The Most Famous

FILM DIRECTORS from Netherlands

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This page contains a list of the greatest Dutch Film Directors. The pantheon dataset contains 2,041 Film Directors, 13 of which were born in Netherlands. This makes Netherlands the birth place of the 23rd most number of Film Directors behind Argentina, and Georgia.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Dutch Film Directors of all time. This list of famous Dutch Film Directors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Dutch Film Directors.

Photo of Paul Verhoeven

1. Paul Verhoeven (b. 1938)

With an HPI of 73.20, Paul Verhoeven is the most famous Dutch Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 53 different languages on wikipedia.

Paul Verhoeven (Dutch: [ˈpʌul vərˈɦuvə(n)]; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch filmmaker, who has worked variously in the Netherlands, the United States, and in France. He is known for directing genre films with strong satirical elements, often featuring graphic violence and/or sexual content. Many of his films are considered provocative, and were controversial when released. After receiving attention for the TV series Floris in his native Netherlands, Verhoeven's breakthrough film was the romantic drama Turkish Delight (1973), starring frequent collaborator Rutger Hauer, which received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign-Language Film. He later directed successful Dutch films including the period film Keetje Tippel (1975), the World War II film Soldier of Orange (1977), the adolescent drama Spetters (1980) and the Gerard Reve-adapted psychological thriller The Fourth Man (1983). In 1985, Verhoeven made his first Hollywood film Flesh and Blood and later had a successful career in the United States, directing science fiction films such as RoboCop (1987), Total Recall (1990), Starship Troopers (1997) and Hollow Man (2000), as well as the erotic thriller Basic Instinct (1992). He also directed the 1995 film Showgirls, which was critically panned on initial release but has developed a cult following and undergone critical re-evaluation. Verhoeven later returned to Europe, making the Dutch war film Black Book (2006), French psychological thriller Elle (2016) and the religious drama Benedetta (2021), all receiving positive reviews. Black Book and Elle were both nominated for BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language and Elle won Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and César Award for Best Film. Black Book was also voted by the Dutch public, in 2008, as the best Dutch film ever made. Verhoeven's films have received a total of nine Academy Award nominations, mainly for editing and effects.

Photo of Joris Ivens

2. Joris Ivens (1898 - 1989)

With an HPI of 67.80, Joris Ivens is the 2nd most famous Dutch Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 36 different languages.

Georg Henri Anton "Joris" Ivens (18 November 1898 – 28 June 1989) was a Dutch documentary filmmaker. Among the notable films he directed or co-directed are A Tale of the Wind, The Spanish Earth, Rain, ...A Valparaiso, Misère au Borinage (Borinage), 17th Parallel: Vietnam in War, The Seine Meets Paris, Far from Vietnam, Pour le Mistral and How Yukong Moved the Mountains.

Photo of Theo van Gogh

3. Theo van Gogh (1957 - 2004)

With an HPI of 66.49, Theo van Gogh is the 3rd most famous Dutch Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 50 different languages.

Theodoor "Theo" van Gogh (Dutch: [ˈteːjoː vɑŋ ˈɣɔx]; 23 July 1957 – 2 November 2004) was a Dutch film director. He directed Submission: Part 1, a short film written by Somali writer and politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali, which criticised the treatment of women in Islam in strong terms. On 2 November 2004, he was murdered by Mohammed Bouyeri, a Dutch-Moroccan Islamist who objected to the film's message. The last film Van Gogh had completed before his murder, 06/05, was a fictional exploration of the assassination of Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn. It was released posthumously in December 2004, a month after Van Gogh's death, and two years after Fortuyn's death.

Photo of Jan de Bont

4. Jan de Bont (b. 1943)

With an HPI of 63.60, Jan de Bont is the 4th most famous Dutch Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Jan de Bont (Dutch: [ˈjɑn də ˈbɔnt]; born 22 October 1943) is a Dutch former cinematographer, film director, and film producer. He is best known for directing the action films Speed (1994) and Twister (1996). As a director of photography, de Bont also worked on numerous blockbusters and genre films, including Roar (1981), Cujo (1983), Flesh and Blood (1985), Die Hard (1988), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Lethal Weapon 3 (1992), and Basic Instinct (1992).

Photo of Anton Corbijn

5. Anton Corbijn (b. 1955)

With an HPI of 62.22, Anton Corbijn is the 5th most famous Dutch Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Anton Johannes Gerrit Corbijn van Willenswaard (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɑntɔ ɲoːˈɦɑnəs ˈxɛrɪt kɔrˈbɛiɱ vɑɱ ˌʋɪlənsˈʋaːrt]; born 20 May 1955) is a Dutch photographer, film director, and music video director. He is the creative director behind the visual output of Depeche Mode and U2, having handled the principal promotion and sleeve photography for both bands over three decades. His music videos include Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence" (1990), U2's "One" (version 1) (1991), Bryan Adams' "Do I Have to Say the Words?", Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box" (1993), Travis's "Re-Offender" (2003) and Coldplay's "Talk" (2005). He directed the films "Viva la Vida" (2008); the Ian Curtis biographical film Control (2007), The American (2010); A Most Wanted Man (2014), based on John le Carré's 2008 novel of the same name; and Life (2015), after the friendship between Life magazine photographer Dennis Stock and James Dean.

Photo of Michaël Dudok de Wit

6. Michaël Dudok de Wit (b. 1953)

With an HPI of 56.74, Michaël Dudok de Wit is the 6th most famous Dutch Film Director.  Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Michaël Dudok de Wit (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmixaːɛl ˈdydɔɡ də ˈʋɪt]; born 15 July 1953) is a Dutch animator, director and illustrator based in London. He won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for Father and Daughter (2000) and was nominated in the same category for The Monk and the Fish (1994) as well as for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for The Red Turtle (2016).

Photo of Marleen Gorris

7. Marleen Gorris (b. 1948)

With an HPI of 56.15, Marleen Gorris is the 7th most famous Dutch Film Director.  Her biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Marleen Gorris (born 9 December 1948) is a Dutch former writer and director. Gorris is known as an outspoken feminist and supporter of gay and lesbian issues which is reflected in much of her work. Her film, Antonia's Line, won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1995 making her first woman to win in this category. She has won 2 Golden Calf awards and received numerous other nominations, including one nomination for BAFTA Awards.

Photo of Alex van Warmerdam

8. Alex van Warmerdam (b. 1952)

With an HPI of 53.14, Alex van Warmerdam is the 8th most famous Dutch Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Alex van Warmerdam (born 14 August 1952) is a Dutch screenwriter, film director, and actor. He is also a painter.

Photo of Mike van Diem

9. Mike van Diem (b. 1959)

With an HPI of 50.91, Mike van Diem is the 9th most famous Dutch Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Mike van Diem (born 1959, in Druten, grew up in Sittard) is a Dutch film director. In 1990, his short film Alaska won a Golden Calf for best short film and the Student Academy Award for best foreign student film in the drama category. In 1998, he received the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for the film Character based on the 1938 novel Karakter by Ferdinand Bordewijk. He has also directed commercials.

Photo of Tom Six

10. Tom Six (b. 1973)

With an HPI of 50.18, Tom Six is the 10th most famous Dutch Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Tom Six (born 29 August 1973) is a Dutch filmmaker, writer, and actor. He is best known for his trilogy of body horror films; The Human Centipede (First Sequence), The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence), and The Human Centipede 3 (Final Sequence). Six was an original director of Dutch reality TV series Big Brother, which has since become an international franchise.

People

Pantheon has 13 people classified as Dutch film directors born between 1898 and 1973. Of these 13, 11 (84.62%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Dutch film directors include Paul Verhoeven, Jan de Bont, and Anton Corbijn. The most famous deceased Dutch film directors include Joris Ivens, and Theo van Gogh. As of April 2024, 13 new Dutch film directors have been added to Pantheon including Paul Verhoeven, Joris Ivens, and Theo van Gogh.

Living Dutch Film Directors

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Deceased Dutch Film Directors

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Newly Added Dutch Film Directors (2024)

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