Famous Living Film Directors Quiz

This quiz shows 50 portrait cards, ranked from 1 to 50. Each card is one of the 50 most famous film directors alive today. Type the person's name to solve the card.

Each card shows the portrait and the rank. The name, the country, the occupation and the year of birth appear when you solve the card.

The board measures fame on Wikipedia. The score squares the number of language editions with an article about the person. Then it multiplies that number by the English Wikipedia page views of the last 12 months. The board updates from time to time.

How to play

• Just start typing. The quiz checks your answer at every keystroke. There is no submit button.
• A correct name solves the card and shows the full name, the country, the occupation and the year of birth.
• You can answer in any order. The name you type solves the matching card wherever it sits.
• Everyday names count. The quiz accepts a surname alone, a birth name and a common nickname.
• The quiz ignores capitals, accents and punctuation. It also accepts some common misspellings.
• The timer starts at your first keystroke and counts up. Give Up ends the run and shows every director you missed. Progress saves automatically.

What counts in this quiz

• The 50 living film directors with the highest fame score, from every country.
• A person counts as a film director when the short description of the person on Wikidata names directing first.
• A screenwriter, an animator or a producer also counts when the description names directing right after that work.
• An actor counts only when the actor won the Academy Award for Best Director or had a nomination for it. The card of such an actor names both jobs.
• Living means that the person was alive on 29 October 2026, the date of the data.
• A surname alone counts when only one person on the board has it. When two directors share a surname, type the full name.

What's not included, and why

• People outside the top 50 do not count. A guess that is not on the board changes nothing. There is no penalty.
• Directors who are known only for television are not on the board. The board is about films.
• People who are known first as actors, comedians, singers, producers or television hosts are not on the board. Some of them also direct films.
• Directors who died before the date of the data are not on the board. A director who dies later leaves the board at the next update.

Good to know

• The directors on the board come from 11 countries. 31 of the 50 directors are American.
• 36 of the 50 directors had a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director. 21 of them won the award.
• 5 of the 50 directors are women.
• The oldest director on the board was born in 1930. The youngest director was born in 1983.
• 14 of the 50 directors were born before 1950.