Majid Majidi

Majid Majidi kicked down the doors of the global cinema scene without deep studio pockets or slick CGI tricks. He had film buffs weeping over a beat-up pair of school shoes in 1997's Children of Heaven, and that little masterpiece earned Iran its first-ever Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. Let's be honest, turning raw, dusty street tales into international gold takes serious nerve.

He got his start acting in front of the lens in the 1980s before deciding he wanted total control from the director's chair. Since then, he hasn't slowed down. He jumped from stripped-down indie dramas to a colossal historical epic on the Prophet Muhammad, then hopped over to Mumbai to shoot on Indian soil. Big canvas or tiny budget, the man knows how to squeeze pure emotion out of ordinary lives.