- Fatih Akin (43, Germany) with 'In the Fade' starring Diane Kruger. Previously awarded film at Cannes: 'The Edge of Heaven'. Also known for 'Head-On' and 'Soul Kitchen'.
- Noah Baumbach (48, USA) with 'The Meyerowitz Stories' starring Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman. Also known for 'The Squid and the Whale', 'Greenberg' and 'Frances Ha'.
- Joon-ho Bong (48, South Korea) with 'Okja' starring Tilda Swinton, Jake Gyllenhaal and Paul Dano. Previously nominated films at Cannes: 'Tokyo!' and 'Madeo'. Also known for 'The Host' and 'Snowpiercer'.
- Robin Campillo (54, France) with '120 Beats per Minute'. Known for 'Eastern Boys'. He also was one of the writers on Palm d'Or winning film 'The Class'.
- Sofia Coppola (45, USA) with 'The Beguiled' starring Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman and Kirsten Dunst. Previously awarded film at Cannes: 'Marie Antoinette'. Previously nominated film at Cannes: 'The Bling Ring'. Also known for 'Lost in Translation' and 'Somewhere'.
- Jacques Doillon (73, France) with 'Rodin'. Previously awarded film at Cannes: 'Raja'. Previously nominated films at Cannes: 'La drolesse' and 'La pirate'. Also known for 'Le petit criminal', 'Le jeune Werther' and 'Ponette'.
- Michael Haneke (75, Austria) with 'Happy End' starring Isabelle Huppert and Jean-Louis Trintignant. Previously awarded film at Cannes: 'The Piano Teacher', 'Cache', 'The White Ribbon' and 'Amour'. Previously nominated film at Cannes: 'Code Unknown' and 'Time of the Wolf'.
- Todd Haynes (56, USA) with 'Wonderstruck' starring Julianne Moore and Michelle Williams. Previously awarded film at Cannes: 'Carol'. Previously nominated film at Cannes: 'Velvet Goldmine'. Also known for 'Far from Heaven' and 'I'm Not There'.
- Michel Hazanavicius (50, France) with 'Redoubtable' starring Louis Garrel as Jean-Luc Godard. Previously nominated film at Cannes: 'The Artist' and 'The Search'.
- Sang-soo Hong (55, South Korea) with 'The Day After'. Previously awarded film at Cannes: 'Hahaha'. Previously nominated films at Cannes: 'Virgin Stripped by Her Bachelor', 'Woman is the Future of Man', 'Tale of Cinema', 'The Day He Arrives' and 'In Another Country'.
- Naomi Kawase (47, Japan) with 'Radiance'. Previously awarded films at Cannes: 'Suzaku' and 'The Mourning Forest'. Previously nominated films at Cannes: 'Shara', 'Hanezu', 'Still the Water' and 'Sweet Bean'.
- Yorgos Lanthimos (43, Greece) with 'The Killing of a Sacred Deer' starring Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman. Previously awarded films at Cannes: 'Dogtooth' and 'The Lobster'. Also known for 'Alps'.
- Sergei Loznitsa (52, Ukraine) with 'A Gentle Creature'. Previously awarded film at Cannes: 'In the Fog'. Previously nominated film at Cannes: 'My Joy'.
- Kornel Mundruczo (42, Hungary) with 'Jupiter's Moon'. Previously awarded films at Cannes: 'Delta' and 'White God'. Previously nominated films at Cannes: 'Johanna' and 'Tender Son: the Frankenstein Project'.
- Ruben Ostlund (43, Sweden) with 'The Square'. Previously awarded films at Cannes: 'Play' and 'Force Majeure'.
- Francois Ozon (49, France) with 'L'Amant Double'. Previously nominated films at Cannes: 'Swimming Pool' and 'Jeune & jolie'. Also known for 'Water Drops on Burning Rocks', '8 Women' and 'Potiche'.
- Lynne Ramsay (47, Scotland) with 'You Were Never Really Here' starring Joaquin Phoenix. Previously awarded film at Cannes: 'Morvern Callar'. Previously nominated film at Cannes: 'We Need to Talk About Kevin'.
- Joshua and Ben Safdie (30s, USA) with 'Good Time' starring Robert Pattinson and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Previously nominated film at Cannes: 'The Pleasure of Being Robbed'. Also known for 'Heaven Knows What'.
- Andrey Zvyagintsev (53, Russia) with 'Loveless'. Previously awarded films at Cannes: 'Elena' and 'Leviathan'. Previously nominated film at Cannes: 'The Banishment'. Also known for 'The Return'.
