Correlation between the Directors Guild and the Directors Branch
Are the winners of the Directors Guild Award of America (DGA) a good indicator 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: 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
• 2011: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
• 2012: Ben Affleck, Argo***
. 2013: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
. 2014: Alejandro G. Inarritu, Birdman
. 2015: Alejandro G. Inarritu, The Revenant
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.
