Steve McQueen and Alfonso Cuaron both absolutely knocked their projects out of the park, making this one of the toughest areas to draw a winner from. Its a revolutionary achievement in technology versus the greatest film ever made regarding American slavery. Theres one aspect of Steve McQueens direction that results in 12 Years A Slave standing out inches more though; his trademark directorial methods of tackling his dark subject matter fearlessly, without feeling the need to shy away from the harrowing truth of it all. 12 Years A Slave may be a gut-wrenching one and hard to watch, but its story will haunt you until the end of time. Has Alfonso Cuarón paved the way for the future of humongous Hollywood sized blockbuster action? Admittedly, yes, but 12 Years A Slave is far more important to cinema in another way, and it was only possible thanks to an uncompromising auteur like Steve McQueen. Winner: 12 Years A Slave
