9. Panther Panchali
Satyajit Ray was the first Indian filmmaker to earn significant acclaim outside of his own country. Born into a prominent artistic family, Ray decided to become a filmmaker after meeting legendary French filmmaker Jean Renoir and in 1955 he released his first film, Panther Panchali. Shot with a budget of roughly $3000 and with no professional actors, Ray pretty much ad-libbed his way through shooting, but the result was one of the most acclaimed movies of that year as it drew raves at Cannes and earned a surprising amount of money overseas. Panther Panchali essentially just relates the daily lives of peasants living in India but the film has been endlessly praised for its lyrical realism and social impact and is often seen as a turning point in Indian cinema. Although few movie fans today have even heard of it, Panther Panchali remains one of the most respected pieces of world cinema, ranking in the top 50 in Sight & Sound's 2012 list of the best films of all time.