9. Steve McQueen
The newest director on this list, Steve McQueen only has two movies to his name currently, with a third coming out later this year, but they just happen to be two of the best works of the last decade, ensuring him a place on this list. McQueen rose to prominence in the 90's as an artist as well as with a series of experimental short films. His first full-length feature, 2008's Hunger, depicted the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike with breathtaking results. Starring Michael Fassbender as political prisoner Bobby Sands, McQueen showcased his talents as one of the premier visual stylists working today, stringing together a series of astonishing images. The film's centerpiece is a seventeen and a half minute unbroken shot of Sands and his priest engaging a discussion filled with both political and philosophical ramifications. Hunger topped Sight and Sounds list of best films of that year and is one of the great movies of the last decade. McQueen followed this with 2011's Shame, an incredibly affecting portrait of a man consumed by addictions. Featuring once again McQueen's penchant for visual flair and another incredible performance from Michael Fassbender, Shame was unfortunately snubbed from the Academy Awards but remains one of 2011's most acclaimed films. McQueen's next film, 12 Years A Slave, will be released later this year and is one of the most anticipated films of the 2013 and hopefully will propel McQueen into the filmmaking elite.
Eligible Films: Hunger (2008), Shame (2011)