*Over at BlackFilm.com, editor/publisher Wilson Morales has posted the site’s “Top Ten African American Directors Of The Decade (2010-2019).”
In deciding who to include in the list, Morales says the took a look at those directors who in the last ten years had continued to succeed, critically and financially, in making films and uplifting the community to pave the way for more to come.
“In putting together this list and its rankings, I took a look at quantity, critically acclaimed films and cultural impact (i.e films that moved the culture). Not to take anything away from other well-known directors such as Spike Lee, the late John Singleton, Gina Prince-Bythewood, George Tillman Jr., and Lee Daniels, they have spent the last decade working on bringing exciting subjects to the small scene,” Morales wrote.
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Ryan Coogler, director of the hit movie “Black Panther”, on February, 11, 2018 in Washington, DC.
(Photo by Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
1.Ryan Coogler
Coogler has emerged as the most prominent director with just three films. With Fruitvale Station, he won the top audience and grand jury awards in the U.S. dramatic competition at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. He then co-wrote and directed the seventh film in the Rocky series, Creed. That grossed nearly $175M worldwide and then he helmed Marvel’s Black Panther, which not only broke numerous box office records, but also became the highest-grossing film of all time by a black director.
2. Tyler Perry
When the decade started, there was no consistent director making films and bringing in big box office receipts other than Tyler Perry. Love them or hate them, his films brought in an audience that no box office expert had seen before. Led by his signature character, Madea, folks couldn’t get enough laughs. He’s one of the few directors who also writes and produces his projects, which brings in average gross of at least $60M and generates a 2-1 return on his investment.
3. Jordan Peele
With just 2 films to his directing credits, Jordan Peele has catapulted himself among this list. His feature film debut, Get Out, shook the world when it came out in 2017. A $4M budget for a horror film that starred relatively unknowns (Daniel Kaluyya, Alison Williams) in, the film grossed a whopping $280m worldwide and became a cultural phenomenon. For his follow up Us, it became the highest-grossing original film in 2019.
4. Steve McQueen
McQueen had three films in this decade (Shame, 12 Years a Slave, and Widows) but it was 12 Years a Slave that made him the first black director to have a film win Best Picture. McQueen makes gritty stories that are very in your face and very revealing in the character study. The public can see the soul of the character through the eyes of his lead actors/ actresses.
5. Barry Jenkins
It had been over a decade when Jenkins had released his first film, Medicine for Melancholy, to critical acclaim. There was great anticipation for his next film Moonlight and when it came out in 2016, it not only captured everyone’s attention, but went on the win the Academy Award for Best Picture. This was the first time a film with an all-Black cast took such an honor and he also won an original screenplay Oscar. His next film, “If Beale Street Could Talk” also garnered critical acclaim.
Find out who the other 5 “Top Ten African American Directors Of The Decade (2010-2019)” are at Wilson Morales’ BlackFilm.com.
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