So here we have the top 51-100 directors within the ‘canon.’ In case you’re new to the concept of this site, the idea is to see how directors’ reputations change over time. At some point, I will write a methodology article about how I’ve determined rankings, etc. But I was staring at these numbers for around seven months last year to figure it out, so I’m in no rush!

Below are the top 51 – 100; you can find the top 50 here. The plan is to go up to 250/300+. Then, expand into popular directors referenced in the pages but don’t get into the list itself. Directors like Roger Corman, Tony Richardson or Allan Dwan.

I first made the original top 250 list in March 2022. I made a 2nd version in June. I then collected more information from Dec-Jan to create the current one. As this list exists for longer, it will give more interesting results. But here are a few interesting findings.

• William Wyler and Michael Haneke are the only fallers out of the top 50 and into the 51-100 part.
• D.W. Griffith and Agnes Varda ascended the list and into the top 50.
• The biggest fall of any director on this list is Jacques Rivette.
• The biggest climber is Spike Lee.
• The directors who entered this list from 100+ are Spike Lee, Chantal Akerman, Pedro Almodovar and Claire Denis.
• Directors who fell out of the top 100 are Douglas Nicolas Roeg, Peter Jackson, Marcel Carne and Louis Malle.
• Malle was the biggest faller of the bunch, going from 95th place to 113th.
• Only two directors stayed in the exact place, George Cukor and Elia Kazan, who remained 81st and 82nd, respectively.

Demographics

• 36% of this list is from the United States, 14% is from France, and 8% is from Italy.
• 96% of the list is male, while just 4% is female. Perhaps not surprising, but it is actually an improvement from last year’s version, which had 4% due to Varda. Akerman was 103rd, and Denis was 109th.
• 54% of this list is from Europe, 38% is from North America, and 8% is from Asia.
• In more morbid facts, 56% of this list is dead, 44% is alive, and fortunately, there are 0% in between.
• 10% of the list was born in Paris, and 4% were born in Chicago, New York City or Houston.

• The earliest-born person on the list is Michael Curtiz, who was bone on the 24th of December 1886, over 136 years ago.
• The latest-born person is Christopher Nolan, born 14 days after Apichatpong Weerasethakul on the 30th of July 1970.
• The average birth year of directors on this list is 1930.