Some filmmakers have the courage to make films that are not mainstream and in some cases are downright controversial. This requires a belief in what you're doing and the ability to convince others that the controversy will play well to an audience. Not everyone can make movies that go against the grain, but those who can do it well often find themselves listed among the great filmmakers of their generation.

D. W. Griffith

Born in 1875, D. W. Griffith began his film career as an actor in silent films, but eventually moved into directing at the then-struggling Biograph studios. Griffith made more than 450 shorts for Biograph, and developed and perfected many filmmaking techniques, including cross-cutting, tracking shots, the running insert, flashbacks, and the closeup. With all that innovation, he wanted to make feature-length films, but when Biograph wasn't interested, he left to pursue feature filmmaking.

In 1915, Griffith released the controversial The Birth of a Nation, a Civil War-era film that was highly successful, but considered to be extremely racist. He followed this film with Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages, a commentary on intolerance and its effects during four different historical eras.

Roger Corman

Roger Corman is known for creating movies replete with strange characters, social commentary, special effects, and new talent, all filmed in a matter of days on a shoestring budget. Films such as Swamp Women, Machine Gun Kelly, Little Shop of Horrors, The Wild Angels, and several Edgar Allan Poe classics like The Pit and the Pendulum, The Raven, and The Masque of the Red Death, were each shot in less than three weeks' time and with very limited funding.

In 1970, Corman formed New World Pictures, which became the largest independent production and distribution company in the United States After selling New World in 1983, he formed Concorde/New Horizons, where he continues to release successful and inexpensive productions. Corman's studios have been a training ground for directors and actors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro, and Dennis Hopper.

Spike Lee

Spike Lee is a highly intelligent and talented filmmaker whose movies examine urban life, crime, poverty, race relations, and political issues. Lee doesn't shy away from controversy, and has found himself and his films at the center of a controversial storm more than once. His movies, such as Do the Right Thing, Jungle Fever, Malcolm X, and Summer of Sam, often depict the struggles between the African-American and Caucasian communities. Lee has often stated that he feels blessed to have the opportunity to express some of the views of African-Americans.

Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino is an actor, screenwriter, producer, and director whose films often feature bloody violence and nonlinear timelines. Having started out as an independent filmmaker, Tarantino wrote True Romance in 1993, then went on to write and direct Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Four Rooms, Jackie Brown, and the Kill Bill movies. His films are complex and often brutal, and one way or another, audiences definitely have strong opinions about his work.

Ang Lee

Born in Taiwan, Ang Lee has become an important contemporary film director. Lee began his filmmaking career in 1992, with a trio of films featuring Taiwanese-American families that explored the differences in traditional versus modern family relationships. In 1995, he struck gold with an adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, for which he won a Golden Globe for Best Picture and an abundance of critical acclaim.

In 2000, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, an elaborate and chivalric martial arts drama, was awarded an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, which proved that Lee's innovative filmmaking style had mass audience appeal. In 2005, Lee directed Brokeback Mountain, a movie about the love between two homosexual cowboys. The movie garnered eight Academy Award nominations, winning three, including one for Best Director. In doing so, Lee became not only the first Asian but also the first non-Caucasian to ever receive the Best Director Oscar.

The Girls Club

Traditionally, the film industry has been very male-oriented. Females are commonly associated with the role of producer, but still constitute only a small percentage of directors. Even independently made films are surprisingly male-oriented when it comes to directors. But some women have taken the big leap and have been very successful.

Notable female filmmakers include Penny Marshall (Big, Awakenings, A League of Their Own, Riding in Cars with Boys), Barbra Streisand (Yentl, The Prince of Tides, The Mirror Has Two Faces), Jodie Foster (Little Man Tate, Nell, Waking the Dead), and Kathryn Bigelow (Blue Steel, Point Break, K-19: The Widowmaker).