Cristi Puiu (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈkristi ˈpuju]; born 3 April 1967; Bucharest) is a Romanian film director and screenwriter. With Anca Puiu and Alex Munteanu, in 2004 he founded a cinema production company, naming it Mandragora.

Cristian Emilian Puiu was born to Iuliana and Emilian Puiu in Bucharest, Romania. Puiu's first interest in art was painting. In 1992, he was admitted as a student to the Painting Department of École Supérieure d'Arts Visuels in Geneva. After the first year he switched to film studies at the same school, where he graduated in 1996. He started working in film after his return to Romania.