The European Film Award for Best Director is an award given out at the annual European Film Awards to recognize a director who has exhibited outstanding directing while working in a film industry. The award is presented by the European Film Academy (EFA) and was first presented in 1988 to German director Wim Wenders for Wings of Desire.
Michael Haneke is the director with most wins in the category with three, followed by Pedro Almodóvar, Paolo Sorrentino, Paweł Pawlikowski and Ruben Östlund, with two wins each. Almodóvar is the most nominated director with seven nominations for the award. Danish director Susanne Bier was the first female director to receive the award, winning for In a Better World in 2011.
Winners and nominees
1980s YearWinner and nomineesEnglish titleOriginal title1988(1st) Wim Wenders Wings of DesireDer Himmel über Berlin Terence Davies Distant Voices, Still Lives Manoel de Oliveira The Cannibals Os Canibais Louis Malle Au revoir, les enfants Sergei Parajanov Ashik Kerib აშიკ-ქერიბი1989(2nd) Géza Bereményi Eldorádó Theodoros Angelopoulos Landscape in the Mist Τοπίο στην ομίχλη Maciej Dejczer 300 Miles to Heaven 300 mil do nieba Vasili Pichul Little Vera Ма́ленькая Ве́ра Jim Sheridan My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown
2000s YearWinner and nomineesEnglish titleOriginal title2001(14th) Jean-Pierre Jeunet AmélieLe fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain José Luis GarciYou're the OneUna historia de entonces Péter GothárPassportPaszport Emanno Olmi The Profession of Arms Il mestiere delle armi François Ozon Under the Sand Sous le sable Éric Rohmer The Lady and the Duke L'Anglaise et le duc2002(15th) Pedro Almodóvar Talk to Her Hable con ella Marco Bellocchio My Mother's Smile L'ora di religione (Il sorriso di mia madre) Andreas Dresen Grill Point Halbe Treppe Aki Kaurismäki The Man Without a Past Mies vailla menneisyyttä Mike Leigh All or Nothing Ken Loach Sweet Sixteen Roman Polański The Pianist Alexander Sokurov Russian Ark Русский ковчег2003(16th) Lars von Trier Dogville Wolfgang Becker Good Bye, Lenin! Nuri Bilge Ceylan DistantUzak Isabel Coixet My Life Without Me Marco Tullio Giordana The Best of Youth La meglio gioventù Michael Winterbottom In This World2004(17th) Alejandro Amenábar The Sea Inside Mar adentro Fatih Akin Head-On Gegen die Wand Pedro Almodóvar Bad Education La mala educación Theo Angelopoulos Trilogy: The Weeping Meadow Τριλογία: Το λιβάδι που δακρύζει Nimród Antal Kontroll Agnès Jaoui Look at Me Comme une image2005(18th) Michael Haneke Caché Susanne Bier Brothers Brødre Roberto Faenza Come Into the Light Alla luce del sole Álex de la Iglesia The Perfect Crime Crimen ferpecto Paweł Pawlikowski My Summer of Love Cristi Puiu The Death of Mr. Lazarescu Moartea domnului Lăzărescu Wim Wenders Don't Come Knocking 2006(19th)Pedro Almodóvar Volver Susanne Bier After the Wedding Efter brylluppet Emanuele Crialese The Golden Door Nuovomondo Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck The Lives of Others Das Leben der Anderen Ken Loach The Wind That Shakes the Barley Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross The Road to Guantanamo2007(20th) Cristian Mungiu4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile Fatih Akin The Edge of Heaven Auf der anderen Seite Roy Andersson You, the Living Du levande Stephen Frears The Queen Kevin Macdonald The Last King of Scotland Giuseppe Tornatore The Unknown La sconosciuta2008(21st) Matteo GarroneGomorrahGomorra Laurent Cantet The Class Entre les murs Andreas Dresen Cloud 9 Wolke neun Ari Folman Waltz with Bashir ואלס עם באשיר Steve McQueen Hunger Paolo Sorrentino Il Divo2009(22nd) Michael Haneke The White Ribbon Das weiße Band Pedro Almodóvar Broken Embraces Los abrazos rotos Andrea Arnold Fish Tank Jacques Audiard A Prophet Un prophète Danny Boyle Slumdog Millionaire Lars von Trier Antichrist
2010s YearWinner and nomineesEnglish titleOriginal title2010(23rd) Roman Polanski The Ghost Writer Olivier Assayas Carlos Semih Kaplanoğlu Honey Bal Samuel Maoz Lebanon Paolo Virzì The First Beautiful Thing La prima cosa bella2011(24th) Susanne Bier In a Better World Hævnen Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc DardenneThe Kid with a Bike Le Gamin au vélo Aki Kaurismäki Le Havre Béla Tarr The Turin Horse A torinói ló Lars von Trier Melancholia2012(25th) Michael Haneke Amour Nuri Bilge Ceylan Once Upon a Time in Anatolia Bir zamanlar Anadolu'da Steve McQueen Shame Thomas Vinterberg The Hunt Jagten Paolo and Vittorio Taviani Caesar Must Die Cesare deve morire2013(26th) Paolo Sorrentino The Great Beauty La grande belleza Pablo Berger Blancanieves Felix van GroeningenThe Broken Circle Breakdown Abdellatif Kechiche Blue Is the Warmest Colour La Vie d'Adèle – Chapitres 1 & 2 François Ozon In the House Dans la maison Giuseppe TornatoreThe Best OfferLa migliore offerta2014(27th) Paweł Pawlikowski Ida Nuri Bilge Ceylan Winter Sleep Kış Uykusu Steven Knight Locke Ruben Östlund Force Majeure Turist Paolo Virzì Human Capital Il capitale umano Andrey Zvyagintsev Leviathan Левиафан2015(28th) Paolo Sorrentino Youth Roy Andersson A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron Yorgos Lanthimos The Lobster Nanni Moretti Mia Madre Sebastian Schipper Victoria Małgorzata Szumowska Body Ciało2016(29th) Maren Ade Toni Erdmann Pedro Almodóvar Julieta Ken Loach I, Daniel Blake Cristian Mungiu Graduation Bacalaureat Paul Verhoeven Elle2017(30th) Ruben Östlund The Square Ildikó Enyedi On Body and Soul Testről és lélekről Aki KaurismäkiThe Other Side of Hope Toivon tuolla puolen Yorgos Lanthimos The Killing of a Sacred Deer Andrey Zvyagintsev Loveless Нелюбовь (Nelyubov)2018(31st) Paweł Pawlikowski Cold War Zimna wojna Ali Abbasi Border Gräns Matteo Garrone Dogman Samuel Maoz Foxtrot פוֹקְסטְרוֹט Alice Rohrwacher Happy as Lazzaro Lazzaro felice2019(32nd) Yorgos Lanthimos The Favourite Pedro Almodóvar Pain and Glory Dolor y gloria Marco Bellocchio The TraitorIl traditore Roman Polanski An Officer and a Spy J'accuse Céline Sciamma Portrait of a Lady on Fire Portrait de la jeune fille en feu
2020s YearWinner and nomineesEnglish titleOriginal title2020(33rd) Thomas VinterbergAnother RoundDruk Agnieszka HollandCharlatanŠarlatán Jan KomasaCorpus ChristiBoże Ciało Pietro MarcelloMartin Eden François OzonSummer of 85Été 85 Maria Sødahl HopeHåp2021(34th) Jasmila ŽbanićQuo Vadis, Aida? Radu JudeBad Luck Banging or Loony PornBabardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc Florian ZellerThe Father Paolo SorrentinoThe Hand of GodÈ stata la mano di Dio Julia DucournauTitane2022(35th) Ruben ÖstlundTriangle of Sadness Lukas DhontClose Marie KreutzerCorsage Jerzy SkolimowskiEoIO Ali AbbasiHoly Spiderعنکبوت مقدس Alice DiopSaint Omer2023(36th)Justine TrietAnatomy of a FallAnatomie d'une chute Aki Kaurismäki Fallen Leaves Kuolleet lehdet Agnieszka Holland Green Border Zielona granica Matteo Garrone Me Captain Io capitano Jonathan Glazer The Zone of Interest2024(37th)Jacques AudiardEmilia Pérez Andrea ArnoldBird Pedro Almodóvar The Room Next DoorLa habitación de al lado Mohammad Rasoulof The Seed of the Sacred Figدانهی انجیر معابد Maura Delpero Vermiglio2025(38th) Joachim Trier Sentimental Value Affeksjonsverdi Yorgos LanthimosBugonia Oliver LaxeSirāt Jafar Panahi It Was Just an Accident یک تصادف ساده Mascha Schilinski Sound of FallingIn die Sonne schauen
Multiple wins and nominations
Multiple wins Wins Director 3 Michael Haneke 2 Pedro Almodóvar Ruben Östlund Paweł Pawlikowski Paolo Sorrentino
Most nominations
Nominations Director 7 Pedro Almodóvar 4 Aki Kaurismäki Yorgos Lanthimos Paolo Sorrentino 3 Susanne Bier Nuri Bilge Ceylan Matteo Garrone Michael Haneke Ken Loach Ruben Östlund François Ozon Paweł Pawlikowski Roman Polanski Lars Von Trier 2 Ali Abbasi Fatih Akın Roy Andersson Theo Angelopoulos Andrea Arnold Jacques Audiard Marco Bellocchio Andreas Dresen Agnieszka Holland Samuel Maoz Steve McQueen Cristian Mungiu Giuseppe Tornatore Thomas Vinterberg Paolo Virzì Wim Wenders Michael Winterbottom Andrey Zvyagintsev
References
External links European Film Academy archive