Research in Progress (Updated May 2021)
What is the correlation between the Directors Guild Awards and the Academy’s Best Directors Awards?
Are the winners of the Directors Guild Award (DGA) reilable indicators of the winners of the Best Director Oscar?
• 1948: Joseph Mankiewicz, A Letter to Three Wives**
• 1949: Robert Rossen, All the King’s Men**
• 1950: Joseph Mankiewicz, All About Eve
• 1951: George Stevens, A Place in the Sun
• 1952: John Ford, The Quiet Man
• 1953: Fred Zinnemann, From Here to Eternity
• 1954: Elia Kazan, On the Waterfront
• 1955: Delbert Mann, Marty
• 1956: George Stevens, Giant
• 1957: David Lean, The Bridge on the River Kwai
• 1958: Vincente Minnelli, Gigi
• 1959: William Wyler, Ben-Hur
• 1960: Billy Wilder, The Apartment
• 1961: Robert Wise, West Side Story
• 1962: David Lean, Lawrence of Arabia
• 1963: Tony Richardson, Tom Jones
• 1964: George Cukor, My Fair Lady
• 1965: Robert Wise, The Sound of Music
• 1966: Fred Zinnemann, A Man for All Seasons
• 1967: Mike Nichols, The Graduate
• 1968: Anthony Harvey, The Lion in Winter*
• 1969: John Schlesinger, Midnight Cowboy
• 1970: Franklin Schaffner, Patton
• 1971: William Friedkin, The French Connection
• 1972: Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather*
• 1973: George Roy Hill, The Sting
• 1974: Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather Part II
• 1975: Miloš Forman, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
• 1976: John G. Avildsen, Rocky
• 1977: Woody Allen, Annie Hall
• 1978: Michael Cimino, The Deer Hunter
• 1979: Robert Benton, Kramer vs. Kramer
• 1980: Robert Redford, Ordinary People
• 1981: Warren Beatty, Reds
• 1982: Richard Attenborough, Gandhi
• 1983: James L. Brooks, Terms of Endearment
• 1984: Miloš Forman, Amadeus
• 1985: Steven Spielberg, The Color Purple***
• 1986: Oliver Stone, Platoon
• 1987: Bernardo Bertolucci, The Last Emperor
• 1988: Barry Levinson, Rain Man
• 1989: Oliver Stone, Born on the Fourth of July
• 1990: Kevin Costner, Dances with Wolves
• 1991: Jonathan Demme, The Silence of the Lambs
• 1992: Clint Eastwood, Unforgiven
• 1993: Steven Spielberg, Schindler’s List
• 1994: Robert Zemeckis, Forrest Gump
• 1995: Ron Howard, Apollo 13***
• 1996: Anthony Minghella, The English Patient
• 1997: James Cameron, Titanic
• 1998: Steven Spielberg, Saving Private Ryan
• 1999: Sam Mendes, American Beauty
2000-2009
• 2000: Ang Lee, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon*
• 2001: Ron Howard, A Beautiful Mind
• 2002: Rob Marshall, Chicago*
• 2003: Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
• 2004: Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby
• 2005: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
• 2006: Martin Scorsese, The Departed
• 2007: Ethan and Joel Coen, No Country For Old Men
• 2008: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
• 2009: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
• 2010: Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
2010-2019
• 2011: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
• 2012: Ben Affleck, Argo***
2013: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
2014: Alejandro G. Inarritu, Birdman
2015: Alejandro G. Inarritu, The Revenant
2016: Damien Chazelle, La La Land
2017: Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water
2018: Alfonso Cuaron, Roma
2019: Same Mendes, 1917*
2020: Chloe Zhao, Nomadland
2021:
Notes
• * Director did not win the Academy Award.
• ** Originally, the DGA used a non-calendar year for its award. Both films competed in the 22nd Academy Awards for 1949, and both directors were nominated for Best Director; Mankiewicz won. All the King’s Men won Best Picture; Rossen’s DGA was not awarded until after the Oscars. (Beginning with the 1951 award in 1952, the DGA has been always awarded before the Oscars.)
• *** Was not nominated for Academy Award that year.
