The Academy Award for Best Director (officially known as the Academy Award of Merit for Directing) is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given in honor of a film director who has exhibited outstanding directing while working in the film industry.
The 1st Academy Awards ceremony was held in 1929 with the award being split into "Dramatic" and "Comedy" categories; Frank Borzage and Lewis Milestone won for 7th Heaven and Two Arabian Knights, respectively. However, these categories were merged for all subsequent ceremonies. Nominees are determined by single transferable vote within the directors branch of AMPAS; winners are selected by a plurality vote from the entire eligible voting members of the academy.
For the first eleven years of the Academy Awards, directors were allowed to be nominated for multiple films in the same year. However, after the nomination of Michael Curtiz for two films, Angels with Dirty Faces and Four Daughters, at the 11th Academy Awards, the rules were revised so that an individual could only be nominated for one film at each ceremony. That rule has since been amended, although the only director who has received multiple nominations in the same year was Steven Soderbergh for Erin Brockovich and Traffic in 2000, winning the award for the latter.
The Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture have been very closely linked throughout their history. Of the 92 films that won Best Picture and were also nominated for Best Director, 71 won the award. The award has been criticised in recent years for failing to recognise female directors. Of the 260 individual directors nominated in the history of the award, only 9 have been women, with only 2 women having been nominated more than once (compared to 101 men), and only 3 of the 77 individual winners have been women.
Since its inception, the award has been given to 75 different directors or directing teams. As of the 98th Academy Awards ceremony, American filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson is the most recent winner in this category for his work on One Battle After Another.
Winners and nominees In the following table, the years are listed as per Academy convention, and generally correspond to the year of film release in Los Angeles County, California; the ceremonies are always held the following year. For the first five ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned twelve months from August 1 to July 31.Levy 2003, page 52 For the 6th ceremony held in 1934, the eligibility period lasted from August 1, 1932, to December 31, 1933. Since the 7th ceremony held in 1935, the period of eligibility became the full previous calendar year from January 1 to December 31.
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1920s
Year Director(s) Film 1927/28 7th HeavenSorrell and Son Two Arabian KnightsSpeedy The Circus 1928/29 Madame XIn Old ArizonaDragWeary River
1930s
Year Director(s) Film 1929/30 All Quiet on the Western Front Anna ChristieRomanceHallelujah! 1930/31 SkippyCimarronMorocco 1931/32 Bad GirlShanghai Express 1932/33 CavalcadeLady for a DayLittle Women 1934 It Happened One NightOne Night of Love 1935 Mutiny on the Bounty (Write-in)Captain Blood 1936 Mr. Deeds Goes to TownMy Man GodfreySan FranciscoDodsworth 1937 Stage Door 1938 You Can't Take It with YouAngels with Dirty FacesFour DaughtersBoys Town 1939 Gone with the WindMr. Smith Goes to WashingtonStagecoachGoodbye, Mr. ChipsWuthering Heights
1940s
Year Director(s) Film 1940 RebeccaKitty Foyle 1941 How Green Was My ValleyHere Comes Mr. JordanSergeant YorkCitizen Kane 1942 Mrs. MiniverYankee Doodle DandyWake IslandRandom HarvestKings Row 1943 CasablancaHeaven Can Wait 1944 Going My WayLifeboatWilsonLauraDouble Indemnity 1945 National VelvetSpellbound 1946 It's a Wonderful LifeBrief Encounter 1947 Gentleman's AgreementCrossfireGreat Expectations 1948 Johnny BelindaHamlet 1949 All the King's MenBattleground
1950s
Year Director(s) Film 1950 All About EveBorn YesterdaySunset Boulevard 1951 Detective Story 1952 Moulin Rouge5 FingersHigh Noon 1953 From Here to EternityShaneLiliStalag 17Roman Holiday 1954 On the WaterfrontRear WindowSabrina 1955 MartyEast of EdenSummertimePicnicBad Day at Black Rock 1956 GiantAround the World in 80 DaysWar and PeaceFriendly Persuasion 1957 Sayonara12 Angry MenPeyton PlaceWitness for the Prosecution 1958 GigiCat on a Hot Tin RoofI Want to Live! 1959 Ben-HurRoom at the TopSome Like It Hot
1960s
Year Director(s) Film 1960 Sons and LoversNever on SundayPsycho 1961 & West Side StoryLa Dolce VitaJudgment at Nuremberg 1962 Lawrence of ArabiaDivorce Italian StyleTo Kill a MockingbirdDavid and Lisa 1963 Tom Jones8½America AmericaHud 1964 My Fair LadyZorba the GreekBecketDr. StrangeloveMary Poppins 1965Doctor ZhivagoDarling 1966 BlowupWho's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 1967 In Cold BloodIn the Heat of the NightGuess Who's Coming to DinnerBonnie and Clyde 1968 Oliver!2001: A Space OdysseyRomeo and Juliet 1969 Midnight CowboyZButch Cassidy and the Sundance KidAlice's RestaurantThey Shoot Horses, Don't They?
1970s
Year Director(s) Film 1970 PattonM*A*S*HFellini SatyriconLove StoryWomen in Love 1971 Fiddler on the RoofSunday Bloody Sunday 1972 CabaretDeliveranceSleuth 1973 Cries and WhispersLast Tango in ParisAmerican Graffiti 1974 LennyChinatownDay for Night 1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's NestNashvilleAmarcordBarry LyndonDog Day Afternoon 1976 RockyFace to FaceNetworkAll the President's MenSeven Beauties 1977 Annie HallStar WarsClose Encounters of the Third KindJulia 1978 InteriorsComing Home & Heaven Can WaitMidnight Express 1979 Kramer vs. KramerApocalypse NowAll That JazzLa Cage aux FollesBreaking Away
1980s
Year Director(s) Film 1980 Ordinary PeopleTessRaging Bull 1981 RedsChariots of FireAtlantic CityOn Golden PondRaiders of the Lost Ark 1982 GandhiDas BootTootsieE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 1983 Terms of EndearmentTender MerciesFanny and AlexanderSilkwood 1984 AmadeusBroadway Danny RosePlaces in the Heart 1985 Out of AfricaKiss of the Spider WomanPrizzi's HonorRanWitness 1986 PlatoonHannah and Her SistersBlue Velvet 1987 Hope and GloryMy Life as a DogMoonstruckFatal Attraction 1988 Rain ManWorking GirlMississippi Burning 1989 Born on the Fourth of JulyCrimes and MisdemeanorsHenry VMy Left FootDead Poets Society
1990s
Year Director(s) Film 1990 Dances With WolvesReversal of FortuneGoodfellas 1991BugsyThelma & LouiseBoyz n the HoodJFK 1992UnforgivenScent of a WomanHowards End 1993Schindler's ListShort CutsIn the Name of the Father 1994Forrest GumpBullets Over BroadwayThree Colours: RedQuiz ShowPulp Fiction 1995BraveheartLeaving Las VegasBabeIl Postino: The PostmanDead Man Walking 1996FargoShineSecrets & Lies 1997TitanicL.A. ConfidentialGood Will Hunting 1998Saving Private RyanLife Is BeautifulShakespeare in Love 1999American BeautyBeing John Malkovich
2000s
Year Director(s) Film 2000TrafficBilly ElliotCrouching Tiger, Hidden DragonGladiatorErin Brockovich 2001Gosford ParkMulholland DriveBlack Hawk Down 2002Talk to HerChicagoGangs of New York 2003Lost in TranslationMystic RiverCity of GodMaster and Commander: The Far Side of the World 2004Million Dollar BabyRayVera DrakeSideways 2005Brokeback MountainGood Night, and Good LuckCrashCapoteMunich 2006Letters from Iwo JimaUnited 93Babel 2007No Country for Old MenThere Will Be BloodMichael ClaytonJuno 2008Slumdog MillionaireFrost/NixonMilk 2009AvatarPreciousUp in the AirInglourious Basterds
2010s
Year Director(s) Film 2010Black SwanTrue Grit 2011Midnight in ParisHugo 2012Life of PiAmourSilver Linings PlaybookLincolnBeasts of the Southern Wild 2013Gravity12 Years a SlaveNebraskaAmerican Hustle 2014BirdmanBoyhoodFoxcatcher 2015 The RevenantRoomSpotlightMad Max: Fury Road 2016 La La LandHacksaw RidgeMoonlightManchester by the SeaArrival 2017 The Shape of WaterPhantom ThreadLady BirdDunkirkGet Out 2018 RomaThe FavouriteBlacKkKlansmanViceCold War 2019 (92nd) Parasite 1917Joker The Irishman Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
2020s
Year Director(s) Film 2020/21(93rd)MinariPromising Young WomanMank2021(94th)Licorice PizzaBelfastDrive My CarWest Side Story2022(95th)Todd FieldTárMartin McDonaghThe Banshees of InisherinRuben ÖstlundTriangle of SadnessSteven SpielbergThe Fabelmans2023(96th)Jonathan GlazerThe Zone of InterestYorgos LanthimosPoor ThingsMartin ScorseseKillers of the Flower MoonJustine TrietAnatomy of a Fall2024(97th)Sean BakerAnoraJacques AudiardEmilia PérezBrady CorbetThe BrutalistCoralie FargeatThe SubstanceJames MangoldA Complete Unknown 2025(98th)Paul Thomas AndersonOne Battle After Another Ryan CooglerSinnersJosh SafdieMarty SupremeJoachim TrierSentimental ValueChloé ZhaoHamnet
Multiple wins and nominations Multiple wins Wins Director John Ford 3 Frank Capra William Wyler 2 Frank Borzage Alfonso Cuarón Clint Eastwood Miloš Forman Alejandro G. Iñárritu Elia Kazan David Lean Ang Lee Frank Lloyd Joseph L. Mankiewicz Leo McCarey Lewis Milestone Steven Spielberg George Stevens Oliver Stone Billy Wilder Robert Wise Fred Zinnemann
Three or more nominations Nominations Director 12 William Wyler 10 Martin Scorsese 9 Steven Spielberg 8 Billy Wilder 7 Woody Allen David Lean Fred Zinnemann 6 Frank Capra 5 Robert Altman Clarence Brown George Cukor John Ford Alfred Hitchcock John Huston Elia Kazan George Stevens King Vidor 4 Paul Thomas Anderson Francis Ford Coppola Michael Curtiz Clint Eastwood Federico Fellini Stanley Kubrick Frank Lloyd Sidney Lumet Joseph L. Mankiewicz Mike Nichols Peter Weir 3 Ingmar Bergman Richard Brooks Joel Coen Stephen Daldry David Fincher Miloš Forman Bob Fosse Alejandro González Iñárritu James Ivory Norman Jewison Stanley Kramer Ang Lee Ernst Lubitsch David Lynch Leo McCarey Lewis Milestone Alexander Payne Arthur Penn Roman Polanski Sydney Pollack Carol Reed David O. Russell John Schlesinger Ridley Scott Oliver Stone Quentin Tarantino William A. Wellman Robert Wise Sam Wood
Age superlatives
Record Director Film Age Oldest winner Clint Eastwood Million Dollar Baby 74 years, 272 days Oldest nominee Martin Scorsese Killers of the Flower Moon 81 years, 67 days Youngest winner Damien Chazelle La La Land 32 years, 38 days Youngest nominee John Singleton Boyz n the Hood 24 years, 44 days
Records John Ford has received the most awards in this category, with four. Frank Capra and William Wyler won three each. Wyler has the most nominations, with 12—including a record four years in a row. Martin Scorsese is currently second, with 10 nominations. Clarence Brown has the most nominations without a win (6). Alfred Hitchcock, King Vidor, and Robert Altman each received 5 nominations without a win. Four directors have won twice for films that did not win Best Picture: Frank Borzage, George Stevens, Ang Lee, and Alfonso Cuarón. Of John Ford's four wins, the only film which also won Best Picture was How Green Was My Valley (1941). Ford (1940–1941), Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1949–1950), and Alejandro González Iñárritu (2014–2015) are the only directors to have won the award in two consecutive years. Francis Ford Coppola is the only director to be nominated for each film of a trilogy, The Godfather trilogy, winning for the second film. Four directing teams have been nominated together (a total of five times, winning on three occasions): Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins for West Side Story (1961, winners); Warren Beatty and Buck Henry for Heaven Can Wait (1978); Joel and Ethan Coen for No Country for Old Men (2007, winners) and True Grit (2010); and Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert for Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022, winners). The Coen Brothers are the only siblings to have won the award. Six directors won the award for their feature film debut: Delbert Mann for Marty (1955), Jerome Robbins for West Side Story (1961), Robert Redford for Ordinary People (1980), James L. Brooks for Terms of Endearment (1983), Kevin Costner for Dances With Wolves (1990), and Sam Mendes for American Beauty (1999).