10 Best Film Directors With Less Than 5 Films

Making films is difficult, especially if you have little to no experience in doing so. To make a movie with nothing but potential and ambition can lead to a dodgy first few films or more likely a bunch of average films that will take a while for you to get noticed.

Being a director with a unique voice and distinctive vision will only continue to get harder as time goes on, and standing out amongst the crowd early on can be an incredibly difficult feat.

For a director to achieve critical acclaim on their third, second or even first film is something to be applauded. There are some that have managed to make a huge impact on the industry and culturally with their first few features and are surely ones to watch in the years to come.

From the reinvention of the horror genre to gritty crime drama specialists to the expansion of inclusivity of female and non-white directors, this list celebrates and highlights the young blood taking the industry by storm.

Some of these directors have managed to make waves so quickly they already have Oscars under their belt, whereas others are just starting to be appreciated for their brave and innovative work

A slight cheat to start off with, McQueen either has four films or nine depending on how you perceive his anthology series Small Axe. As it was released as a limited series of five standalone episodes, McQueen manages to make the list with an already impressive crop of feature films.

Using Michael Fassbender as a muse for three out of his four films, the two of them have put out largely character driven dramas centred around the obsession and commitment of the primary character in Hunger and Shame.

Their third collaboration expanded into something far more ambitious however as McQueen helmed the Best Picture winner 12 Years a Slave. The film is harrowing and powerful and a landmark piece of cinema that portrays the atrocities of the slave trade in America.

His fourth film Widows starring Viola Davis was a change of pace as it managed to be thrilling and exciting while keeping McQueen's grounded character focused style. When you consider Small Axe as well then McQueen is showing himself to already be a master filmmaker with a catalogue of high calibre films.