«Alfred Hitchcock (UK, 1899-1980) is undeniably the world's most famous film director. His name has become synonymous with the cinema, and each new generation takes the same pleasure in rediscovering his films, which are now treasures of our artistic heritage. Hitchcock started out in the British silent cinema of the 1920s, which reached its peak with successful thrillers such as «The Man Who Knew Too Much» (1934), «Sabotage» (1936) and «The Lady Vanishes» (1938). Recognized as a 'young genius', Hitchcock moved to Hollywood and set about reinventing cinematic tradition, combining the modern with the classic in films such as «Vertigo» (1957), «North by Northwest» (1959) and «The Birds» (1963). Hitchcock gave talented actors such as James Stewart and Cary Grant the chance to play enduring antiheroes and imprinted the public imagination with the myth of the 'blonde', as embodied by Grace Kelly, Kim Novak and Tippi Hedren.»

«Stanley Kubrick (USA, 1928-99) was a master who took the art of filmmaking further than any other contemporary director, a creative perfectionist whose work now fascinates new generations. He started out as a photographer before moving into film noir aged barely 25, after which the power and originality of his work soon brought him box-office success. In the 1960s, he lived and worked in London, away from the scandal caused by his adaptation of Lolita (1962) and from the major studios, from which, uniquely, he was able to wrest total control of his films. He made only a dozen features in 50 years, each of which displays an extraordinary degree of technical and aesthetic invention. From the sci-fi 2001: «A Space Odyssey» (1968) onwards, each of his masterpieces explores new genres and controversial topics, such as Vietnam («Full Metal Jacket», 1987), violence («A Clockwork Orange», 1971), horror («The Shining», 1980) and sexuality («Eyes Wide Shut», 1999).»