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14 Directors Whose First Films Were Their Best

For any artist with an audience, criticism and scrutiny are inevitable parts of the creative process. It's a joy for any director when a movie is released to critical and popular acclaim, especially if it happens to be their first film. As with other professions, most directors will go on to refine their technique as they create more films, so it's quite rare for an initial effort to outshine everything that follows.
With that in mind, following is a list of directors whose best film was their first film. Please note that several of these directors are still active, and may very well have their best work ahead of them.
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1
Neill Blomkamp
Neill Blomkamp
2
District 9 (2009)
District 9 (2009)
Rotten Tomatoes®   90%
3
Larry Clark
Larry Clark
4
Kids (1995)
Kids (1995)
Rotten Tomatoes®   46%
5
Orson Welles
Orson Welles
6
Citizen Kane (1941)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Rotten Tomatoes®   99%
7
Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray
8
Pather Panchali (1955)
Pather Panchali (1955)
Rotten Tomatoes®   98%
9
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton
10
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
Rotten Tomatoes®   95%
11
Ron Underwood
Ron Underwood
12
Tremors (1990)
Tremors (1990)
Rotten Tomatoes®   86%
13
Todd Fields
Todd Fields
14
In the Bedroom (2001)
In the Bedroom (2001)
Rotten Tomatoes®   93%
15
Jared Hess
Jared Hess
16
Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
Rotten Tomatoes®   72%
17
Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don't Cry)
Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don't Cry)
18
Boys Don't Cry (1999)
Boys Don't Cry (1999)
Rotten Tomatoes®   89%
19
John Singleton
John Singleton
20
Boyz N the Hood (1991)
Boyz N the Hood (1991)
Rotten Tomatoes®   96%
21
Zack Snyder
Zack Snyder
22
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Rotten Tomatoes®   76%
23
Lawrence Kasdan
Lawrence Kasdan
24
Body Heat (1981)
Body Heat (1981)
Rotten Tomatoes®   98%
25
David Mamet
David Mamet
26
House of Games (1987)
House of Games (1987)
Rotten Tomatoes®   96%
27
Stuart Gordon
Stuart Gordon
28
Re-Animator (1985)
Re-Animator (1985)
Rotten Tomatoes®   94%
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