21st Century's Most Acclaimed Films (Top 100 Directors)

Listed below are, according to TSPDT, the 100 most critically acclaimed filmmakers of the 21st Century (to date). To qualify for this top 100, each director (or directing team) needs to have a minimum of two films (from 2000 onwards) cited in ballots/lists that TSPDT has collated. Alongside each director's name (in brackets) is the position each director held in 2021's version (there was no update in 2022).
1. Wong Kar-wai (1) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 2 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors

2. David Lynch (2) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited / The Top 250 Directors
3. Apichatpong Weerasethakul (5) 7 films in the Top 1000 / 10 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
4. Paul Thomas Anderson (3) 6 films in the Top 1000 / 2 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
5. Michael Haneke (4) 6 films in the Top 1000 / 3 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
6. Lucrecia Martel (21) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited / The Top 250 Directors
7. Bong Joon-ho (20) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 3 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
8. Lars von Trier (6) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 6 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
9. Céline Sciamma (91) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 0 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
10. Hayao Miyazaki (18) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited / The Top 250 Directors

11. Terrence Malick (9) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 3 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
12. Tsai Ming-liang (37) 6 films in the Top 1000 / 6 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
13. Claire Denis (23) 8 films in the Top 1000 / 3 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
14. Béla Tarr (25) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited / The Top 250 Directors
15. Richard Linklater (7) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 8 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
16. Jia Zhangke (8) 7 films in the Top 1000 / 6 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
17. Alfonso Cuarón (11) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 0 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
18. Agnès Varda (49) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 2 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
19. Christopher Nolan (12) 6 films in the Top 1000 / 4 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
20. Pedro Costa (24) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 3 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
21. Barry Jenkins (62) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 3 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
22. Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (10) 7 films in the Top 1000 / 3 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
23. Quentin Tarantino (14) 7 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited / The Top 250 Directors
24. Kelly Reichardt (32) 6 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited / The Top 250 Directors
25. Ang Lee (16) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 3 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors

26. Pedro Almodóvar (19) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 5 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
27. Nuri Bilge Ceylan (29) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited / The Top 250 Directors
28. Wes Anderson (13) 6 films in the Top 1000 / 3 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
29. Michel Gondry (28) 1 film in the Top 1000 / 9 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
30. Hou Hsiao-hsien (30) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited / The Top 250 Directors
31. David Fincher (17) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 3 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
32. Steve McQueen (33) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 7 other films cited
33. Steven Spielberg (27) 7 films in the Top 1000 / 9 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
34. Peter Jackson (39) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 6 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
35. Jordan Peele (NEW) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 0 other films cited
36. Hong Sang-soo (61) 12 films in the Top 1000 / 14 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
37. Martin Scorsese (15) 7 films in the Top 1000 / 5 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
38. Sofia Coppola (38) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 4 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
39. Asghar Farhadi (57) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 3 other films cited
40. Wang Bing (56) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 11 other films cited
41. Jean-Luc Godard (26) 6 films in the Top 1000 / 8 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
42. Gus Van Sant (31) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 4 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
43. Guillermo del Toro (41) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 7 other films cited
44. Roy Andersson (69) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited / The Top 250 Directors
45. Andrea Arnold (72) 6 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited
46. Lynne Ramsay (77) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 0 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
47. Jonathan Glazer (43) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited
48. Clint Eastwood (22) 6 films in the Top 1000 / 12 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
49. Todd Haynes (34) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 4 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
50. Park Chan-wook (48) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 5 other films cited

51. Alejandro González Iñárritu (53) 6 films in the Top 1000 / 3 other films cited
52. George Miller (58) 1 film in the Top 1000 / 2 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
53. Aleksandr Sokurov (45) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 7 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
54. Lee Chang-dong (40) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 0 other films cited
55. Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne (35) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 3 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
56. Cristi Puiu (65) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited
57. Lav Diaz (97) 9 films in the Top 1000 / 11 other films cited
58. Leos Carax (52) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited / The Top 250 Directors
59. Hirokazu Koreeda (87) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 7 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
60. Joshua Oppenheimer (67) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 0 other films cited
61. Abbas Kiarostami (42) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 5 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
62. David Cronenberg (36) 6 films in the Top 1000 / 2 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
63. Jafar Panahi (71) 7 films in the Top 1000 / 2 other films cited
64. Darren Aronofsky (44) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 3 other films cited
65. Carlos Reygadas (66) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited
66. Maren Ade (50) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited
67. Andrew Stanton (59) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited
68. Jacques Audiard (79) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 4 other films cited
69. Olivier Assayas (55) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 8 other films cited
70. Denis Villeneuve (88) 6 films in the Top 1000 / 4 other films cited
71. Patricio Guzmán (NEW) 1 film in the Top 1000 / 4 other films cited
72. Gaspar Noé (92) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 4 other films cited
73. Andrey Zvyagintsev (76) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 0 other films cited
74. Alexander Payne (60) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited
75. Spike Lee (47) 6 films in the Top 1000 / 10 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors

76. James Benning (NEW) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 18 other films cited
77. Charlie Kaufman (78) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 0 other films cited
78. Werner Herzog (46) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 14 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
79. Kenneth Lonergan (63) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 0 other films cited
80. Paolo Sorrentino (NEW) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 5 other films cited
81. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (NEW) 1 film in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited
82. Abderrahmane Sissako (NEW) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 0 other films cited
83. Cristian Mungiu (68) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 2 other films cited
84. Jane Campion (NEW) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 2 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
85. Joanna Hogg (NEW) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited
86. Jonas Mekas (NEW) 1 film in the Top 1000 / 5 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
87. Steven Soderbergh (51) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 21 other films cited
88. Kathryn Bigelow (54) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 2 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
89. Noah Baumbach (64) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 6 other films cited
90. Pawel Pawlikowski (95) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 2 other films cited
91. Pete Docter (81) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited
92. Chloé Zhao (NEW) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 0 other films cited
93. Aki Kaurismäki (86) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 3 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
94. Jean-Pierre Jeunet (NEW) 1 film in the Top 1000 / 3 other films cited
95. Ryusuke Hamaguchi (NEW) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 2 other films cited
96. Kim Ki-duk (NEW) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 9 other films cited
97. Chantal Akerman (NEW) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 4 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
98. Yorgos Lanthimos (89) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited
99. Abdellatif Kechiche (94) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 4 other films cited
100. Miguel Gomes (74) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 5 other films cited