12. Lynne Ramsay (1969 - )
The last of the British females to make the list, Ramsay is one of the most promising and interesting female directors working today. Hailing from Scotland, she's made three successful features so far; brazen debut Ratcatcher showing the inner-workings of a Glasgow family home and their increasingly poor conditions, under appreciated Morvern Callar with Samantha Morton about an introspective morality tale that speaks to our modern times and lastly 2011's masterpiece We Need To Talk About Kevin with Tilda Swinton in blazing form as a mother dealing with the consequences of her murderously deranged son. Ramsay could probably share a few stories with Gilliam about the turmoil of getting films made as the story of her trying to get The Lovely Bones off the ground for nine years is well documented, but every time some fortune comes her way Ramsay's there to remind world cinema of her unique voice. She also makes straw hats look cool.
Must See: We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011)
11. Alexander Mackendrick (1912 - 1993)
Usually overlooked or forgotten as British due to his being born in the States, Alexander Mackendrick made only a handful of films in his career but with them he's highlighted enough years of the film industry that one can't look at its history without noticing his achievements. Working under the Ealing umbrella that people like Basil Dreaden made popular, Mackendrick's Ladykillers is considered a British classic comedy and the last of the great Ealing studio films. It inspired the Coen Brothers to remake it in disastrous fashion, but that shouldn't take anything away from the lasting (and often hilarious) attributes of the original. A couple of years later, Mackendrick made his name even more acclaimed with Sweet Smell of Success, one of the greatest films about the merciless world of show-business featuring Tony Curtis in one of his tastiest roles.
Must See: Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
10. Derek Jarman (1942 - 1994)
A Rubik's Cube of an artist, Jarman dabbled in a various facets of creativity; from screenwriter to poet, journalist to set designer, film director to cinematographer, Jarman made a few stand out pieces of cinema in the 80s and 90s that have propelled him to cult status among the independent film going crowd. Today he is regarded as one of Britain's most exciting and interesting voices to emerge from the 80s, likened to filmmakers like Andrei Tarkovsky and Jean-Luc Godard, Jarman's scathing criticism of British politics made his films famous while his outspoken homosexuality and battle with AIDS made him famous. His two popular 80s films, Caravaggio and The Last of England, simultaneously pay respect and subvert traditional British filmmaking that people like Jennings and Michael Powell stood for. Released posthumously, Jarman's Blue is an experimental approach to describing his own battles with HIV and appears in
Time Out's Best British Films List and his 1978 ahead-of-its-time political satire Jubilee is part of the Criterion collection.
Must See: Caravaggio (1986)