Academy Award for Best Director
The Academy Award for Best Directing (Best Director), usually known as the Best Director Oscar, is one of the Awards of Merit presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to directors for a movie.
| Academy Award for Best Director | |
|---|---|
 The 2021 recipient: Chloé Zhao | |
| Awarded for | Excellence in Cinematic Direction Achievement |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) |
| First awarded | 1929 (for direction in films released during the 1927/1928 film season) |
| Most recent winner | Chloé Zhao Nomadland (2020) |
| Website | oscars |
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.
Winners and nominees
1920s
In the first year only, the award was separated into Dramatic Direction and Comedy Direction.
| Year | Winner film |
Nominated |
|---|---|---|
| 1927/28 (Dramatic) | Frank Borzage – Seventh Heaven |
Herbert Brenon – Sorrell and Son King Vidor – The Crowd |
| 1927/28 (Comedy) | Lewis Milestone – Two Arabian Knights |
Ted Wilde – Speedy |
| 1928/29 | Frank Lloyd – The Divine Lady |
Lionel Barrymore – Madame X Harry Beaumont – The Broadway Melody Irving Cummings – In Old Arizona Frank Lloyd - Drag and Weary River Ernst Lubitsch – The Patriot |
| 1929/30 | Lewis Milestone – All Quiet on the Western Front |
Clarence Brown – Anna Christie and Romance Robert Z. Leonard – The Divorcée Ernst Lubitsch – The Love Parade King Vidor – Hallelujah |
1930s
| Year | Winner film |
Nominated |
|---|---|---|
| 1930/31 | Norman Taurog – Skippy |
Clarence Brown – A Free Soul Lewis Milestone – The Front Page Wesley Ruggles – Cimarron Josef von Sternberg – Morocco |
| 1931/32 | Frank Borzage – Bad Girl |
King Vidor – The Champ Josef von Sternberg – Shanghai Express |
| 1932/33 | Frank Lloyd – Cavalcade |
Frank Capra – Lady for a Day George Cukor – Little Women (The academy also announced that Capra came in second, and Cukor last.) |
| 1934 | Frank Capra – It Happened One Night |
Victor Schertzinger – One Night of Love W. S. Van Dyke – The Thin Man (The academy also announced that Van Dyke came in second, and Schertzinger last.) |
| 1935 | John Ford – The Informer |
Henry Hathaway – The Lives of a Bengal Lancer Frank Lloyd – Mutiny on the Bounty (The academy also announced that write-in candidate Michael Curtiz, for Captain Blood, came in second, and Hathaway third.) |
| 1936 | Frank Capra – Mr. Deeds Goes to Town |
Gregory La Cava – My Man Godfrey Robert Z. Leonard – The Great Ziegfeld W. S. Van Dyke – San Francisco William Wyler – Dodsworth |
| 1937 | Leo McCarey – The Awful Truth |
William Dieterle – The Life of Emile Zola Sidney Franklin – The Good Earth Gregory La Cava – Stage Door William A. Wellman – A Star Is Born |
| 1938 | Frank Capra – You Can't Take It with You |
Michael Curtiz – Angels with Dirty Faces Michael Curtiz – Four Daughters Norman Taurog – Boys Town King Vidor – The Citadel |
| 1939 | Victor Fleming – Gone with the Wind |
Frank Capra – Mr. Smith Goes to Washington John Ford – Stagecoach Sam Wood – Goodbye, Mr. Chips William Wyler – Wuthering Heights |
1940s
| Year | Winner film |
Nominated |
|---|---|---|
| 1940 | John Ford – The Grapes of Wrath |
George Cukor – The Philadelphia Story Alfred Hitchcock – Rebecca Sam Wood – Kitty Foyle William Wyler – The Letter |
| 1941 | John Ford – How Green Was My Valley |
Alexander Hall – Here Comes Mr. Jordan Howard Hawks – Sergeant York Orson Welles – Citizen Kane William Wyler – The Little Foxes |
| 1942 | William Wyler – Mrs. Miniver |
Michael Curtiz – Yankee Doodle Dandy John Farrow – Wake Island Mervyn LeRoy – Random Harvest Sam Wood – Kings Row |
| 1943 | Michael Curtiz – Casablanca |
Clarence Brown – The Human Comedy Henry King – The Song of Bernadette Ernst Lubitsch – Heaven Can Wait George Stevens – The More the Merrier |
| 1944 | Leo McCarey – Going My Way |
Alfred Hitchcock – Lifeboat Henry King – Wilson Otto Preminger – Laura Billy Wilder – Double Indemnity |
| 1945 | Billy Wilder – The Lost Weekend |
Clarence Brown – National Velvet Alfred Hitchcock – Spellbound Leo McCarey – The Bells of St. Mary's Jean Renoir – The Southerner |
| 1946 | William Wyler – The Best Years of Our Lives |
Clarence Brown – The Yearling Frank Capra – It's a Wonderful Life David Lean – Brief Encounter Robert Siodmak – The Killers |
| 1947 | Elia Kazan – Gentleman's Agreement |
George Cukor – A Double Life Edward Dmytryk – Crossfire Henry Koster – The Bishop's Wife David Lean – Great Expectations |
| 1948 | John Huston – The Treasure of the Sierra Madre |
Anatole Litvak – The Snake Pit Jean Negulesco – Johnny Belinda Laurence Olivier – Hamlet Fred Zinnemann – The Search |
| 1949 | Joseph L. Mankiewicz – A Letter to Three Wives |
Carol Reed – The Fallen Idol Robert Rossen – All the King's Men William A. Wellman – Battleground William Wyler – The Heiress |
1950s
| Year | Winner film |
Nominated |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Joseph L. Mankiewicz – All About Eve |
George Cukor – Born Yesterday John Huston – The Asphalt Jungle Carol Reed – The Third Man Billy Wilder – Sunset Boulevard |
| 1951 | George Stevens – A Place in the Sun |
John Huston – The African Queen Elia Kazan – A Streetcar Named Desire Vincente Minnelli – An American in Paris William Wyler – Detective Story |
| 1952 | John Ford – The Quiet Man |
Cecil B. DeMille – The Greatest Show on Earth John Huston – Moulin Rouge Joseph L. Mankiewicz – 5 Fingers Fred Zinnemann – High Noon |
| 1953 | Fred Zinnemann – From Here to Eternity |
George Stevens – Shane Charles Walters – Lili Billy Wilder – Stalag 17 William Wyler – Roman Holiday |
| 1954 | Elia Kazan – On the Waterfront |
Alfred Hitchcock – Rear Window George Seaton – The Country Girl William A. Wellman – The High and the Mighty Billy Wilder – Sabrina |
| 1955 | Delbert Mann – Marty |
Elia Kazan – East of Eden David Lean – Summertime Joshua Logan – Picnic John Sturges – Bad Day at Black Rock |
| 1956 | George Stevens – Giant |
Michael Anderson – Around the World in 80 Days Walter Lang – The King and I King Vidor – War and Peace William Wyler – Friendly Persuasion |
| 1957 | David Lean – The Bridge on the River Kwai |
Joshua Logan – Sayonara Sidney Lumet – 12 Angry Men Mark Robson – Peyton Place Billy Wilder – Witness for the Prosecution |
| 1958 | Vincente Minnelli – Gigi |
Richard Brooks – Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Stanley Kramer – The Defiant Ones Mark Robson – The Inn of the Sixth Happiness Robert Wise – I Want to Live! |
| 1959 | William Wyler – Ben-Hur |
Jack Clayton – Room at the Top George Stevens – The Diary of Anne Frank Billy Wilder – Some Like It Hot Fred Zinnemann – The Nun's Story |
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
| Year | Winner film |
Nominated |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Tom Hooper – The King's Speech |
Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan Joel & Ethan Coen – True Grit David Fincher – The Social Network David O. Russell – The Fighter |
| 2011 | Michel Hazanavicius -The Artist |
Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris Terrence Malick – The Tree of Life Alexander Payne – The Descendants Martin Scorsese – Hugo |
International presence
As the Academy Awards are based in the United States and are centered on the Hollywood film industry, the majority of Academy Award winners have been Americans. Nonetheless, there is significant international presence at the awards, as evidenced by the following list of winners of the Academy Award for Best Director.
- Australia: Mel Gibson, Tom Hooper (Gibson, a U.S. citizen, moved with his family to Australia at the age of 12. Hooper, born in the U.K., is a dual citizen of Australia and the United Kingdom as his mother was born in Australia.)
- Austria: Billy Wilder, Fred Zinnemann (Both Wilder and Zinnemann moved to America in their twenties and became naturalized U.S. citizens.)
- Canada: James Cameron (Cameron was applying to become a U.S. citizen.[1])
- Czech Republic: Miloš Forman (naturalized U.S. citizen since 1977)
- France: Michel Hazanavicius
- Germany: William Wyler, Mike Nichols (After moving to America in 1921, Wyler became a naturalized U.S. citizen in his twenties. Wyler was born in Alsace which was part of the German Empire then, but now is part of France. Nichols' family moved from Germany when he was eight-years old, and he became a naturalized U.S. citizen five years later.)
- Italy: Bernardo Bertolucci
- New Zealand: Peter Jackson
- Poland: Roman Polanski (French citizenship)
- Taiwan: Ang Lee (naturalized U.S. citizen who has lived in America since the early 1980s.)
- United Kingdom: Richard Attenborough, Danny Boyle, David Lean, Sam Mendes, Anthony Minghella, Carol Reed, Tony Richardson, John Schlesinger, and Tom Hooper
However, no director has won for a film that is entirely in a foreign language.
There have been 20 directors nominated for films entirely or significantly in a foreign (non-English) language.
- Federico Fellini (nominated for 4 films, which were all in Italian)
- Ingmar Bergman (nominated for 3 films, which were all in Swedish)
- Pietro Germi (Italian)
- Hiroshi Teshigahara (Japanese)
- Claude Lelouch (French)
- Gillo Pontecorvo (Italian-born director nominated for The Battle of Algiers, which was in French and Arabic)
- Costa Gavras (Greek-born director nominated for French-language film Z.)
- Jan Troell (Swedish)
- François Truffaut (French)
- Lina Wertmuller (Italian)
- Edouard Molinaro (French)
- Wolfgang Petersen (German)
- Akira Kurosawa (Japanese)
- Lasse Hallström (Swedish. He was also nominated for the English-language film The Cider House Rules.)
- Krzysztof Kieslowski (Polish-born director nominated for French-language film Three Colours: Red)
- Michael Radford (an English-born director nominated for the Italian-language film Il Postino.)
- Roberto Benigni (Italian)
- Ang Lee (Taiwanese-born director nominated for the Mandarin-language film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. He would later win for the English-language film Brokeback Mountain.)
- Pedro Almodóvar (Spanish)
- Fernando Meirelles (Brazilian Portuguese)
- Clint Eastwood (an American director nominated for the Japanese-language film Letters from Iwo Jima, which has a few brief scenes in English).
- Julian Schnabel (an American director nominated for the French-language film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.)
Ironically, internationally known filmmakers Jean Renoir (for The Southerner), Michelangelo Antonioni (for Blowup) and Louis Malle (for Atlantic City) were nominated for films that were in English and not their native language.
Nominations for films primarily in English with some scenes (of a notable length) in a foreign language includes:
- Jules Dassin for Never on Sunday (Greek)
- Bernardo Bertolucci for Last Tango in Paris (French)
- Francis Coppola for The Godfather Part II (Italian) (Winner)
- Kevin Costner for Dances with Wolves (Lakota and Pawnee) (Winner)
- Steven Soderbergh for Traffic (Spanish) (Winner)
- Alejandro González Iñárritu for Babel (Spanish, Arabic, French, Japanese, Japanese Sign Language, Berber)
- Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire (Hindi) (Winner)
- Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds (French, German and Italian)
Several international nominees (regardless of the language used in their respective films) include:
- Australia: Bruce Beresford, Scott Hicks, Chris Noonan and Peter Weir
- Austria: Otto Preminger, Josef von Sternberg
- Brazil: Héctor Babenco, Fernando Meirelles
- Canada: Atom Egoyan, Arthur Hiller, Norman Jewison and Jason Reitman
- Cyprus: Michael Cacoyannis
- France: Michel Hazanavicius, Claude Lelouch, Louis Malle and François Truffaut
- Germany: William Dieterle, Ernst Lubitsch and Wolfgang Petersen
- Greece: Costa Gavras
- India: M. Night Shyamalan
- Ireland: Jim Sheridan, Neil Jordan and Kenneth Branagh
- Italy: Roberto Benigni, Federico Fellini, Pietro Germi, Gillo Pontecorvo, Lina Wertmüller, Franco Zeffirelli and Michelangelo Antonioni
- Japan: Akira Kurosawa and Hiroshi Teshigahara
- Mexico: Alejandro González Iñárritu
- New Zealand: Jane Campion
- Poland: Krzysztof Kieślowski
- Spain: Pedro Almodóvar
- Sweden: Ingmar Bergman, Lasse Hallström and Jan Troell
- United Kingdom: Alfred Hitchcock, John Boorman, Peter Cattaneo, Charles Crichton, Stephen Daldry, Stephen Frears, Laurence Olivier, Paul Greengrass, Roland Joffé, Mike Leigh, Adrian Lyne, Hugh Hudson, Alan Parker and Ridley Scott
Related pages
- Golden Globe Award for Best Director
- BAFTA Award for Best Direction
References
- Goodyear, Dana (19 October 2009). "Man of Extremes" – via www.newyorker.com.
Other websites
- Oscars.org (official Academy site)
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