Build a Personal Viewing Canon

Every 'films you must see' list is the same forty titles, heavy on 1970s American cinema, and you've seen most of them. Tell it what you already love and how many films you want. It builds a canon across different national cinemas, with work from before 1960 and after 2000, so you end up genuinely literate rather than just well-fed on the usual suspects.

Help me build a personal viewing canon, a curated list of {NUMBER} films I should have seen to be genuinely literate about cinema. My starting point: I already know and love {FILMS_I_LOVE}. I want to avoid the generic 'Top 100' lists that are heavy on 1970s American cinema and light on everything else. Instead, build me a canon that: covers a range of national cinemas, includes films from before 1960 and after 2000, balances critical reputation with genuine watchability, and where possible connects thematically to films I already love. For each entry give the title, director, year, country, and a one-line reason it earns its place.