3, 1930 – September 13, 2022
French and Swiss film director (1930–2022)
Modern era
Francois Truffaut
February 6, 1932 – October 21, 1984
French film director (1932–1984)
Modern era
Andrei Tarkovsky
April 4, 1932 – December 29, 1986
Soviet and Russian film director, screenwriter, film editor, film theorist, theatre and opera director (1932–1986)
Modern era
Mel Brooks
b. June 28, 1926
American comedian, filmmaker, and actor (born 1926)
Modern era
George Lucas
b. May 14, 1944
American filmmaker and philanthropist (born 1944)
Modern era
Ridley Scott
b. November 30, 1937
English filmmaker (born 1937)
Contemporary era
Peter Jackson
b. October 31, 1961
New Zealand film director, screenwriter, producer and actor (born 1961)
Contemporary era
Tim Burton
b. August 25, 1958
American filmmaker and artist (born 1958)
Contemporary era
Spike Lee
b. March 20, 1957
American filmmaker (born 1957)
Contemporary era
Kathryn Bigelow
b. November 27, 1951
American filmmaker (born 1951)
Contemporary era
Bong Joon-ho
b. September 14, 1969
South Korean filmmaker (born 1969)
Contemporary era
Zhang Yimou
b. April 2, 1950
Chinese filmmaker
Contemporary era
Guillermo del Toro
b. October 9, 1964
Mexican filmmaker and author (born 1964)
Modern era
Jim Henson
September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990
American puppeteer (1936–1990)
Modern era
Kirk Douglas
December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020
American actor (1916–2020)
Modern era
Toshiro Mifune
April 1, 1920 – December 24, 1997
Japanese actor (1920–1997)
Modern era
Alain Delon
November 8, 1935 – August 18, 2024
French actor (1935–2024)
Modern era
Anthony Hopkins
b. December 31, 1937
Welsh–American actor and director (born 1937)
Contemporary era
Tom Cruise
b. July 3, 1962
American actor and film producer (born 1962)
Contemporary era
Sylvester Stallone
b. July 6, 1946
American actor and filmmaker (born 1946)
Modern era
Raj Kapoor
December 14, 1924 – June 2, 1988
Indian actor and filmmaker (1924–1988)
Contemporary era
Christopher Reeve
September 25, 1952 – October 10, 2004
American actor (1952–2004)