The National Board of Review Award for Best Director is one of the annual film awards given (since 1945) by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.
Winners 1940s Year Winner Film 1945 Jean Renoir The Southerner 1946 William Wyler The Best Years of Our Lives 1947 Elia Kazan Boomerang! Gentleman's Agreement The Selected Letters of Elia Kazan - Elia Kazan - Google Books (pg.622) 1948 Roberto Rossellini Paisan 1949 Vittorio De Sica Bicycle Thieves
1950s Year Winner Film 1950 John Huston The Asphalt Jungle 1951 Akira Kurosawa Rashōmon 1952 David Lean The Sound Barrier 1953 George Stevens Shane 1954 Renato Castellani Romeo and Juliet 1955 William Wyler The Desperate Hours 1956 John Huston Moby Dick 1957 David Lean The Bridge on the River Kwai 1958 John Ford The Last Hurrah 1959 Fred Zinnemann The Nun's Story
1960s Year Winner Film 1960 Jack Cardiff Sons and Lovers 1961 Jack Clayton The Innocents 1962 David Lean Lawrence of Arabia 1963 Tony Richardson Tom Jones 1964 Desmond Davis Girl with Green Eyes 1965 John Schlesinger Darling 1966 Fred Zinnemann A Man for All Seasons 1967 Richard Brooks In Cold Blood 1968 Franco Zeffirelli Romeo and Juliet 1969 Alfred Hitchcock Topaz
1970s Year Winner Film 1970 François Truffaut The Wild Child 1971 Ken Russell The Boy Friend The Devils AFI|Catalog - The Devils 1972 Bob Fosse Cabaret 1973 Ingmar Bergman Cries and Whispers 1974 Francis Ford Coppola The Conversation 1975 Robert Altman Nashville Stanley Kubrick Barry Lyndon 1976 Alan J. Pakula All the President's Men 1977 Luis Buñuel That Obscure Object of Desire 1978 Ingmar Bergman Autumn Sonata 1979 John Schlesinger Yanks
1980s Year Winner Film 1980 Robert Redford Ordinary People 1981 Warren Beatty Reds 1982 Sidney Lumet The Verdict 1983 James L. Brooks Terms of Endearment 1984 David Lean A Passage to India 1985 Akira Kurosawa Ran 1986 Woody Allen Hannah and Her Sisters 1987 Steven Spielberg Empire of the Sun 1988 Alan Parker Mississippi Burning 1989 Kenneth Branagh Henry V
1990s Year Winner Film 1990 Kevin Costner Dances with Wolves 1991 Jonathan Demme The Silence of the Lambs 1992 James Ivory Howards End 1993 Martin Scorsese The Age of Innocence 1994 Quentin Tarantino Pulp Fiction 1995 Ang Lee Sense and Sensibility 1996 Joel Coen Fargo 1997 Curtis Hanson L.A. Confidential 1998 Shekhar Kapur Elizabeth 1999 Anthony Minghella The Talented Mr. Ripley
2000s Year Winner Film 2000 Steven Soderbergh Erin Brockovich Traffic 2001 Todd Field In the Bedroom 2002 Phillip Noyce The Quiet American Rabbit-Proof Fence Acclaimed Director, Writer, and Producer Phillip Noyce Joins New York Film Academy (NYFA) Faculty as Master Class Instructor 2003 Edward Zwick The Last Samurai 2004 Michael Mann Collateral 2005 Ang Lee Brokeback Mountain 2006 Martin Scorsese The Departed 2007 Tim Burton Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street 2008 David Fincher The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 2009 Clint Eastwood Invictus
2010s Year Winner Film 2010 David Fincher The Social Network 2011 Martin Scorsese Hugo 2012 Kathryn Bigelow Zero Dark Thirty 2013 Spike Jonze Her 2014 Clint Eastwood American Sniper 2015 Ridley Scott The Martian 2016 Barry Jenkins MoonlightMoonlight's Barry Jenkins Makes History As First Black Director To Win National Board Of Review Directing Award - Essence 2017 Greta Gerwig Lady Bird 2018 Bradley Cooper A Star Is Born 2019 Quentin Tarantino Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
2020s Year Winner Film 2020 Spike Lee Da 5 Bloods 2021 Paul Thomas Anderson Licorice Pizza'Licorice Pizza' Wins Best Pictures At National Board Of Review — Deadline 2022 Steven Spielberg The FabelmansTop Gun: Maverick Named Best Movie of 2022 by National Board of Review - The Hollywood Reporter 2023 Martin Scorsese Killers of the Flower MoonNational Board of Review Names ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Best Film of 2023 2024 Jon M. Chu Wicked‘Wicked’ Named Best Picture by National Board of Review, Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman Among Acting Winners 2025 Paul Thomas Anderson One Battle After Another
Multiple winners David Lean - 4 Martin Scorsese - 4 Paul Thomas Anderson - 2 Ingmar Bergman - 2 Clint Eastwood - 2 David Fincher - 2 John Huston - 2 Akira Kurosawa - 2 Ang Lee - 2 John Schlesinger - 2 Steven Spielberg - 2 Quentin Tarantino - 2 William Wyler - 2 Fred Zinnemann - 2
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