The Top 5 Very Best Black Directors

As is the case with almost every facet of American art and culture, the film industry was closed off to Black creators for decades — not just for actors seeking the opportunity to take on the roles they deserved, but also for talented visionaries behind the camera. Oscar Micheaux, widely considered to be the nation’s first major Black filmmaker, began his own studio in 1919, back in Hollywood’s infancy, producing movies that told true-to-life stories about the Black experience in America and challenged racist stereotypes present in popular films like Birth of a Nation. Since Michaeux’s time, Black directors have made tremendous strides in the struggle toward equality in film. As movies have become a bigger part of American culture, many directors of color have worked to become respected artists and household names.

In the 1990s, greats like Spike Lee and John Singleton created classic films that solidified their places in Hollywood history; in the 2010s, films from Black directors like 12 Years a Slave and Moonlight took home the industry’s most prestigious accolades; today, multi-hyphenates like Donald Glover and Jordan Peele are garnering critics’ praise both in front of and behind the camera. But beyond the walled garden of Hollywood creators and critics, who are the Black directors that film audiences love most? We took a look at Ranker’s list of The Very Best Black Directors to tell you how our voters answered that pressing question.

#1: Spike Lee

An acclaimed Hollywood legend, considered by almost everyone in the industry to be among the best of his generation, Spike Lee has made endless contributions to the art of film. From his breakout hit Do The Right Thing, a hip and visually stunning movie about a racially motivated murder in Brooklyn, to his epic biopic Malcolm X (the #2 Greatest African American Biopic on Ranker), to his recent Oscar-winning historical drama BlacKkKlansman, Lee is known for his provocative approach to filmmaking. He’s also known for his outspoken defenses of his own movies and those of other Black creators — and for being the New York Knicks’ biggest fan.

Lee’s latest movie, Da Five Bloods, was one of Netflix’s most-watched Oscar-nominated films, despite being snubbed by the Oscars in the best picture and best original screenplay categories. He’s next set to produce Gordon Hemingway & the Realm of Cthulu as part of an ongoing deal between the director and Netflix.

#2: Jordan Peele

Undoubtedly one of the most commercially successful directors to ever make the transition from acting, Jordan Peele first became acquainted with American audiences through his memorable work in sketch shows MAD TV and Key & Peele. Following a well-received star turn in Keanu, a buddy comedy Peele also wrote and produced, he made his directorial debut with Get Out, a horror movie starring Daniel Kaluuya and Alison Brie. The movie was praised for its sharp satire of racism and won Peele the Oscar for best original screenplay, an honor rarely bestowed on horror films. It’s also the #13 movie on Ranker’s list of the Greatest Directorial Debuts Of All Time (10K votes).

Since Get Out, the man who was once best known for his impression of Barack Obama has directed and starred in other horror movies and TV shows like Us and CBS’s recent reboot of The Twilight Zone. His newest movie, Nope, hits theaters July 22.

#3: Ryan Coogler

Ryan Coogler is an acclaimed director with a knack for producing movies with mass appeal, enjoyed by millions around the globe. Coogler first rose to prominence with his debut film Fruitvale Station, a searing biographical drama about a young man who was murdered by an Oakland police officer in 2009. Afterward, Coogler directed Creed, a Rocky sequel about the mentorship between the now-retired Rocky Balboa and the son of his biggest rival, Apollo Creed. The film was a critical darling, which is rare for reboots of older film franchises. But the movie Coogler is perhaps best known for is Black Panther, the first MCU film to center on a Black superhero and the #3 Best Black Movie Ever Made (706K votes) on Ranker. Black Panther made both the director and star Chadwick Boseman household names.

That 2017 Marvel movie’s long-awaited sequel, Wakanda Forever, will also be directed by Coogler and is set to premiere in November 2022.

#4: John Singleton

What Spike Lee did for New York City, John Singleton did for Los Angeles. Singleton left an indelible mark on American culture in the 1990s with his magnum opus Boyz in the Hood, a tragic but gripping coming-of-age story about life in South LA starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and the rapper Ice Cube in his first dramatic role. The movie earned Singleton an Oscar nomination for best director, making him both the first Black person and the youngest person ever to be nominated for the award. It also sits at #1 on our list of Movies From Black Directors Every Movie Lover Should See (2K votes). Since that landmark achievement, Singleton continued to produce celebrated dramas like Poetic Justice, Rosewood, and Higher Learning, as well as explosive action films like 2 Fast 2 Furious, Four Brothers, and 2000’s reboot of Shaft.

Before his sad passing in 2019, Singleton had also won praise for his TV crime drama Snowfall and won a primetime Emmy for his direction of “The Race Card,” the fifth episode of the drama miniseries The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.

#5: Steve McQueen

McQueen is best known for directing 12 Years a Slave, the 2013 film based on the memoirs of former slave Solomon Northrup that won the Oscar for best picture that year. But McQueen’s movies are remarkably varied in their tone, themes, and methods of storytelling. He also directed Shame, a thriller about sex addiction starring Michael Fassbender; Widows, a 2018 crime story about the wives of dead robbers who scheme to pull off a heist of their own; and Lovers Rock, a romance set in the 1980s of his native England. McQueen is perhaps the most versatile of the directors on this list — and with a career much shorter than some of the veterans we’ve covered so far, that’s a pretty impressive feat.

In true McQueen style, the director’s next movie will be set during WWII, telling the story of Londoners living through the German blitzkrieg. Blitz will be released through Apple and is set to begin filming later in 2022.

These stories are crafted using Ranker Insights, which takes over one billion votes cast on Ranker.com and converts them into actionable psychographics about pop culture fans across the world. To learn more about how our Ranker Insights can be customized to serve your business needs, visit insights.ranker.com, or email us at insights@ranker.com.

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