This question can make even the most well educated person pause for thought and still not come up with any clear answer. At least not an answer that everyone could agree with. Filmmaking is a blend of two categories into one, it's purely entertainment for the viewer and it's an output of creativity for the filmmaker. Which in any case is art. Like a painting or beautiful musical composition a film can touch your emotions just as deeply and with the intensity. So is the filmmaker an artist? Yes, but what about everyone else involved in making the picture? The actors, set designers, costume and makeup designers, writers and special effects producers just to name a few are all pieces of the final product. The director has a vision just like a painter, but their canvas is film, and their paint is the actors and crew. Each individual creates life and art to help the film grow into a masterpiece, with the credits rolling at the end to represent their signatures.

--Lestat