2026's highest entrant: One Battle After Another (2025)
The 21st Century's Most Acclaimed Films
NEW 2026 Edition February 1, 2026
Based on end-of-year lists (from 2000 onwards), as well as the same resources used for the 1,000 Greatest Films, this is a collection of the 21st Century's most acclaimed cinema. The main list comprises the top 1,000 films, with a more-detailed presentation of the top 250. Also featured is a listing of the 100 most acclaimed filmmakers of this century, plus the full starting list of 13,420 films.
Directors
Browse 435 director profiles. Each profile includes excerpts from a variety of reference materials, selected filmographies (encompassing rankings from the Greatest Films and 21st Century projects), and more.
You Can Help… Please feel free to offer as many suggestions as you like for future director profiles (thank you to everyone who has already done so; over 400 filmmakers have already been recommended). I have a list of over 2,000 candidates, and your suggestions will assist with the pecking order.
You Can Help… Please feel free to offer as many suggestions as you like for future director profiles (thank you to everyone who has already done so; over 400 filmmakers have already been recommended). I have a list of over 2,000 candidates, and your suggestions will assist with the pecking order.
Latest Additions - Sean Baker / Ryan Coogler / Brad Bird / Leni Riefenstahl / Josh Safdie & Benny Safdie / See All.
Béla Tarr, 1955-2026
January 7, 2026
Considered a founding figure of slow cinema, Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr has died at the age of 70. His extraordinary directing career included the black-and-white masterpieces Sátántangó (1994), Werckmeister Harmonies (2000) and The Turin Horse (2011) - his final narrative feature film. Tarr's early films (Family Nest, The Outsider, The Prefab People), indirectly influenced by John Cassavetes, are also notable.
The Guardian / World of Reel / The New York Times / BFI
The Guardian / World of Reel / The New York Times / BFI
Beyond the Sight & Sound Canon
A supplement to the 2022 Sight & Sound poll
April 8, 2024
Thank you to everyone who submitted a ballot for this poll which asked for willing participants (including critics, scholars, programmers and cinephiles), to provide a listing of up to 100 more great films - that didn't receive a single vote in Sight & Sound's 2022 poll). In the end, we received 839 ballots (including from 75 critics who also participated in the 2022 Sight & Sound poll). A remarkable total of 14,560 films received at least one vote, and they have been split into four categories. All of which is revealed here.
Support TSPDT
If you enjoy They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? and wish to kindly support it with a donation, then you can do so here. Your donation helps to keep TSPDT ad-free.
2026 entrant: La Flor (2018)
The 1,000 Greatest Films
2026 Edition January 1, 2026
Compiled from 17,747 film lists and ballots, the 21st edition of The 1,000 Greatest Films is quite possibly the definitive collection of the most critically acclaimed films you will find. Also featured, amongst other bits and pieces, is a listing of the 250 most acclaimed film directors and, for those that rebel against consensus and/or just prefer bigger lists, a 'starting list' of over 26,000 films.
Recent Addition: The Secret Agent (2025)
TSPDT's Film Recommendations
I'd previously kept TSPDT's film recommendations a little hidden. They were only accessible, via links, from the individual director pages. So here they are now, at the forefront, out in the open. It's just a straightforward alphabetical listing of over 3,050 films. Nothing whizz-bang. Films are added to (and sometimes removed from) this list on a (roughly) fortnightly basis.
Out of the Past (1947)
They Shot Dark Pictures, Didn't They?
A (finally completed!) listing of 1,000 Noir Films. This is not a ‘best of’ or ‘greatest’ compilation of noirs. This is strictly a listing of, according to TSPDT's research, the most oft-cited noir films. Though most of the films that comprise the 1,000 are more than worthwhile (many, of course, are brilliant), there is no hiding from the fact that not all of the 1,000 films are of the highest quality. They are here because they are noir (or at least noir-tinged), not because they are necessarily classic films. You'll also find a subsidiary listing of a further 842 noir(-ish) films and a listing of 50 Key Noir Directors. [The Noir-Films spreadsheet was updated on 12/2/25. See here for further information.]
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
TSPDT Poll — 1,005 Film Favourites
August 3, 2021
TSPDT's first fair dinkum film poll. Thank you to everyone who participated and correctly submitted their ballots of 25 favourite films. You can view the results here.
Focus on They Shoot Pictures Don't They?
July 8, 2024
LaCinetek, the leading French VOD service for cinephiles, kindly asked TSPDT to provide a selection of thirty films (chosen from the 1,000 Greatest Films project) to showcase on their website.
LaCinetek's library of films is sourced from the personal lists of many of cinema's finest filmmakers. If you are lucky enough to have access to their service, then you really should be trying it out.
LaCinetek's library of films is sourced from the personal lists of many of cinema's finest filmmakers. If you are lucky enough to have access to their service, then you really should be trying it out.