A list of 25. It's a flaw of the way I've educated myself that I tend to introduce myself to directors with a single film and fail to follow up, hence some directors with films I really love, like Chantal Akerman, Andrei Zvyaginstev, Vera Chitilova, Pen-ek Ratanaruang, Victor Erice, Elim Klimov and Larisa Shepitko, I really need to see more by to earn them a place on the list. There's also a couple, such as Jane Campion, who I've probably need to revisit and see more to feel comfortable putting them on the list.
My having seen two films by a director was generally enough to get them a place on the list, although, notably in the case of Steve McQueen, the obvious skill in his first film (which is still the only one available to me) was enough to get him on the list.
Finally, a note on Miranda July. If this list was for favourite 'filmmaker', I would probably have her as #3, but as much as I love July, and I do think she is a remarkable director, which has only been further strengthened by recently revisiting some of her works, a large part of her impact comes from her presence as a performer and her voice as a writer. Although Tarkovsky better be bloody glad I was feeling fair. If I hadn't already sent in my list, I might be wonderfully capricious and switch the order.
And now that I've wasted minutes of your time with obnoxious preamble, here is the mercifully brief list:
1. Agnes Varda
2. Claire Denis
3. Andrei Tarkovsky
4. Miranda July
5. Edward Yang
6. Bela Tarr
7. Douglas Sirk
8. Pedro Almodovar
9. Lee Chang-Dong
10. Chris Marker
11. Jacques Demy
12. Frederick Wiseman
13. Lynne Ramsay
14. Joao Pedro Rodrigues
15. Krystof Kieslowski
16. Kelly Reichardt
17. Gregg Araki
18. Rian Johnson
19. Steve McQueen
20. Hou Hsiao-Hsien
21. Apichatpong Weerasethakul
22. Wong Kar-Wai
23. PT Anderson
24. Park Chan-wook
25. Abbas Kiarostami