⦿ 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 last year's version (2023).
3. Apichatpong Weerasethakul (3) 7 films in the Top 1000 / 10 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
6. Lucrecia Martel (6) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 2 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
7. Bong Joon-ho (7) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 3 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
10. Hayao Miyazaki (10) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited / The Top 250 Directors
12. Tsai Ming-liang (12) 6 films in the Top 1000 / 7 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
14. Claire Denis (13) 8 films in the Top 1000 / 3 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
15. Béla Tarr (14) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited / The Top 250 Directors
18. Agnès Varda (18) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 2 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
20. Pedro Costa (20) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 4 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
21. Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (22) ⬆ 7 films in the Top 1000 / 3 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
22. Barry Jenkins (21) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 3 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
27. Nuri Bilge Ceylan (27) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 2 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
32. Steve McQueen (32) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 9 other films cited
35. Peter Jackson (34) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 6 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
37. Hong Sang-soo (36) 11 films in the Top 1000 / 17 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
39. Jordan Peele (35) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 0 other films cited
40. Wang Bing (40) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 13 other films cited
43. Asghar Farhadi (39) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 3 other films cited
45. Roy Andersson (44) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited / The Top 250 Directors
46. Guillermo del Toro (43) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 6 other films cited
48. Lynne Ramsay (46) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 0 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
49. Andrea Arnold (45) 6 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited
50. Park Chan-wook (50) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 5 other films cited
51. Alejandro González Iñárritu (51) 6 films in the Top 1000 / 3 other films cited
52. George Miller (52) 1 film in the Top 1000 / 2 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
54. Lee Chang-dong (54) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 0 other films cited
56. Cristi Puiu (56) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited
57. Lav Diaz (57) 8 films in the Top 1000 / 13 other films cited
58. Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne (55) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 4 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
60. Joshua Oppenheimer (60) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 0 other films cited
64. Jafar Panahi (63) 6 films in the Top 1000 / 3 other films cited
65. Carlos Reygadas (65) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited
69. Andrew Stanton (67) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited
71. Denis Villeneuve (70) 6 films in the Top 1000 / 4 other films cited
73. Andrey Zvyagintsev (73) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited
75. Patricio Guzmán (71) 1 film in the Top 1000 / 4 other films cited
77. Olivier Assayas (69) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 8 other films cited
78. Gaspar Noé (72) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 5 other films cited
79. Charlie Kaufman (77) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 0 other films cited
81. James Benning (76) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 19 other films cited
82. Paolo Sorrentino (80) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 5 other films cited
84. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (81) 1 film in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited
86. Abderrahmane Sissako (82) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 0 other films cited
87. Jonas Mekas (86) 1 film in the Top 1000 / 5 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
88. Joanna Hogg (85) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 2 other films cited
89. Jane Campion (84) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 2 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
91. Pawel Pawlikowski (90) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 2 other films cited
92. Noah Baumbach (89) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 6 other films cited
93. Pete Docter (91) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited
94. Jean-Pierre Jeunet (94) 1 film in the Top 1000 / 4 other films cited
98. Ryusuke Hamaguchi (95) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 2 other films cited
99. Chantal Akerman (97) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 5 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
The 2 directors that fell off the list (with previous ranking in brackets)-: Abdellatif Kechiche (99) and Miguel Gomes (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