I'm trying to become more savvy in regards to the international cinema scene. This involves both catching up on classic foreign films and, equally importantly to me, catching up with those still working and getting hip to guys/girls I may have no clue about.

Ones I know/like already:
Haneke
Herzog
Bong Joon-Ho
Wong Kar-Wai
Chan-wook Park
Kiarostami
Von Trier
Miyazaki
Jeunet
Farhadi

Those are just off the top, I'm certain I'm forgetting some I already know.

I'm getting acquainted with Yang and Weerasethakul this weekend, hopefully.

Who else should I be on the look out for? Emphasizing those still making new films.

Mungiu and Almodovar come to mind as working. Miike is all over the place, but when he hits, it's entertaining. Godard is still directing -- not that you should seek out his recent work (although that 3D flick looks tortuously interesting), but it's an excuse to go through his back catalog if desired.

I've been told by everyone who's seen it to see 13 Assassins-- I feel like it's been in my queue forever.

honestly that and 13 Assassins are the only ones I could recommend, but since he directs two or three films a year, it's hard to keep up with him (and his clunkers will dissuade you).

(ok, the title is a misnomer, see below)

my favorite from Takashi Miike have been: Ichi the Killer, Dead or Alive, Dead or Alive 2, 13 Assassins, Audition, The Happiness of the Katakuris, Zebraman, Gozu, and Deadly Outlaw: Rekka

as a bonus, i also want to highlight Takeshi Kitano (aka the actor and tv personality "Beat" Takeshi) as a director, as i got into both of these weird and funny guys at the same time, my favorite of his films having been: Violent Cop, Kikujiro, Fireworks, and The Blind Swordman: Zatoichi

enjoy

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Tsai Ming-Liang

Kore-eda

Bela Tarr (though possibly he has made noises about retirement)

Almadovar

Miguel Gomes

Oliveira

Polanski (makes most, but not all, of his films in English)

Hou Hsiao-Hsien

Fellini
Truffaut
Goddard
Jean Pierre Melville - start with Le samourai - very similar to "Drive" Longo :)
Ingmar Bergman
Akira Kurosawa
Louis Malle
Tarkovsky


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"You can win with certainty with the spirit of "one cut". "Musashi Miyamoto

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"You can win with certainty with the spirit of "one cut". "Musashi Miyamoto

Claire Denis--
Pushing the boundaries of filmmaking by de-emphasizing dialogue. There is a strain of colonialism running through her work which extends to her emphasis on boundaries and bodies ("the other"). Bold work: Trouble Every Day ("horror") and L'intrus (a mind-fuck as many people would say, but it's not as complicated as many think it is). Vendredi Soir has silent film aesthetics and uses French Impressionist film techniques. Her editing and narrative structure is not driven by cause-and-effect. Understands that film is not just a visual medium, it's an auditory one. Her frequent collaborator cinematographer Agnes Godard is one of the world's best.

Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne--
I've seen 6 of their films and they're batting 1.000. MASTERPIECES: Rosetta and The Son. Really great: The Kid With a Bike, L'enfant, and La promesse. Their stuff makes you reflect on who you are.

Hou Hsiao-hsien--
Hasn't made a film since 2007, but is working on a martial arts film. I liked The Red Balloon, but that's kinda middling compared to Millenium Mambo and Three Times if we're talking Hou since 2000. He already cemented himself in the 90s as one of the world's greatest.

Jia Zhang-ke--
Documentarian of China (and in a way, the world) working in fictional narrative. Though, he's made some documentaries, too. Platform is one of the greatest films of all time.

Hirokazu Kore-eda--
Must-sees: Still Walking and Nobody Knows. Bae Doo-na's best work is in Air Doll. Also see her in Yamashita's Linda Linda Linda.

Tsai Ming-liang--
Like Wong Kar-wai, a master of alienation and loneliness. Like Claire Denis, he de-emphasizes dialogue. Uses space masterfully by not moving his camera. Funny. NSFW: do a Google search of Wayward Cloud Tsai lol.

Hong Sang-soo--
LOL this guy shits on men. Love it. Lots of alcohol, fucking, and talking in his films but he plays narrative games as well in both large and small ways. I prefer his early narrative experiments like in Virgin Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors, Turning Gate, and Power of Kangwon Province, but he's maintained his playfulness with storytelling throughout his career. His films have gotten lighter and funnier.

Abdellatif Kechiche--
Like everyone else I can't wait to see Blue is the Warmest Color, but I've been a fan of his for a while now. Nominated Secret of the Grain in some Spilled Latte categories and had it as one of my faves of the past decade. Games of Love and Chance is a great youth film, and Frank, you should watch that shit because part of the plot deals with a high school play. There was a GD post about his Sarah Baartman film Black Venus. Tough watch.

Nuri Bilge Ceylan--
I detect a little mannerism but what can I say, he's a talent. Watch Climates and Distant. Three Monkeys was shot on digital, and it looks great.

Aki Kaurismak--
Deadpan, humanistic approach to stories of the working class.


I also really like:
Jacques Audiard, Andrey Zvyagintsev, Cristian Mungiu, Corneliu Porumboiu, Celine Sciamma, Cheang Pou-Soi (action), Dante Lam (action), Bahman Ghobadi, Lynne Ramsay, Mia Hansen-Love, Christian Petzold, Mahmoud Rasoulof, Jafar Panahi, Jiang Wen, Ursula Meier, Lucrecia Martel, Lisandro Alonso, Elia Suleiman, Jane Campion, Im Sang-soo, Amos Gitai, Nobuhiro Yamashita, Fernando Eimbcke, Angela Schanelec, Ann Hui, and others already mentioned by other OKPs in this post.

Not a fan but will still watch his films: Sion Sono

I love love love After Life.

Some of the best direction of children you will ever see.

I love it but one of the kid actors (the one who plays the younger brother) is so bad. The montage is one of the best sequences I've seen in years.

Can't believe they slipped my mind.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Ye
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jia_Zhangke
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeshi_Kitano
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shane_meadows
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnnie_To
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pen-Ek_Ratanaruang
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Yimou
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Chan-wook

covered most of them already, but a a few others worth mentioning despite being somewhat popular:

Thomas Vinterberg (The Celebration, The Hunt)
Olivier Assayas (Carlos!)
Denis Villeneuve (Incendies, Prisoners, Enemy
David Michod (Animal Kingdom)
Gottz Spielmann (Revanche, October November)
Takeshi Kitano (Sonatine, Fireworks, Violent Cop)
Laurent Cantet (The Class, Time Out, Human Resources, but avoid his latest, Firefox, at all costs)
Pablo Larrain (No)
Jose Padilha (Bus 174, Elite Squad 2, Robocop)
Giorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooh, Alps)
Leos Carax (Amants du Pont-Neuf is a must see, didn't love Holy Motors as much as others although still interesting)
Andrea Arnold (Fish Tank)
Tomas Alfredson (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Let The Right One In)
Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run, Cloud Atlas)
Lone Scherfig (Italian For Beginners, An Education, Wilbur Wants To Kill Himself)
Carlos Regadas (Post Tenebras Lux)
Gareth Evans (The Raid)
J.A. Bayona (The Orphanage, The Impossible)
Sally Potter (Orlando, Ginger & Rosa)

and of course Steve McQueen and Nicolas Winding Refn