We put together a list of the most exciting directors of Europe, the ones that manage to stay relevant year by year, challenging their own limits and pushing the boundaries of creativity into new audiovisual landscapes and modern ways of storytelling. The list follows an alphabetical order and includes the most awarded directors of the last decade:
Matthijs Jr is named after his father, the famous Dutch producer. He began his career working in his dad's productions, doing a little bit of everything and then at an early age he started directing ambitious advertising films. Since 1999 he has become one of Europe’s most renowned director winning various prizes in different festivals. His work consists of brands such as Toyota, Playstation, Samsung, Heineken, Stella Artois or Canal+ to name a few. He was also chosen to direct the film “The thing” inspired by the famous John Carpenter 1982 movie. He has a unique approach to filmmaking: a fusion of ironic comedy, elaborate solid narration and beautiful refined aesthetics. His most famous advertising "The Bear" for Canal + won five prizes at the Cannes Lions festival. The Gunn Report then ranked 3 campaigns he directed as ones of the 20 best commercials of 21st century.
Director: Matthijis Van Heinjningen Jr.
Production company: MJZ
AGENCY: Leo Burnett Chicago
CLIENT: Samsung
Georg Von Mitzlaff is a director with the driest humor of Germany. A powerful visual storyteller with an original comedic touch. After a year at Constantin Film LA and many projects as AD for various spots and clips, he graduated from the Film Academy Baden-Wuerttemberg with his film "Fiat - the Giant Thirst" and was awarded several national and international prizes. In 2011, his film "NoHair" won the prestigious and highly regarded YDA, LIA and Möbius Award. Recently, Georg shot a thirty-screen project across all five continents for the tour operator DER Touristik. His work for the European Anti-Bullying Network (EAN) earned him a CLIO Gold Award in 2017.
Director: Georg Von Mitzlaff
Production company: Rabbicorn Films GmbH
AGENCY: Ogilvy & Mather
CLIENT: European Anti-Bullying Network (EAN)
Andreas Nilsson is Swedish artist and filmmaker that has directed music videos of 2 Chainz, The Knife, Fever Ray, MGMT, Goldfrapp, José González, White Lies, Peter, Björn & John, Moby and Bright Eyes. Possessor of a dark and playful style. His epic spot for Volvo Trucks ft Jean-Claude Van Damme is one of the world´s most successful viral campaigns. Andreas Nilsson grew up deep in the Swedish countryside. He moved to Gothenburg to study painting and sculpturing. He then became interested in animation and made a video for a friend’s band. That was the starting point for his amazing career driven by a creativity with no limits. His gallery of trophies consists of Cannes Lions, Grand Prix Shots Awards, Director of the Year - Directors Guild of America Awards and Winner European ad of the decade.
Director: Andreas Nilsson
Production company: Biscuit Filmworks
AGENCY: Saatchi & Saatchi London
CLIENT: Rekorderlig
Noakes in an innovator and a narrator with a deep character-driven storytelling. In 2019, he felt honored for directing the commercial for Coca-Cola’s first new flavor in over a decade, the Orange Vanilla Coke and the Orange Vanilla Coke Zero Sugar. In a homage to the brand's legacy, Tom made a beautiful and nostalgic spot emulating television ads from the 1970s. He directed Reebok’s “Storm the Court,” as part of the brand’s “Sport the Unexpected”, its largest revival campaign in five years. The spot won a 2019 Silver Lion for Film Craft – Direction. He also directed “Juntas Imparables” (“Unstoppable Together”), Nike Women’s first “Just Do It” a campaign of women empowerment geared toward Mexican audiences. Tom’s work has gained wide critical attention and has been featured in a range of prestigious publications, including CNBC, Vice, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Adweek, and SHOTS.
Director: Tom Noakes
Production company: Partizan
AGENCY: Heimat Berlin
CLIENT: Hornbach
Sebastian Strasser is one of Germany’s biggest commercial directors. He is a master in directing performance and strong narrative films with charm and witty humor. His works have been honored with more than 150 awards, including 16 Cannes Lions and multiple Golds at all major festivals around the world. He has been listed #13 in the Gunn Report's Most Awarded Commercial Directors ranking. Recently his 180/sec interpretation of the story of Bertha Benz for Mercedes won him 4 Cannes Lions. Powerful brands such as Mercedes, Vodafone, Heineken, BMW and VW have been working with Sebastian for years as he embodies pure perfection, devoting his attention to the smallest of details in all stories and images he creates for each individual client. Sebastian is based in Los Angeles and Berlin.
Director: Sebastian Strasser
Production company: ANORAK Films
AGENCY: Daimler AG
CLIENT: Mercedes-Benz
Martin de Thurah is a Danish director, screenwriter and photographer known for creating beautiful and powerful moving images. He won a number of awards at the 2009 MVA’s including "Best Director", and a D&AD Pencil on his video for Will Young. He quickly became a much sought-after music video director, working with artists such as James Blake, David Byrne and St. Vincent, Kanye West, Feist, Fever Ray, Glasvegas, Mew, Editors and Royksopp. He has won a number of MVAs for his videos. His work has translated across to commercials effortlessly where he has also earned numerous awards. He has won Creative Circle Awards for his 2008 spot for IKEA (Best Direction) and for his 2011 spot for Thomson “Time for A Holiday” (Best Cinema Commercial), that was marked as one of the best works of 2011 and is still referenced by clients and agencies to date. In 2014, Martin was voted Commercial Director of the Year by the Directors Guild of America for his work on Hennessy "The Man Who Couldn't Slow Down" and Acura “Human Race." He won the award again in 2018 for his work on StubHub “Festival” and “Machines” and WealthSimple “Mad World”. 2019 brought another nomination in the same category. Martin has won 35 D&AD awards including a Yellow Pencil for Direction. He has created jaw dropping work for Bupa, Facebook, Ubisoft, Thomson, Playstation, Camelot, Hennessy and many more. His most awarded piece came in the form of "Phelps" for Under Armour, which picked up 11 Lions in Cannes including the Grand Prix for Craft.
Director: Martin de Thurah
Production company: Adam Perloff
AGENCY: Droga5
CLIENT: Under Armour
Timmer studied at the Film Academy in Holland and quickly started doing anything in the set before moving to direct commercials. He grow as a commercial director along the most-talented creative teams in the Netherlands. He has shot award-winning commercials for Heineken, Centraal Beheer, Amstel and VW. He has been awarded several Lions in Cannes, Eurobests, Clio’s, D&AD, Silver and Gold at the New York Festivals as well as numerous awards at the ADC Netherlands. His VW Laughing Horses has cleaned up at just about every important festival worldwide including Cannes Lions, Epica Awards, Effie, Eurobest, NY Festival as well as ADC Germany and ADC Europe. Most recently, Bart won gold for his VW Golf "Metalheads" at the Spotlight Festival in 2019, Bronze at the ADC Germany and the Second Price Award at the New York Festival. SHOTS magazine listed Timmer as one of the Top 10 directors worldwide. Bart’s biggest storytelling strengths: extreme attention to detail, impeccable timing and dry sense of humor. All of this under a genuine sensibility lens portraying people with sensitivity, being able to direct actors in a way that they are used to the maximum of their abilities. He is excellent in casting and his narratives are clear and effective, making him one of the best commercial directors not only in Europe, but all over the world today.
Director: Bart Timmer
Production company: CZAR.de
AGENCY: Grabarz und Partner
CLIENT: Volkswagen
Werner is one of the most awarded and highly sought after Scandinavian directors. He started his career as a 1st Assistant Director, moving into direction in the mid 90's and quickly became one of the most respected and loved directors in Denmark. He created Bacon Films in 2001 and started to shoot more international work, directing ads for prestigious brands such as Coca Cola, Mercedes-Benz, VW, Lufthansa, Audi, Carlsberg, Café Noir, DNB Bank, Heineken, BT, Magnum, IKEA and his awarded Jack & Jones campaign starring Christopher Walken. He has won Grand Prix at New York Film Festivals, Eurobest and Epica. Martin’s Magnum spot “Be True to Your Pleasure” won a Gold Lion at the Cannes Lions Festival in 2015. A filmmaker full of strong and unstoppable power that flows in the form of intelligent or sensitive energy or unstoppable power. He's uncategorizable because he has mastered with enthusiasm and professionalism a wide range of genres. He has become well known for handling high profile talent with pace, humor and a crafted technique in campaigns featuring George Clooney, Benicio Del Toro and Christopher Walken, as well as sports stars Jose Mourinho, Nico Rosberg, Rio Ferdinand, Thierry Henry and many others.
Director: Martin Werner
Production company: Propaganda/Bacon
AGENCY: Bacon
CLIENT: Magnum
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