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 last year's version (2023).
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 / 2 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
3. Apichatpong Weerasethakul (3) 7 films in the Top 1000 / 10 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
4. Paul Thomas Anderson (4) 6 films in the Top 1000 / 2 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
5. Michael Haneke (5) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 4 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
8. Céline Sciamma (9) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 0 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
9. Lars von Trier (8) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 6 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

11. Terrence Malick (11) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 3 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
12. Tsai Ming-liang (12) 6 films in the Top 1000 / 7 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
13. Alfonso Cuarón (17) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 0 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
16. Christopher Nolan (19) 7 films in the Top 1000 / 4 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
17. Jia Zhangke (16) 7 films in the Top 1000 / 6 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
18. Agnès Varda (18) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 2 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
19. Richard Linklater (15) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 10 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
23. Kelly Reichardt (24) 6 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited / The Top 250 Directors
24. Quentin Tarantino (23) 7 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited / The Top 250 Directors
25. Wes Anderson (28) 7 films in the Top 1000 / 7 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors

26. Ang Lee (25) 4 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
28. Pedro Almodóvar (26) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 6 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
29. David Fincher (31) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 5 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
30. Martin Scorsese (37) 8 films in the Top 1000 / 6 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
31. Michel Gondry (29) 1 film in the Top 1000 / 9 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
32. Steve McQueen (32) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 9 other films cited
33. Hou Hsiao-hsien (30) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited / The Top 250 Directors
34. Steven Spielberg (33) 7 films in the Top 1000 / 9 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
35. Peter Jackson (34) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 6 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
36. Sofia Coppola (38) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 5 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
38. Jonathan Glazer (47) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited
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
41. Todd Haynes (49) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 4 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
42. Jean-Luc Godard (41) 6 films in the Top 1000 / 8 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
43. Asghar Farhadi (39) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 3 other films cited
44. Gus Van Sant (42) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 4 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
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 / The Top 250 Directors
47. Clint Eastwood (48) 6 films in the Top 1000 / 12 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
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
53. Aleksandr Sokurov (53) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 7 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
54. Lee Chang-dong (54) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 0 other films cited
55. Hirokazu Koreeda (59) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 7 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
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
59. Leos Carax (58) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited / The Top 250 Directors
60. Joshua Oppenheimer (60) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 0 other films cited
61. Abbas Kiarostami (61) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 5 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
62. Maren Ade (66) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited
63. Darren Aronofsky (64) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 3 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
66. David Cronenberg (62) 6 films in the Top 1000 / 2 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
67. Jacques Audiard (68) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 4 other films cited
68. Aki Kaurismäki (93) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 3 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
69. Andrew Stanton (67) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited
70. Alexander Payne (74) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited
71. Denis Villeneuve (70) 6 films in the Top 1000 / 4 other films cited
72. Kenneth Lonergan (79) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 0 other films cited
73. Andrey Zvyagintsev (73) 4 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited
74. Spike Lee (75) 6 films in the Top 1000 / 11 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
75. Patricio Guzmán (71) 1 film in the Top 1000 / 4 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors

76. Yorgos Lanthimos (98) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film 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
80. Cristian Mungiu (83) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 2 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
83. Werner Herzog (78) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 14 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
84. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (81) 1 film in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited
85. Steven Soderbergh (87) 5 films in the Top 1000 / 21 other films 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
90. Chloé Zhao (92) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 1 other film cited
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
95. Kim Ki-duk (96) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 9 other films cited
96. Fernando Meirelles (—) 1 film in the Top 1000 / 3 other films cited
97. Kathryn Bigelow (88) 2 films in the Top 1000 / 2 other films cited / The Top 250 Directors
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
100. Edgar Wright (—) 3 films in the Top 1000 / 4 other films cited
The 2 directors that fell off the list (with previous ranking in brackets)-: Abdellatif Kechiche (99) and Miguel Gomes (100)