Agnes Varda

Agnes Varda pioneered the French New Wave with *Cleo from 5 to 7* in 1962, a film that cost $150,000 to make yet grossed $4.2 million worldwide—a 2,700% return on investment. Her six-decade career produced 39 films, and she remains the only female director on this list. Her documentary *Faces Places* (2017) won the L'Œil d'or at Cannes, a feat no other director on this list has matched in the non-fiction category.