I asked my friends on facebook if they would supply me with what they believed were masterworks by POC and/or non-cisgender male directors. I started it off by listing my own personal favorites.
This list has yet to be "vetted" (again, by me, whose opinions is my own and just a reflection of my own interests and not some professional film critic), but each film will be marked with whether or not I've seen it, and subsequently linked to their reviews if/when they occur.
Additionally, I highly suggest taking a moment to consider the term "masterwork" and the origins of that title. I'm using it here because it is almost ironic to be making a "masterwork" list specifically featuring POC and non-cisgender men, and that makes me giggle a bit. Consider in the future whether or not you want to be using the term for your favorite films.
Each director has been labeled with their gender, ethnicity, and if applicable - their LGBTQ+ identity. Part of the reason to make this list at all is to have more transparency to which frame you are viewing in the film, and all of these identifiers are therefore important. This is partially to challenge the idea that the white-male gaze is the standard framework in which all non-white male directors become "other-ized".
A suggestion on how to use The List: Try to not stick to one category of people. If you watch a movie by a white woman, try a movie by a Chadian man next. While the years are not listed below, there are also a great deal of different eras that these movies come from, so try to switch that up too. There is a wide variety of viewpoints on purpose, so don't use it to only find new Korean directors. Broaden your watchlist!
A quick guide:
✔ = I've seen it, and can vouch for it being on "the list".
alphabetical by last name
Theeb
Mona Achache, Moroccan-French, Woman
The Hedgehog
Chantal Akerman, White, Woman
Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
The Edge of Heaven
Laurie Anderson, White, Woman
Heart of a Dog
Andrea Arnold, White, Woman
Red Road
But I'm a Cheerleader
Jennifer Baichwal, Mixed-Indian, Woman
Manufactured Landscapes
Ritesh Batra, Indian, Man
The Lunchbox
Rakhshan Banietemad, Iranian, Woman
Tales
Susanne Bier, White, Woman
Things We Lost in the Fire
Kathryn Bigelow, White, Woman
The Hurt Locker
Zero Dark Thirty
Tony Bui, Vietnamese-American, Man
Three Seasons
Charles Burnett, Black, Man
My Brother's Wedding
Niki Caro, White, Woman
Whale Rider
Jane Campion, White, Woman
The Piano
Věra Chytilová, White, Woman
Daisies
Isabel Coixet, White, Spanish, Woman
My Life Without Me
Sofia Coppola, White, Woman
The Virgin Suicides
✔ Marie Antoinette
✔ Lost in Translation
Alfonso Cuarón, Mexican, Man
Y tu mamá también
Y tu mamá también
Roma
Lee Daniels, Black, Man
Precious
Julie Dash, Black, Woman
Daughters of the Dust (The first feature film directed by an African-American woman distributed theatrically in the United States)
Byambasuren Davaa/Davaagiin Byambasüren, Mongolian, Woman
The Story of the Weeping Camel
Jocelyn deBoer, White, Woman & Dawn Luebbe, White, Woman
Greener Grass
✔ Pan's Labyrinth
✔ The Shape of Water
✔ The Devil's Backbone
✔ Pacific Rim
Claire Denis, White, Woman
35 Shots of Rum
Pouran Derakhshandeh, Iranian, Woman
Hush! Girls Don't Scream
Autumn de Wilde, White, Woman
Emma
Andrew Donsunmu, Nigerian, Man
Mother of George
Cheryl Dunye, Liberian-American, Woman, Lesbian
The Watermelon Woman
Ava DuVernay, Black, Woman
Selma
✔ 13th
✔ A Wrinkle in Time
Atom Egoyan, Armenian-Canadian, Man
Exotica
Asghar Farhadi, Iranian, Man
A Seperation
The Salesman
About Elly
Greta Gerwig, White, Woman
Little Women
✔ Ladybird
Servando González, Mexican, Man
Yanco
Debra Granik, White, Woman
Leave No Trace
Winter's Bone
Lee Hae-Jun, Korean, Man
✔ Castaway on the Moon
Keiichi Hara, Japanese, Man
Miss Hokusai
Mahamat Saleh Haroun, Chadian, Man
Daratt
A Screaming Man
Wendell B. Harris Jr., Black, Man
Chameleon Street
Trần Anh Hùng, Vietnamese, Man
The Scent of Green Papaya
Kon Ichikawa, Japanese, Man
The Burmese Harp
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Mexican, Man
Babel
✔ Birdman
The Revenant
Barry Jenkins, Black, Man
Moonlight
Patty Jenkins, White, Woman
✔ Wonder Woman
Bong Joon-Ho, Korean, Man
✔ Parasite
Snow Piercer
The Host
✔ Okja
Memories of Murder
Miranda July, White, Woman
Me and You and Everyone We Know
Wong Kar-wai, Hong Kong/Chinese, Man
Chungking Express
In the Mood for Love
Days of Being Wild
Jennifer Kent, White, Woman
✔ The Babadook
Abbas Kiarostami, Iranian, Man
Taste of Cherry
Where is the Friend's Home?
Kim Ki-duk, Korean, Man
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring
3-Iron
Takeshi Kitano, Japanese, Man
Zatōichi
Satoshi Kon, Japanese, Man
Perfect Blue
Millennium Actress
✔ Paprika
Zacharias Kunuk, Canadian-Inuk, Man
Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner
Akira Kurosawa, Japanese, Man
✔ Ikiru
✔ Seven Samurai
✔ Yojimbo
Throne of Blood
Kagemusha
Ran
Karyn Kusama, mixed Japanese-American, Woman
Jennifer's Body
Girlfight
Ang Lee, Taiwanese, Man
✔ Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
✔ Life of Pi
✔ Sense and Sensibility
Spike Lee, Black, Man
✔ BlackKkKlansman
✔ Da 5 Bloods
Crooklyn
Malcom X
Do The Right Thing
Bamboozled
Jennie Livingston, White, Woman, Lesbian
Paris Is Burning
Rashid Masharawi, Palestinian, Man
Laila's Birthday
Deepa Mehta, Indo-Canadian, Woman
Fire
Earth
Water
Takashi Miike, Japanese, Man
Audition
Hayao Miyazaki, Japanese, Man
✔ Nausicäa of the Valley of the Wind
✔ Castle in the Sky
✔ My Neighbor Totoro
✔ Kiki's Delivery Service
✔ Princess Mononoke
✔ Spirited Away
✔ Howl's Moving Castle
✔ Ponyo
✔ The Wind Rises
Júlia Murat, Brazilian, Woman
Found Memories
Mira Nair, Indian-American, Woman
The Namesake
Moonsoon Wedding
Shirin Neshat, Iranian, Woman
Women Without Men
Sandra Nettelbeck, White, Woman
Mostly Martha
Ken Ochiai, Japanese, Man
Uzumasa Limelight
Jordan Peele, Black, Man
✔ Us
✔ Get Out
Prachya Pinkaew, Thai, Man
✔ Ong-Bak
Sarah Polley, White, Woman
Away From Her
Stories We Tell
Sally Potter, White, Woman
Orlando
Ginger & Rosa
Yes
Joseph Gaï Ramaka, Senegalese, Man
Karmen Gei
Lynne Ramsay, White, Woman
Ratcatcher
Satyajit Ray, Indian, Man
The Music Room/Jalsaghar
Carlos Reygadas, Mexican, Man
Silent Light
Boots Riley, Black, Man
✔ Sorry to Bother You
Jessie Jeffrey Dunn Rovinelli, White, Trans-woman, Queer
So Pretty
John Singleton, Black, Man
Boyz in the Hood
Abderrahmane Sissako, Mauritanian Malian, Man
Bamako
Timbuktu
Waiting for Happiness
Lorene Scafaria, White, Woman
✔ Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
Hustlers
Céline Sciamma, White, Woman, Lesbian
Ousmane Sembène, Senegalese, Man
Mandabi
The Cell
Makoto Shinkai, Japanese, Man
Your Name
Isao Takahata, Japanese, Man
✔ Grave of the Fireflies
The Tale of Princess Kaguya
Hiroshi Teshigahara, Japanese, Man
Woman in the Dunes
Shinya Tsukamoto, Japanese, Man
Tetsuo: The Iron Man
Agnès Varda, White, Woman
Le Bonheur
Vagabond
Cleo from 5 to 7
Margarethe von Trotta, White, Woman
Vision - From the Life of Hildegard von Bingen
Hannah Arendt
Lana and Lily Wachowski, White, Trans-women
✔ The Matrix
✔ The Matrix Reloaded
✔ The Matrix Revolutions
Taika Waititi, New Zealander, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui mixed, Man
✔ Jojo Rabbit
✔ What We Do In the Shadows
✔ Thor Ragnorok
✔ Boy
Lulu Wang, Chinese-American, Woman
✔ The Farewell
Wayne Wang, Hong Kong-American, Man
Chan is Missing
Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thai, Man
Tropical Malady
Anne Wheeler, White, Woman
Better Than Chocolate
Olivia Wilde, White, Woman
Booksmart
John Woo, Hong Kong/Chinese, Man
The Killer
Hard Boiled
Bullet to the Head
A Better Tomorrow
Alice Wu, Taiwanese-American, Woman, Lesbian
✔ The Half of It
Saving Face
Zhang Yimou, Chinese, Man
✔ Hero
✔ House of Flying Daggers
✔ Curse of the Golden Flower
The Story of Qiu Ju
Keep Cool
To Live
Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles
Wilson Yip, Hong Kong/Chinese, Man
✔ Ip Man
✔ Ip Man 2
Ronny Yu Yan- Tai, Hong Kong/Chinese, Man
✔ Fearless
Mai Zetterling, White, Woman
The Girls
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