Top 5 Rising British Directors

5. Paddy Considine (Tyrannosaur)

An impressive screen presence when at his most troubled (A Room For Romeo Brass, Dead Man’s Shoes) but also at his most comedic (Hot Fuzz, Le Donk), Paddy Considine utilised his film experience to work behind the camera when directing his debut feature film, Tyrannosaur. The result was a painfully affecting piece, full of consummate performances and an uncomfortable mise-en-scène.

4. Richard Ayoade (Submarine, The Double)

After co-creating the oddball comedy Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, Richard Ayoade built a cult TV following through his rôles in The Mighty Boosh and The IT Crowd, before securing the funding to adapt and direct Submarine for the big screen. In keeping with form, Ayoade managed to perfectly capture the tragic humour within the soul of a misunderstood loner. The future is also bright for Ayoade, who is set to direct The Double – a comedy in which Jesse Eisenberg is driven insane by his doppelganger.

3. Ben Wheatley (Kill List, Sightseers)

Another director to have emerged from British television, Essex-born Ben Wheatley built his career directing alternative comedies The Wrong Door and Ideal before making the jump to film with his low-budget debut, Kill List. The gory and unsettling crime-thriller-horror was an intriguing film somewhere between Lock, Stock… and The Wicker Man that, though critically divisive, was masterfully shot and edited. His next offering, Sightseers, is due for release at the end of 2012, and promises to be a similarly genre-bending macabre comedy.

2. Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code)

Son of the legendary David Bowie, Duncan Jones’ won the BAFTA for Outstanding Debut in 2008 for Moon. The sci-fi mystery heavily borrowed from Kubrick’s 2001, but was a cold and well-photographed film in its own right. His second film was the similarly mind-bending Source Code. Underrated during a strong cinematic year, Source Code mirrored Moon in developing a high-concept mystery around a powerless protagonist. Jones will seemingly be breaking this mould in the near future, and is currently helming an Ian Fleming biopic slated for 2013.

1. Steve McQueen (Hunger, Shame, Twelve Years A Slave)

Steve McQueen began his career enjoying success as an artist, which peaked with a Turner Prize win in 1999. After creating several silent, black-and-white short films, McQueen made his feature debut with Hunger in 2008. The mostly dialogue-free film, bar a seventeen-minute single take of conversation halfway through, is an immensely powerful piece chronicling the last days of Bobby Sands. McQueen’s second feature, Shame, focussed on sex addiction and was an even more exceptional work – showcasing the director’s unparalleled ability to draw great emotion from simple imagery, as well as featuring a career-best performance from Michael Fassbender. His upcoming project, Twelve Years A Slave, is set to feature a star-studded cast and follows the story of a young man sold into slavery in 19^th century New York.