7 Filmmakers Who Changed Our World

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Thousands of years ago, humankind told itself tales of gods and heroes, passing down the collected wisdom of previous generations through the power of story. It is one thing to have something like kindness or inhumanity or apathy explained, but it is quite another to actually vicariously experience these concepts through a well-spun tale.

Today, movies are the new mythology, carrying on that tradition. And for all the talk of sexy celebrities and red carpet fashion, the world of film has given us numerous filmmakers who were—and are—capable of moving beyond the glitzy surface of show business and changing the world through their art. These are the directors who peddle not only entertainment, but wisdom, too, just as the old stories once did

Amongst these filmmakers, a few stand out—the ones whose movies have gone on to positively influence audiences on a global scale. These directors have, through their work, raised awareness of important cultural issues, changed the way filmmakers create movies, held the mirror of critique up to our society, and have even influenced the policies of nations.

Let’s take a look at a few of these legendary filmmakers who changed our world for the better, and how they've made their mark on each of us.

Stephen Spielberg

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No list of influential filmmakers would be complete without the highest-grossing director of all time, Stephen Spielberg.

This is a man who, despite a net worth of 3.7 billion dollars, once declared that, “I’m not interested in making money. That’s always come as the result of success, but it’s not been my goal.”

So what is this legendary filmmaker’s goal? For one of his most world-changing films, the Oscar-winning 1993 hit, Schindler’s List, it was education.

“The Holocaust had been treated as just a footnote in so many textbooks or not mentioned at all,” says Spielberg in an interview with the National Council for the Social Studies. “Millions knew little if anything about it. Others tried to deny it happened at all.”

Spielberg, through Schindler’s List, worked to raise awareness of one of the most horrific events in history. In the same interview, Spielberg went on to say that “The most important lessons are lessons of truth and tolerance so that such an event will not happen again to any people. There is still too much hatred in the world today.”

The director then used the proceeds from the film to grant money to Holocaust memorial efforts, as well as to found an organization dedicated to collecting historical testimonies and writings from survivors.

A man who works to expose vital aspects of life, childhood, and history through his era-defining blockbuster films, Spielberg is one director who has most definitely left his mark on our world in more ways than one.

Alfred Hitchcock

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If there’s one director who forever changed modern filmmaking, it’s the iconic Alfred Hitchcock.

Hitchcock worked within a range of film genres, creating everything from comedies to courtroom dramas, but his most enduring contributions were to the fields of suspense and horror, wherein he skillfully explored the blurry line between the sane and the insane.

It is because of Hitchcock’s work that much of modern film looks the way it does—he pioneered camera techniques later used in films like Jaws and E.T. He pioneered the idea of the “MacGuffin,” an object within a film that is of central importance to the plot, driving the narrative forward, such as the Ark of the Covenant in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Most of all, though, Hitchcock gave us the most complex villains the world of film had ever seen.

The recipient of two Golden Globes, eight Laurel Awards, and five lifetime achievement awards, Hitchcock’s skill was unrivaled. This filmmaker used his art to deal with issues such as violence, insanity, and loss, and despite his ability to frighten, many of his films affirm the power of love and community to heal and redeem humanity, showing that the best defense against the chaotic and the fearful unknown to be the trust we place in one another.

Without Hitchcock’s contributions, the films of today would be a far cry from what we now know.

Orson Welles

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Orson Welles is the man who filmed what is often considered to be one of the greatest films of all time—Citizen Kane.

Influential film critic Kenneth Tynan once said of the film: “"Nobody who saw Citizen Kane at an impressionable age will ever forget the experience; overnight, the American cinema had acquired an adult vocabulary, a dictionary instead of a phrase book for illiterates."

Besides this decidedly enormous accolade, Welles was also the pioneer of what we now know as independent film, using his own money to finance some of his films. And through his experience in radio—most notably, with his directorial and narration work on War of the Worlds—Welles revolutionized the world of film sound, making use of techniques like fades, distortion, and many others to create a three-dimensional aural experience.

As a filmmaker who gave us one of the most important films of all time, and who contributed to the techniques we see and enjoy today, Welles was a world-changer.

Charlie Chaplin

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When most think of Charlie Chaplin, they think of the actor’s silent comedies. He was one of the most important figures in the transition from movies being, essentially, filmed plays, to the movies we see today. His onscreen persona, the Tramp, was, and is, one of the most recognized images in the world.

But there was more to the English actor than slapstick comedy. The legacy of Chaplin’s work, which he purposefully designed to transcend cultural boundaries, proved to be just as influential as his comedy.

Consider this quote from his 1940 film, The Great Dictator

"Soldiers, don't give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you and enslave you, who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel, who drill you, diet you, treat you as cattle, as cannon fodder. Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men, machine men, with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines. You are not cattle. You are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don't hate. Only the unloved hate. Soldiers, don't fight for slavery, fight for liberty!"

Chaplin was the first to show the world the power of film to fight injustice, setting the stage for numerous films that would go on to expose and take down sources of inhumanity. Without Chaplin, films like Spielberg’s Schindler’s List might not exist.

Martin Scorsese

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Scorsese is often associated with the graphic violence of the thugs, gangsters, and henchmen that populate his more popular films, but it’s his commentary on that violence that takes him from mere entertainment to world-changer.

There is a key to interpreting Scorsese’s films, and it lies in one of the filmmaker’s more celebrated quotes: “It seems to me that any sensible person must see that violence does not change the world and, if it does, then only temporarily…”

Scorsese’s worldview was formed in a poor, but devoutly Catholic household, where his young mind was exposed to both the morality of faith and the degradation of the crime that surrounded him. Many of his films reflect this, taking audiences to the heights of power, right along with his characters, but then yanking them back down as those characters’ faults and evil deeds cause them to fall.

One of the most decorated filmmakers in history, Scorsese’s movies provide the world with his interpretation of America and his insights into the futile nature of violence.

Akira Kurosawa

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The name of Akira Kurosawa is unknown to many movie-goers these days, but anyone who has enjoyed any of the biggest movies of the past few decades owes him a massive debt.

Posthumously named “Asian of the Century” in the “Arts, Literature, and Culture” category by AsianWeek, Kurosawa was the director of The Seven Samurai, which went on to inspire The Magnificent Seven. He was also the director of Hidden Fortress, which helped to inspire a unknown named George Lucas to replace swords with lightsabers and make a little film called Star Wars. Clint Eastwood once thanked Kurosawa for creating the Spaghetti Western film genre that made his career.

The world owes many of its most iconic films to Kurosawa—his influence dictated the direction of other filmmakers for decades, and the themes of his films proved so universal that they easily leapt from the world of Samurai, to the American West, to the far reaches of outer space. His films are ranked among the best of all time, and his legacy continues to change the world of film to this day.

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

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38-year-old Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is a relative newcomer compared to the rest of the directors on this list, but her worldwide impact is just as great—if not greater—than any them.

A Pakistani journalist and activist, Obaid-Chinoy has been the recipient of numerous awards, including six Emmys for her documentary work.

That work has changed the course of actual governments—her film, A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness, highlights the issues of honor killings in Pakistan, following the story of an 18-year-old woman who was murdered by relatives seeking to regain their family’s honor. She was dumped into a river, but lived, miraculously, to tell her story.

Honor killings are not often discussed in Pakistan, and this is why Obaid-Chinoy chose this particular topic.

The power of her art was revealed when, in her Oscar acceptance speech for the film, she told the audience that Pakistan’s prime minister had seen her film, and subsequently vowed to change the law on honor killings.

“That is the power of film,” she said.

Obaid-Chinoy’s other projects cover topics such as acid attacks on women in Pakistan, and she constantly seeks to highlight humanitarian issues in her home country through her film work.

She’s succeeding, and that is why she is one director who is actively changing the world—not only in film, but in law and humanitarian efforts, as well.