FILM DIRECTORS from Netherlands

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.

1. Paul Verhoeven (b. 1938)

With an HPI of 68.32, 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 film director. His films are known for their graphic violence and sexual content, combined with social satire. 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. Verhoeven later directed successful Dutch films including the period drama Keetje Tippel (1975), the war film Soldier of Orange (1977), the teen drama Spetters (1980) and the 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). 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. In contrast, he won the Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Picture and Worst Director for Showgirls (1995); he is one of the few people to have accepted their Golden Raspberry awards in person, and the first to directly attend the ceremony to receive it. Showgirls was a notorious box office flop at its initial theatrical release, but later enjoyed huge success in the home video market and became a cult classic. Verhoeven's films have received a total of nine Academy Award nominations, mainly for editing and effects.

2. Joris Ivens (1898 - 1989)

With an HPI of 64.47, Joris Ivens is the 2nd most famous Dutch Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 35 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.

3. Theo van Gogh (1957 - 2004)

With an HPI of 61.24, Theo van Gogh is the 3rd most famous Dutch Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 48 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.

4. Jan de Bont (b. 1943)

With an HPI of 57.45, Jan de Bont is the 4th most famous Dutch Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 29 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).

5. Anton Corbijn (b. 1955)

With an HPI of 55.32, 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.

6. Alex van Warmerdam (b. 1952)

With an HPI of 48.51, Alex van Warmerdam is the 6th most famous Dutch Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

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

7. Michaël Dudok de Wit (b. 1953)

With an HPI of 48.41, Michaël Dudok de Wit is the 7th 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 for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for The Red Turtle (2016).

8. Marleen Gorris (b. 1948)

With an HPI of 47.95, Marleen Gorris is the 8th most famous Dutch Film Director.  Her biography has been translated into 19 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 do so in this category. She has won 2 Golden Calf awards and received numerous other nominations, including one nomination for BAFTA Awards.

9. Jan Kounen (b. 1964)

With an HPI of 42.27, Jan Kounen is the 9th most famous Dutch Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Jan Kounen (born Jan Coenen; 2 May 1964) is a Netherlands-born French film director and producer. In France, he is mostly known for his films Dobermann (1997), Blueberry, l'experience secrete (2004) and 99 Francs (2007). Outside France he is better known for his interest in Shipibo-Conibo culture and shamanism, with which he became familiar during his trips to Mexico and Peru, and for directing some music videos of which, the most notable are the four videos he did for the English pop group Erasure in the 1990s (including three for the project Abba-esque) : Lay all your love on me (1992), Voulez-vous (1992), S.O.S. (1992) and Always (1994).

10. Tom Six (b. 1973)

With an HPI of 42.01, Tom Six is the 10th most famous Dutch Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 16 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.