The Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film is one of the annual Directors Guild of America Awards presented by the Directors Guild of America.
With 3 wins out of 13 nominations, Steven Spielberg is both the most awarded and most nominated director of this category in the history of DGA, and the first director to receive DGA nominations in six consecutive decades. Additionally, Alejandro G. Iñárritu is the only director to win twice successively; he was awarded in 2015 and 2016 for his directorial achievements for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) and The Revenant, respectively. Three directing teams have shared the award: Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins for West Side Story (1961), Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for No Country for Old Men (2007), and Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert for Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022).
Predicting the Oscar's outcome Since its inception the award has predicted the winner of the Academy Award for Best Director on all but eight occasions:
1968 – Anthony Harvey (The Lion in Winter); lost to Carol Reed (Oliver!) 1972 – Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather); lost to Bob Fosse (Cabaret) 1985 – Steven Spielberg (The Color Purple); despite the film's 11 total Oscar nominations, Spielberg was not nominated for Best Director. Lost to Sydney Pollack (Out of Africa) 1995 – Ron Howard (Apollo 13); Howard was not nominated for the Oscar. Lost to Mel Gibson (Braveheart) 2000 – Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon); lost to Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) 2002 – Rob Marshall (Chicago); lost to Roman Polanski (The Pianist) 2012 – Ben Affleck (Argo); Affleck was not nominated for the Oscar, although the film won Best Picture. Lost to Ang Lee (Life of Pi) 2019 – Sam Mendes (1917); lost to Bong Joon-ho (Parasite)
Winners and nominees
1940s Year Winners and nominees Film 1948(1st) Joseph L. Mankiewicz A Letter to Three Wives Howard Hawks Red River Anatole Litvak The Snake Pit Fred Zinnemann The Search 1949(2nd) Robert Rossen All the King's Men Carol Reed The Third Man Mark Robson Champion Alfred L. Werker Lost Boundaries
1950s Year Winners and nominees Film 1950(3rd) Joseph L. Mankiewicz All About Eve John Huston The Asphalt Jungle Vincente Minnelli Father's Little Dividend Billy Wilder Sunset Boulevard 1951(4th) George Stevens A Place in the Sun László Benedek Death of a Salesman Michael Gordon Cyrano de Bergerac Alfred Hitchcock Strangers on a Train Elia Kazan A Streetcar Named Desire Henry King David and Bathsheba Mervyn LeRoy Quo Vadis Anatole Litvak Decision Before Dawn Vincente Minnelli An American in Paris George Sidney Show Boat Richard Thorpe The Great Caruso William Wyler Detective Story 1952(5th) John Ford The Quiet Man Charles Crichton The Lavender Hill Mob George Cukor Pat and Mike Michael Curtiz I'll See You in My Dreams Cecil B. DeMille The Greatest Show on Earth Hugo Fregonese My Six Convicts Howard Hawks The Big Sky Elia Kazan Viva Zapata! Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen Singin' in the Rain Henry King The Snows of Kilimanjaro Akira Kurosawa Rashomon Albert Lewin Pandora and the Flying Dutchman Joseph L. Mankiewicz 5 Fingers Vincente Minnelli The Bad and the Beautiful George Sidney Scaramouche Richard Thorpe Ivanhoe Charles Vidor Hans Christian Andersen Fred Zinnemann High Noon 1953(6th) Fred Zinnemann From Here to Eternity Melvin Frank and Norman Panama Above and Beyond Henry Koster The Robe Walter Lang Call Me Madam Joseph L. Mankiewicz Julius Caesar Daniel Mann Come Back, Little Sheba Jean Negulesco Titanic George Sidney Young Bess George Stevens Shane Charles Walters Lili Billy Wilder Stalag 17 William Wyler Roman Holiday 1954(7th) Elia Kazan On the Waterfront George Cukor A Star Is Born Edward Dmytryk The Caine Mutiny Stanley Donen Seven Brides for Seven Brothers Melvin Frank and Norman Panama Knock on Wood Samuel Fuller Hell and High Water Alfred Hitchcock Rear Window Henry King King of the Khyber Rifles Anthony Mann The Glenn Miller Story Jean Negulesco Three Coins in the Fountain George Seaton The Country Girl Don Siegel Riot in Cell Block 11 William A. Wellman The High and the Mighty Robert Wise Executive Suite Billy Wilder Sabrina 1955(8th) Delbert Mann Marty Richard Brooks Blackboard Jungle John Ford The Long Gray Line Elia Kazan East of Eden Henry Koster A Man Called Peter Joshua Logan Picnic Daniel Mann The Rose Tattoo Mark Robson The Bridges at Toko-Ri John Sturges Bad Day at Black Rock Charles Vidor Love Me or Leave Me Billy Wilder The Seven Year Itch 1956(9th) George Stevens Giant Michael Anderson Around the World in 80 Days John Huston Moby Dick Joshua Logan Bus Stop Daniel Mann Teahouse of the August Moon King Vidor War and Peace Robert Wise Somebody Up There Likes Me William Wyler Friendly Persuasion 1957(10th) David Lean The Bridge on the River Kwai George Cukor Les Girls Stanley Donen Funny Face José Ferrer The Great Man John Huston Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison Elia Kazan A Face in the Crowd Stanley Kramer The Pride and the Passion Anthony Mann Men in War Leo McCarey An Affair to Remember Robert Mulligan Fear Strikes Out John Sturges Gunfight at the O.K. Corral Fred Zinnemann A Hatful of Rain 1958(11th) Vincente Minnelli Gigi George Abbott and Stanley Donen Damn Yankees Richard Brooks The Brothers Karamazov Delmer Daves Cowboy Edward Dmytryk The Young Lions Richard Fleischer The Vikings Alfred Hitchcock Vertigo Martin Ritt The Long, Hot Summer George Seaton Teacher's Pet William Wyler The Big Country 1959(12th) William Wyler Ben-Hur Charles Barton The Shaggy Dog Frank Capra A Hole in the Head Richard Fleischer Compulsion John Ford The Horse Soldiers Howard Hawks Rio Bravo Alfred Hitchcock North by Northwest Leo McCarey Rally Round the Flag, Boys! Otto Preminger Anatomy of a Murder Douglas Sirk Imitation of Life George Stevens The Diary of Anne Frank Billy Wilder Some Like It Hot Fred Zinnemann The Nun's Story
1960s Year Winners and nominees Film 1960(13th) Billy Wilder The Apartment Richard Brooks Elmer Gantry Vincent J. Donehue Sunrise at Campobello Lewis Gilbert Sink the Bismarck! Walter Lang Can-Can Delbert Mann The Dark at the Top of the Stairs Carol Reed Our Man in Havana Alain Resnais Hiroshima mon amour Charles Walters Please Don't Eat the Daisies Alfred Hitchcock Psycho 1961(14th) Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins West Side Story Marlon Brando One-Eyed Jacks Frank Capra Pocketful of Miracles Jack Clayton The Innocents Peter Glenville Summer and Smoke John Huston The Misfits Elia Kazan Splendor in the Grass Henry Koster Flower Drum Song Stanley Kramer Judgment at Nuremberg Philip Leacock Hand in Hand Mervyn LeRoy A Majority of One Joshua Logan Fanny Anthony Mann El Cid Robert Mulligan The Great Impostor Daniel Petrie A Raisin in the Sun Robert Stevenson The Absent-Minded Professor Peter Ustinov Romanoff and Juliet William Wyler The Children's Hour 1962(15th) David Lean Lawrence of Arabia Robert Aldrich What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Morton DaCosta The Music Man Stanley Kubrick Lolita Lewis Milestone Mutiny on the Bounty Robert Mulligan To Kill a Mockingbird Ralph Nelson Requiem for a Heavyweight Arthur Penn The Miracle Worker Tony Richardson A Taste of Honey 1963(16th) Tony Richardson Tom Jones Federico Fellini 8½ Elia Kazan America America Ralph Nelson Lilies of the Field Martin Ritt Hud 1964(17th) George Cukor My Fair Lady Peter Glenville Becket John Huston The Night of the Iguana Stanley Kubrick Dr. Strangelove Robert Stevenson Mary Poppins 1965(18th) Robert Wise The Sound of Music Sidney J. Furie The Ipcress File Sidney Lumet The Pawnbroker John Schlesinger Darling Elliot Silverstein Cat Ballou 1966(19th) Fred Zinnemann A Man for All Seasons Richard Brooks The Professionals John Frankenheimer Grand Prix Lewis Gilbert Alfie James Hill Born Free Norman Jewison The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming Claude Lelouch A Man and a Woman Silvio Narizzano Georgy Girl Mike Nichols Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Robert Wise The Sand Pebbles 1967(20th) Mike Nichols The Graduate Robert Aldrich The Dirty Dozen Richard Brooks In Cold Blood James Clavell To Sir, with Love Stanley Donen Two for the Road Norman Jewison In the Heat of the Night Stanley Kramer Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Arthur Penn Bonnie and Clyde Stuart Rosenberg Cool Hand Luke Joseph Strick Ulysses 1968(21st) Anthony Harvey The Lion in Winter Paul Almond Isabel Stanley Kubrick 2001: A Space Odyssey Jiří Menzel Closely Watched Trains Paul Newman Rachel, Rachel Roman Polanski Rosemary's Baby Carol Reed Oliver! Gene Saks The Odd Couple William Wyler Funny Girl Franco Zeffirelli Romeo and Juliet 1969(22nd) John Schlesinger Midnight Cowboy Richard Attenborough Oh! What a Lovely War Costa-Gavras Z George Roy Hill Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Dennis Hopper Easy Rider Gene Kelly Hello, Dolly! Sam Peckinpah The Wild Bunch Larry Peerce Goodbye, Columbus Sydney Pollack They Shoot Horses, Don't They? Haskell Wexler Medium Cool
1970s Year Winners and nominees Film 1970(23rd) Franklin J. Schaffner Patton Robert Altman M*A*S*H Arthur Hiller Love Story David Lean Ryan's Daughter Bob Rafelson Five Easy Pieces 1971(24th) William Friedkin The French Connection Peter Bogdanovich The Last Picture Show Stanley Kubrick A Clockwork Orange Robert Mulligan Summer of '42 John Schlesinger Sunday Bloody Sunday 1972(25th) Francis Ford Coppola The Godfather John Boorman Deliverance Bob Fosse Cabaret George Roy Hill Slaughterhouse-Five Martin Ritt Sounder 1973(26th) George Roy Hill The Sting Bernardo Bertolucci Last Tango in Paris William Friedkin The Exorcist George Lucas American Graffiti Sidney Lumet Serpico 1974(27th) Francis Ford Coppola The Godfather Part II Francis Ford Coppola The Conversation Bob Fosse Lenny Sidney Lumet Murder on the Orient Express Roman Polanski Chinatown 1975(28th) Miloš Forman One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Robert Altman Nashville Stanley Kubrick Barry Lyndon Sidney Lumet Dog Day Afternoon Steven Spielberg Jaws 1976(29th) John G. Avildsen Rocky Sidney Lumet Network Alan J. Pakula All the President's Men Martin Scorsese Taxi Driver Lina Wertmüller Seven Beauties 1977(30th) Woody Allen Annie Hall George Lucas Star Wars Herbert Ross The Turning Point Steven Spielberg Close Encounters of the Third Kind Fred Zinnemann Julia 1978(31st) Michael Cimino The Deer Hunter Hal Ashby Coming Home Warren Beatty and Buck Henry Heaven Can Wait Paul Mazursky An Unmarried Woman Alan Parker Midnight Express 1979(32nd) Robert Benton Kramer vs. Kramer Woody Allen Manhattan James Bridges The China Syndrome Francis Ford Coppola Apocalypse Now Peter Yates Breaking Away
1980s