⦿ Introduction ⦿ Films 1,000-251 ⦿ Top 250 Films (alpha) ⦿ Top 250 Films (250-1) ⦿ Top 250 Films (1-250) ⦿ Top 250 Films (by year) ⦿ Top 1,000 Films (sortable table) ⦿ Top 1,000 Films (ranking history) ⦿ Alternative Titles ⦿ Sources/Critics ⦿ Top 100 Directors ⦿ Starting List (sortable table) ⦿ Ex-1000 ⦿ Resources/Links
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).
3. Apichatpong Weerasethakul (5) ⬆ 7 films in the Top 1000 / 10 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
43. Guillermo del Toro (41) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 7 other films cited
47. Jonathan Glazer (43) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited
50. Park Chan-wook (48) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 5 other films cited
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
64. Darren Aronofsky (44) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 3 other films 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
69. Olivier Assayas (55) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 8 other films cited
74. Alexander Payne (60) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited
79. Kenneth Lonergan (63) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 0 other films cited
83. Cristian Mungiu (68) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 2 other films cited
87. Steven Soderbergh (51) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 21 other films cited
89. Noah Baumbach (64) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 6 other films cited
91. Pete Docter (81) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited
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
The 14 directors that fell off the list (with previous ranking in brackets)-: Spike Jonze (70), Edgar Wright (73), James Gray (75), Guy Maddin (80), Tomas Alfredson (82), Mike Leigh (83), Frederick Wiseman (84), Brad Bird (85), Terence Davies (90), Lee Unkrich (93), Arnaud Desplechin (96), Danny Boyle (98), Paul Greengrass (99) and Woody Allen (100).
⦿ Introduction ⦿ Films 1,000-251 ⦿ Top 250 Films (alpha) ⦿ Top 250 Films (250-1) ⦿ Top 250 Films (1-250) ⦿ Top 250 Films (by year) ⦿ Top 1,000 Films (sortable table) ⦿ Top 1,000 Films (ranking history) ⦿ Alternative Titles ⦿ Sources/Critics ⦿ Top 100 Directors ⦿ Starting List (sortable table) ⦿ Ex-1000 ⦿ Resources/Links