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The 21st Century's Most Acclaimed Films The Top 50 Directors

21st Century Home Summary: The 250 Films The Top 50 Directors Browse by Ranking: 1-50 51-100 101-150 151-200 201-250 Previous Titles

° On this page we have included a list of the 50 filmmakers whose 21st Century films have - to date - garnered the most critical acclaim. It is based on the same top-tens that we resourced for the 21st Century's Most Acclaimed Films. This listing has been compiled in a similar manner to our 100 most critically acclaimed filmmakers of all-time.

° The minimum qualification for this list is that each director must have at least one film in the 21st Century's Most Acclaimed Films listing.

° In brackets, is the position each director held prior to our January 2010 update.


1		Wong Kar-Wai (1) 2 films in the Top 250 / 3 films cited / See also The Top 200 Directors of All-Time.	2	Clint Eastwood (2) 4 films in the Top 250 / 9 films cited / See also The Top 200 Directors of All-Time.
3		David Lynch (5) 2 films in the Top 250 / 2 films cited / See also The Top 200 Directors of All-Time.	4	Peter Jackson (3) 4 films in the Top 250 / 4 films cited / See also The Top 200 Directors of All-Time.
5		Jia Zhangke (15) 4 films in the Top 250 / 7 films cited.	6	Richard Linklater (4) 3 films in the Top 250 / 7 films cited / See also The Top 200 Directors of All-Time.
7		Joel & Ethan Coen (23) 4 films in the Top 250 / 6 films cited / See also The Top 200 Directors of All-Time.	8	Michael Haneke (22) 4 films in the Top 250 / 6 films cited.
9		Paul Thomas Anderson (8) 2 films in the Top 250 / 2 films cited / See also The Top 200 Directors of All-Time.	10	Pedro Almodóvar (9) 3 films in the Top 250 / 4 films cited / See also The Top 200 Directors of All-Time.
11		Ang Lee (6) 2 films in the Top 250 / 3 films cited.	12	Gus Van Sant (7) 5 films in the Top 250 / 6 films cited.
13		Wes Anderson (31) 2 films in the Top 250 / 4 films cited.	14	Michel Gondry (16) 1 film in the Top 250 / 5 films cited.
15		Alfonso Cuarón (13) 2 films in the Top 250 / 3 films cited.	16	Steven Spielberg (17) 3 films in the Top 250 / 6 films cited / See also The Top 200 Directors of All-Time.
17		David Cronenberg (10) 3 films in the Top 250 / 3 films cited / See also The Top 200 Directors of All-Time.	18	Edward Yang (18) 1 film in the Top 250 / 1 film cited / See also The Top 200 Directors of All-Time.
19		Apichatpong Weerasethakul (19) 3 films in the Top 250 / 5 films cited.	20	Todd Haynes (11) 2 films in the Top 250 / 2 films cited.
21		Christopher Nolan (26) 2 films in the Top 250 / 5 films cited.	22	Martin Scorsese (14) 3 films in the Top 250 / 4 films cited / See also The Top 200 Directors of All-Time.
23		Alexander Payne (12) 2 films in the Top 250 / 2 films cited.	24	Hayao Miyazaki (25) 2 films in the Top 250 / 3 films cited / See also The Top 200 Directors of All-Time.
25		Lars von Trier (21) 2 films in the Top 250 / 5 films cited / See also The Top 200 Directors of All-Time.	26	Quentin Tarantino (42) 3 films in the Top 250 / 4 films cited / See also The Top 200 Directors of All-Time.
27		Hou Hsiao-Hsien (24) 3 films in the Top 250 / 4 films cited / See also The Top 200 Directors of All-Time.	28	Steven Soderbergh (20) 2 films in the Top 250 / 10 films cited.
29		Sofia Coppola (28) 1 film in the Top 250 / 2 films cited.	30	Tsai Ming-Liang (33) 3 films in the Top 250 / 5 films cited.
31		Arnaud Desplechin (27) 2 films in the Top 250 / 3 films cited.	32	Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne (45) 2 films in the Top 250 / 3 films cited.
33		Werner Herzog (37) 1 film in the Top 250 / 8 films cited / See also The Top 200 Directors of All-Time.	34	Paul Greengrass (30) 2 films in the Top 250 / 4 films cited.
35		Darren Aronofsky (41) 2 films in the Top 250 / 3 films cited.	36	Olivier Assayas (new) 2 films in the Top 250 / 5 films cited.
37		Stephen Frears (29) 2 films in the Top 250 / 6 films cited.	38	Guy Maddin (32) 1 film in the Top 250 / 6 films cited.
39		Lucrecia Martel (new) 2 films in the Top 250 / 3 films cited.	40	Claire Denis (new) 2 films in the Top 250 / 5 films cited / See also The Top 200 Directors of All-Time.
41		Guillermo del Toro (new) 1 film in the Top 250 / 3 films cited.	42	Kathryn Bigelow (new) 1 film in the Top 250 / 1 film cited.
43		Brad Bird (39) 2 films in the Top 250 / 2 films cited.	44	David Fincher (40) 1 film in the Top 250 / 2 films cited.
45		Richard Kelly (47) 1 film in the Top 250 / 3 films cited.	46	Spike Jonze (new) 2 films in the Top 250 / 2 films cited.
47		Aleksandr Sokurov (new) 2 films in the Top 250 / 3 films cited.	48	Alejandro González Iñárritu (36) 2 films in the Top 250 / 3 films cited.
49		Mike Leigh (34) 2 films in the Top 250 / 3 films cited / See also The Top 200 Directors of All-Time.	50	Jafar Panahi (35) 3 films in the Top 250 / 3 films cited.

	*Previous top 50 members...*
		Robert Altman 2 films in the Top 250 / 5 films cited.		Noah Baumbach 1 film in the Top 250 / 2 films cited.
		Todd Field 1 film in the Top 250 / 2 films cited.		Jean-Luc Godard 2 films in the Top 250 / 3 films cited.
		Kenneth Lonergan 1 film in the Top 250 / 1 film cited.		Fernando Meirelles 1 film in the Top 250 / 3 films cited.
		Michael Moore 2 films in the Top 250 / 4 films cited.		Robert Pulcini & Shari Springer Berman 1 film in the Top 250 / 1 film cited.
		Kelly Reichardt 2 films in the Top 250 / 2 films cited.		Zhang Yimou 2 films in the Top 250 / 3 films cited.
		Terry Zwigoff 1 film in the Top 250 / 3 films cited.