Best Director

Janecampion94oscars — Jane Campion, winner 2021

The Academy Award for Best Directing (Best Director) is one of the Awards of Merit presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to directors working in the motion picture industry. While nominations for Best Director are made by members in the Academy's Directing branch, the award winners are selected by the Academy membership as a whole.

History[]

Throughout the past 83 years, accounting for ties and repeat winners, the Academy has presented a total of 85 Best Director awards to 65 different directors. At the 1st Academy Awards (1927/1928), there were two directing awards—one for "Dramatic Direction" and one for "Comedy Direction". The Comedy Direction award was eliminated the next year and, indeed, the awards have overwhelmingly favored dramatic films ever since. At both the 34th Academy Awards (1961) and the 80th Academy Awards (2007), Best Director was presented to a co-directing team, rather than to an individual director.

The earliest years of the award were marked by inconsistency and confusion. In the Academy Awards' first year, actors and others such as cinematographers were nominated for all of their films produced during the qualifying period. However, since the directing award was for "directing" rather than "best director", it honored the director in association with only a single film—thus Janet Gaynor has two Frank Borzage films listed after her Best Actress nomination, but only one of them earned Borzage a directing nomination. The second year, the directing award followed the others in listing all of a director's work during the qualifying period, resulting in Frank Lloyd being nominated for three of his films—but, even more confusingly, only one of them was listed on the final award as the film for which he won. Finally, for the 1931 awards, this confusing system was replaced by the current system in which a director is nominated for a single film.

The Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture have been very closely linked throughout their history. Of the 85 films that have been awarded Best Picture, 62 have also been awarded Best Director. Only three films have won Best Picture without their directors being nominated (though only one since the early 1930s): Wings (1927/28), Grand Hotel (1931/32), and Driving Miss Daisy (1989). The only two Best Director winners to win for films which did not receive a Best Picture nomination are likewise in the early years: Lewis Milestone (1927/28) and Frank Lloyd (1928/29).

Nominees and winners[]

Best Director By Decade
1920s • 1930s • 1940s • 1950s • 1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s • 2010s

1st Academy Awards (1927/28)

Winner (Best Directing [Comedy Picture]): Two Arabian Knights — Lewis Milestone
Nominees: Speedy — Ted Wilde
Winner (Best Directing [Dramatic Picture]): 7th Heaven — Frank Borzage
Nominees: Sorrell and Son — Herbert Brenon; The Crowd — King Vidor
Winner (Special Award): Charles Chaplin, for acting, writing, directing and producing The Circus^[1]

2nd Academy Awards (1928/29)

Winner: The Divine Lady — Frank Lloyd
Nominees: The Broadway Melody — Harry Beaumont^[2]; Drag — Frank Lloyd^[2]; In Old Arizona — Irving Cummings^[2]; Madame X — Lionel Barrymore^[2]; The Patriot — Ernst Lubitsch^[2]; Weary River — Frank Lloyd^[2]

3rd Academy Awards (1929/30)

Winner: All Quiet on the Western Front — Lewis Milestone
Nominees: Anna Christie — Clarence Brown; The Divorce — Robert Leonard; The Love Parade — Ernst Lubitsch; Hallelujah — King Vidor; Romance — Clarence Brown

1930s

4th Academy Awards (1930/31)

Winner: Skippy — Norman Taurog
Nominees: Cimarron — Wesley Ruggles; A Free Soul — Clarence Brown; The Front Page — Lewis Milestone; Morocco — Josef Von Sternberg

5th Academy Awards (1931/32)

Winner: Bad Girl — Frank Borzage
Nominees: The Champ — King Vidor; Shanghai Express — Josef Von Sternberg

6th Academy Awards (1932/33)

Winner: Cavalcade — Frank Lloyd
Nominees: Lady for a Day — Frank Capra ^{(came in 2nd)}; Little Women — George Cukor ^{(came in 3rd)}

7th Academy Awards (1934)

Winner: It Happened One Night — Frank Capra
Nominees: One Night of Love — Victor Schertzinger ^{(came in 3rd)}; The Thin Man — W. S. Van Dyke ^{(came in 2nd)}

8th Academy Awards (1935)

Winner: The Informer — John Ford
Nominees: Captain Blood — Michael Curtiz ^{(came in 2nd)^[3]}; The Lives of a Bengal Lancer — Henry Hathaway ^{(came in 3rd)}; Mutiny on the Bounty — Frank Lloyd

9th Academy Awards (1936)

Winner: Mr. Deeds Goes to Town — Frank Capra
Nominees: Dodsworth — William Wyler; The Great Ziegfeld — Robert Z. Leonard; My Man Godfrey — Gregory La Cava; San Francisco — W. S. Van Dyke

10th Academy Awards (1937)

Winner: The Awful Truth — Leo McCarey
Nominees: The Good Earth — Sidney Franklin; The Life of Emile Zola — William Dieterle; Stage Door — Gregory La Cava; A Star Is Born — William Wellman

11th Academy Awards (1938)

Winner: You Can't Take It with You — Frank Capra
Nominees: Angels with Dirty Faces — Michael Curtiz; Boys Town — Norman Taurog; The Citadel — King Vidor; Four Daughters — Michael Curtiz

12th Academy Awards (1939)

Winner: Gone with the Wind — Victor Fleming
Nominees: Goodbye, Mr. Chips — Sam Wood; Mr. Smith Goes to Washington — Frank Capra; Stagecoach — John Ford; Wuthering Heights — William Wyler

1930s

13th Academy Awards (1940)

Winner: The Grapes of Wrath — John Ford
Nominees: Kitty Foyle — Sam Wood; The Letter — William Wyler; The Philadelphia Story — George Cukor; Rebecca — Alfred Hitchcock

14th Academy Awards (1941)

Winner: How Green Was My Valley — John Ford
Nominees: Citizen Kane — Orson Welles; Here Comes Mr. Jordan — Alexander Hall; The Little Foxes — William Wyler; Sergeant York — Howard Hawks

15th Academy Awards (1942)

Winner: Mrs. Miniver — William Wyler
Nominees: Kings Row — Sam Wood; Random Harvest — Mervyn LeRoy; Wake Island — John Farrow; Yankee Doodle Dandy — Michael Curtiz

16th Academy Awards (1943)

Winner: Casablanca — Michael Curtiz
Nominees: Heaven Can Wait — Ernst Lubitsch; The Human Comedy — Clarence Brown; The More the Merrier — George Stevens; The Song of Bernadette — Henry King

17th Academy Awards (1944)

Winner: Going My Way — Leo McCarey
Nominees: Double Indemnity — Billy Wilder; Laura — Otto Preminger; Lifeboat — Alfred Hitchcock; Wilson — Henry King

18th Academy Awards (1945)

Winner: The Lost Weekend — Billy Wilder
Nominees: The Bells of St. Mary's — Leo McCarey; National Velvet — Clarence Brown; The Southerner — Jean Renoir; Spellbound — Alfred Hitchcock

19th Academy Awards (1946)

Winner: The Best Years of Our Lives — William Wyler
Nominees: Brief Encounter — David Lean; It's a Wonderful Life — Frank Capra; The Killers — Robert Siodmak; The Yearling — Clarence Brown

20th Academy Awards (1947)

Winner: Gentleman's Agreement — Elia Kazan
Nominees: The Bishop's Wife — Henry Koster; Crossfire — Edward Dmytryk; A Double Life — George Cukor; Great Expectations — David Lean

21st Academy Awards (1948)

Winner: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre — John Huston
Nominees: Hamlet — Laurence Olivier; Johnny Belinda — Jean Negulesco; The Search — Fred Zinnemann; The Snake Pit — Anatole Litvak

22nd Academy Awards (1949)

Winner: A Letter to Three Wives — Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Nominees: All the King's Men — Robert Rossen; Battleground — William A. Wellman; The Fallen Idol — Carol Reed; The Heiress — William Wyler

1950s

23rd Academy Awards (1950)

Winner: All about Eve — Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Nominees: The Asphalt Jungle — John Huston; Born Yesterday — George Cukor; Sunset Blvd. — Billy Wilder; The Third Man — Carol Reed

24th Academy Awards (1951)

Winner: A Place in the Sun — George Stevens
Nominees: The African Queen — John Huston; An American in Paris — Vincente Minnelli; Detective Story — William Wyler; A Streetcar Named Desire — Elia Kazan

25th Academy Awards (1952)

Winner: The Quiet Man — John Ford
Nominees: Five Fingers — Joseph L. Mankiewicz; The Greatest Show on Earth — Cecil B. DeMille; High Noon — Fred Zinnemann; Moulin Rouge — John Huston

26th Academy Awards (1953)

Winner: From Here to Eternity — Fred Zinnemann
Nominees: Lili — Charles Walters; Roman Holiday — William Wyler; Shane — George Stevens; Stalag 17 — Billy Wilder

27th Academy Awards (1954)

Winner: On the Waterfront — Elia Kazan
Nominees: The Country Girl — George Seaton; The High and the Mighty — William Wellman; Rear Window — Alfred Hitchcock; Sabrina — Billy Wilder

28th Academy Awards (1955)

Winner: Marty — Delbert Mann
Nominees: Bad Day at Black Rock — John Sturges; East of Eden — Elia Kazan; Picnic — Joshua Logan; Summertime — David Lean

29th Academy Awards (1956)

Winner: Giant — George Stevens
Nominees: Around the World in 80 Days — Michael Anderson; Friendly Persuasion — William Wyler; The King and I — Walter Lang; War and Peace — King Vidor

30th Academy Awards (1957)

Winner: The Bridge on the River Kwai — David Lean
Nominees: Peyton Place — Mark Robson; Sayonara — Joshua Logan; 12 Angry Men — Sidney Lumet; Witness for the Prosecution — Billy Wilder

31st Academy Awards (1958)

Winner: Gigi — Vincente Minnelli
Nominees: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof — Richard Brooks; The Defiant Ones — Stanley Kramer; I Want to Live! — Robert Wise; The Inn of the Sixth Happiness — Mark Robson

32nd Academy Awards (1959)

Winner: Ben-Hur — William Wyler
Nominees: The Diary of Anne Frank — George Stevens; The Nun's Story — Fred Zinnemann; Room at the Top — Jack Clayton; Some Like It Hot — Billy Wilder

1960s

33rd Academy Awards (1960)

Winner: The Apartment — Billy Wilder
Nominees: Never on Sunday — Jules Dassin; Psycho — Alfred Hitchcock; Sons and Lovers — Jack Cardiff; The Sundowners — Fred Zinnemann

34th Academy Awards (1961)

Winner: West Side Story — Robert Wise, Jerome Robbins
Nominees: The Guns of Navarone — J. Lee Thompson; The Hustler — Robert Rossen; Judgment at Nuremberg — Stanley Kramer; La Dolce Vita — Federico Fellini

35th Academy Awards (1962)

Winner: Lawrence of Arabia — David Lean
Nominees: David and Lisa — Frank Perry; Divorce—Italian Style — Pietro Germi; The Miracle Worker — Arthur Penn; To Kill a Mockingbird — Robert Mulligan

36th Academy Awards (1963)

Winner: Tom Jones — Tony Richardson
Nominees: America America — Elia Kazan; The Cardinal — Otto Preminger; Federico Fellini's 8-1/2 — Federico Fellini; Hud — Martin Ritt

37th Academy Awards (1964)

Winner: My Fair Lady — George Cukor
Nominees: Becket — Peter Glenville; Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb — Stanley Kubrick; Mary Poppins — Robert Stevenson; Zorba the Greek — Michael Cacoyannis

38th Academy Awards (1965)

Winner: The Sound of Music — Robert Wise
Nominees: The Collector — William Wyler; Darling — John Schlesinger; Doctor Zhivago — David Lean; Woman in the Dunes — Hiroshi Teshigahara

39th Academy Awards (1966)

Winner: A Man for All Seasons — Fred Zinnemann
Nominees: Blow-Up — Michelangelo Antonioni; A Man and a Woman — Claude Lelouch; The Professionals — Richard Brooks; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? — Mike Nichols

40th Academy Awards (1967)

Winner: The Graduate — Mike Nichols
Nominees: Bonnie and Clyde — Arthur Penn; Guess Who's Coming to Dinner — Stanley Kramer; In Cold Blood — Richard Brooks; In the Heat of the Night — Norman Jewison

41st Academy Awards (1968)

Winner: Oliver! — Carol Reed
Nominees: The Battle of Algiers — Gillo Pontecorvo; The Lion in Winter — Anthony Harvey; Romeo and Juliet — Franco Zeffirelli; 2001: A Space Odyssey — Stanley Kubrick

42nd Academy Awards (1969)

Winner: Midnight Cowboy — John Schlesinger
Nominees: Alice's Restaurant — Arthur Penn; Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid — George Roy Hill; They Shoot Horses, Don't They? — Sydney Pollack; Z — Costa-Gavras

1970s

43rd Academy Awards (1970)

Winner: Patton — Franklin J. Schaffner
Nominees: Fellini Satyricon — Federico Fellini; Love Story — Arthur Hiller; M*A*S*H — Robert Altman; Women in Love — Ken Russell

44th Academy Awards (1971)

Winner: The French Connection — William Friedkin
Nominees: A Clockwork Orange — Stanley Kubrick; Fiddler on the Roof — Norman Jewison; The Last Picture Show — Peter Bogdanovich; Sunday Bloody Sunday — John Schlesinger

45th Academy Awards (1972)

Winner: Cabaret — Bob Fosse
Nominees: Deliverance — John Boorman; The Emigrants — Jan Troell; The Godfather — Francis Ford Coppola; Sleuth — Joseph L. Mankiewicz

46th Academy Awards (1973)

Winner: The Sting — George Roy Hill
Nominees: American Graffiti — George Lucas; Cries and Whispers — Ingmar Bergman; The Exorcist — William Friedkin; Last Tango in Paris — Bernardo Bertolucci

47th Academy Awards (1974)

Winner: The Godfather Part II — Francis Ford Coppola
Nominees: Chinatown — Roman Polanski; Day for Night — Francois Truffaut; Lenny — Bob Fosse; A Woman under the Influence — John Cassavetes

48th Academy Awards (1975)

Winner: One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest — Milos Forman
Nominees: Amarcord — Federico Fellini; Barry Lyndon — Stanley Kubrick; Dog Day Afternoon — Sidney Lumet; Nashville — Robert Altman

49th Academy Awards (1976)

Winner: Rocky — John G. Avildsen
Nominees: All the President's Men — Alan J. Pakula; Face to Face — Ingmar Bergman; Network — Sidney Lumet; Seven Beauties — Lina Wertmüller

50th Academy Awards (1977)

Winner: Annie Hall — Woody Allen
Nominees: Close Encounters of the Third Kind — Steven Spielberg; Julia — Fred Zinnemann; Star Wars — George Lucas; The Turning Point — Herbert Ross

51st Academy Awards (1978)

Winner: The Deer Hunter — Michael Cimino
Nominees: Coming Home — Hal Ashby; Heaven Can Wait — Warren Beatty, Buck Henry; Interiors — Woody Allen; Midnight Express — Alan Parker

52nd Academy Awards (1979)

Winner: Kramer vs. Kramer — Robert Benton
Nominees: All That Jazz — Bob Fosse; Apocalypse Now — Francis Ford Coppola; Breaking Away — Peter Yates; La Cage aux Folles — Edouard Molinaro

1980s

53rd Academy Awards (1980)

Winner: Ordinary People — Robert Redford
Nominees: The Elephant Man — David Lynch; Raging Bull — Martin Scorsese; The Stunt Man — Richard Rush; Tess — Roman Polanski

54th Academy Awards (1981)

Winner: Reds — Warren Beatty
Nominees: Atlantic City — Louis Malle; Chariots of Fire — Hugh Hudson; On Golden Pond — Mark Rydell; Raiders of the Lost Ark — Steven Spielberg

55th Academy Awards (1982)

Winner: Gandhi — Richard Attenborough
Nominees: Das Boot — Wolfgang Petersen; E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial — Steven Spielberg; Tootsie — Sydney Pollack; The Verdict — Sidney Lumet

56th Academy Awards (1983)

Winner: Terms of Endearment — James L. Brooks
Nominees: The Dresser — Peter Yates; Fanny & Alexander — Ingmar Bergman; Silkwood — Mike Nichols; Tender Mercies — Bruce Beresford

57th Academy Awards (1984)

Winner: Amadeus — Milos Forman
Nominees: Broadway Danny Rose — Woody Allen; The Killing Fields — Roland Joffé; A Passage to India — David Lean; Places in the Heart — Robert Benton

58th Academy Awards (1985)

Winner: Out of Africa — Sydney Pollack
Nominees: Kiss of the Spider Woman — Hector Babenco; Prizzi's Honor — John Huston; Ran — Akira Kurosawa; Witness — Peter Weir

59th Academy Awards (1986)

Winner: Platoon — Oliver Stone
Nominees: Blue Velvet — David Lynch; Hannah and Her Sisters — Woody Allen; The Mission — Roland Joffé; A Room with a View — James Ivory

60th Academy Awards (1987)

Winner: The Last Emperor — Bernardo Bertolucci
Nominees: Fatal Attraction — Adrian Lyne; Hope and Glory — John Boorman; Moonstruck — Norman Jewison; My Life as a Dog — Lasse Hallström

61st Academy Awards (1988)

Winner: Rain Man — Barry Levinson
Nominees: A Fish Called Wanda — Charles Crichton; The Last Temptation of Christ — Martin Scorsese; Mississippi Burning — Alan Parker; Working Girl — Mike Nichols

62nd Academy Awards (1989)

Winner: Born on the Fourth of July — Oliver Stone
Nominees: Crimes and Misdemeanors — Woody Allen; Dead Poets Society — Peter Weir; Henry V — Kenneth Branagh; My Left Foot — Jim Sheridan

1990s

63rd Academy Awards (1990)

Winner: Dances With Wolves — Kevin Costner
Nominees: The Godfather, Part III — Francis Ford Coppola; GoodFellas — Martin Scorsese; The Grifters — Stephen Frears; Reversal of Fortune — Barbet Schroeder

64th Academy Awards (1991)

Winner: The Silence of the Lambs — Jonathan Demme
Nominees: Boyz N the Hood — John Singleton; Bugsy — Barry Levinson; JFK — Oliver Stone; Thelma & Louise — Ridley Scott

65th Academy Awards (1992)

Winner: Unforgiven — Clint Eastwood
Nominees: The Crying Game — Neil Jordan; Howards End — James Ivory; The Player — Robert Altman; Scent of a Woman — Martin Brest

66th Academy Awards (1993)

Winner: Schindler's List — Steven Spielberg
Nominees: In the Name of the Father — Jim Sheridan; The Piano — Jane Campion; The Remains of the Day — James Ivory; Short Cuts — Robert Altman

67th Academy Awards (1994)

Winner: Forrest Gump — Robert Zemeckis
Nominees: Bullets over Broadway — Woody Allen; Pulp Fiction — Quentin Tarantino; Quiz Show — Robert Redford; Red — Krzysztof Kieslowski

68th Academy Awards (1995)

Winner: Braveheart — Mel Gibson
Nominees: Babe — Chris Noonan; Dead Man Walking — Tim Robbins; Leaving Las Vegas — Mike Figgis; The Postman (Il Postino) — Michael Radford

69th Academy Awards (1996)

Winner: The English Patient — Anthony Minghella
Nominees: Fargo — Joel Coen; The People vs. Larry Flynt — Milos Forman; Secrets & Lies — Mike Leigh; Shine — Scott Hicks

70th Academy Awards (1997)

Winner: Titanic — James Cameron
Nominees: The Full Monty — Peter Cattaneo; Good Will Hunting — Gus Van Sant; L.A. Confidential — Curtis Hanson; The Sweet Hereafter — Atom Egoyan

71st Academy Awards (1998)

Winner: Saving Private Ryan — Steven Spielberg
Nominees: Life is Beautiful — Roberto Benigni; Shakespeare in Love — John Madden; The Thin Red Line — Terrence Malick; The Truman Show — Peter Weir

72nd Academy Awards (1999)

Winner: American Beauty — Sam Mendes
Nominees: Being John Malkovich — Spike Jonze; The Cider House Rules — Lasse Hallström; The Insider — Michael Mann; The Sixth Sense — M. Night Shyamalan

2000s

73rd Academy Awards (2000)

Winner: Traffic — Steven Soderbergh
Nominees: Billy Elliot — Stephen Daldry; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon — Ang Lee; Erin Brockovich — Steven Soderbergh; Gladiator — Ridley Scott

74th Academy Awards (2001)

Winner: A Beautiful Mind — Ron Howard
Nominees: Black Hawk Down — Ridley Scott; Gosford Park — Robert Altman; The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring — Peter Jackson; Mulholland Drive — David Lynch

75th Academy Awards (2002)

Winner: The Pianist — Roman Polanski
Nominees: Chicago — Rob Marshall; Gangs of New York — Martin Scorsese; The Hours — Stephen Daldry; Talk to Her — Pedro Almodóvar

76th Academy Awards (2003)

Winner: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King — Peter Jackson
Nominees: City of God — Fernando Meirelles; Lost in Translation — Sofia Coppola; Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World — Peter Weir; Mystic River — Clint Eastwood

77th Academy Awards (2004)

Winner: Million Dollar Baby — Clint Eastwood
Nominees: The Aviator — Martin Scorsese; Ray — Taylor Hackford; Sideways — Alexander Payne; Vera Drake — Mike Leigh

78th Academy Awards (2005)

Winner: Brokeback Mountain — Ang Lee
Nominees: Capote — Bennett Miller; Crash — Paul Haggis; Good Night, and Good Luck. — George Clooney; Munich — Steven Spielberg

79th Academy Awards (2006)

Winner: The Departed — Martin Scorsese
Nominees: Babel — Alejandro González Iñárritu; Letters from Iwo Jima — Clint Eastwood; The Queen — Stephen Frears; United 93 — Paul Greengrass

80th Academy Awards (2007)

Winner: No Country for Old Men — Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Nominees: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly — Julian Schnabel; Juno — Jason Reitman; Michael Clayton — Tony Gilroy; There Will Be Blood — Paul Thomas Anderson

81st Academy Awards (2008)

Winner: Slumdog Millionaire — Danny Boyle
Nominees: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button — David Fincher; Frost/Nixon — Ron Howard; Milk — Gus Van Sant; The Reader — Stephen Daldry

82nd Academy Awards (2009)

Winner: The Hurt Locker — Kathryn Bigelow
Nominees: Avatar — James Cameron; Inglourious Basterds — Quentin Tarantino; Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire — Lee Daniels; Up in the Air — Jason Reitman

2010s

83rd Academy Awards (2010)

Winner: The King's Speech — Tom Hooper
Nominees: Black Swan — Darren Aronofsky; The Fighter — David O. Russell; The Social Network — David Fincher; True Grit — Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

84th Academy Awards (2011)

Winner: The Artist — Michel Hazanavicius
Nominees: The Descendants — Alexander Payne; Hugo — Martin Scorsese; Midnight in Paris — Woody Allen; The Tree of Life — Terrence Malick

85th Academy Awards (2012)

Winner: Life of Pi — Ang Lee
Nominees: Amour — Michael Haneke; Beasts of the Southern Wild — Benh Zeitlin; Lincoln — Steven Spielberg; Silver Linings Playbook — David O. Russell

86th Academy Awards (2013)

Winner: Gravity — Alfonso Cuarón
Nominees: American Hustle — David O. Russell; Nebraska — Alexander Payne; 12 Years a Slave — Steve McQueen; The Wolf of Wall Street — Martin Scorsese

87th Academy Awards (2014)

Winner: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) — Alejandro González Iñárritu
Nominees: Boyhood — Richard Linklater; Foxcatcher — Bennett Miller; The Grand Budapest Hotel — Wes Anderson; The Imitation Game — Morten Tyldum

88th Academy Awards (2015)

Winner: Alejandro González Iñárritu — The Revenant
Nominees: Adam McKay — The Big Short; George Miller — Mad Max: Fury Road; Lenny Abrahamson — Room; Tom McCarthy — Spotlight

89th Academy Awards (2016)

Winner: Damien Chazelle — La La Land
Nominees: Denis Villeneuve — Arrival; Mel Gibson — Hacksaw Ridge; Kenneth Lonergan — Manchester by the Sea; Barry Jenkins — Moonlight

90th Academy Awards (2017)

Winner: The Shape of Water — Guillermo del Toro
Nominees: Dunkirk — Christopher Nolan; Get Out — Jordan Peele; Lady Bird — Greta Gerwig; Phantom Thread — Paul Thomas Anderson

91st Academy Awards (2018)

Winner: Roma — Alfonso Cuarón
Nominees: BlacKkKlansman — Spike Lee; Cold War — Pawel Pawlikowski; The Favourite — Yorgos Lanthimos; Vice — Adam McKay

92nd Academy Awards (2019)

Winner: Parasite — Bong Joon-ho
Nominees: 1917 — Sam Mendes; The Irishman — Martin Scorsese; Joker — Todd Phillips; Once Upon a Time in Hollywood — Quentin Tarantino

2020s

93rd Academy Awards (2020)

Winner: Nomadland — Chloé Zhao
Nominees: Minari — Lee Isaac Chung; Promising Young Woman — Emerald Fennell; Mank — David Fincher; Another Round — Thomas Vinterberg

94th Academy Awards (2021)

Winner: The Power of the Dog — Jane Campion
Nominees: Licorice Pizza — Paul Thomas Anderson; Belfast — Kenneth Branagh; Drive My Car — Ryûsuke Hamaguchi; West Side Story — Steven Spielberg

95th Academy Awards (2022)

Winner: Everything Everywhere All at Once — Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert
Nominees: Tár — Todd Field; The Banshees of Inisherin — Martin McDonagh; Triangle of Sadness — Ruben Östlund; The Fabelmans — Steven Spielberg

96th Academy Awards (2023)

Winner: TBD
Nominees: The Zone of Interest — Jonathan Glazer; Poor Things — Yorgos Lanthimos; Oppenheimer — Christopher Nolan; Killers of the Flower Moon — Martin Scorsese; Anatomy of a Fall — Justine Triet

Notes[]

↑ "The Academy Board of Judges on merit awards for individual achievements in motion picture arts during the year ending August 1, 1928, unanimously decided that your name should be removed from the competitive classes, and that a special first award be conferred upon you for writing, acting, directing and producing The Circus. The collective accomplishments thus displayed place you in a class by yourself." (Letter from the Academy to Mr. Chaplin, dated February 19, 1929.)
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 ^2.5 This is not an official nomination. There were no announcements of nominations, no certificates of nomination or honorable mention, and only the winners were revealed during the awards banquet on April 3, 1930. Though not official nominations, the additional names in each category, according to in-house records, were under consideration by the various boards of judges.
↑ This is not an official nomination. Write-in candidate.

[1] "The Academy Board of Judges on merit awards for individual achievements in motion picture arts during the year ending August 1, 1928, unanimously decided that your name should be removed from the competitive classes, and that a special first award be conferred upon you for writing, acting, directing and producing The Circus. The collective accomplishments thus displayed place you in a class by yourself." (Letter from the Academy to Mr. Chaplin, dated February 19, 1929.)

[2nd-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 ^2.5 This is not an official nomination. There were no announcements of nominations, no certificates of nomination or honorable mention, and only the winners were revealed during the awards banquet on April 3, 1930. Though not official nominations, the additional names in each category, according to in-house records, were under consideration by the various boards of judges.

[3] This is not an official nomination. Write-in candidate.

[1]

[2]

[3]

Best Director

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History[]

Nominees and winners[]

Notes[]

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