Best Director

2025

Steven Spielberg

West Side Story

2022

Kenneth Branagh

Belfast

2022

Paul Thomas Anderson

Licorice Pizza

2021

David Fincher

Mank

2021

Emerald Fennell

Promising Young Woman (2020)

2021

Thomas Vinterberg

Another Round (2020)

2020

Quentin Tarantino

Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019)

2020

Martin Scorsese

The Irishman (2019)

2020

Sam Mendes

1917

2020

Todd Phillips

Joker (2019)

2019

Adam McKay

Vice (2018)

2019

Spike Lee

BlacKkKlansman (2018)

2019

Yorgos Lanthimos

The Favourite

2019

Paweł Pawlikowski

Cold War (2018)

2018

Christopher Nolan

Dunkirk (2017)

2018

Greta Gerwig

Lady Bird

2018

Paul Thomas Anderson

Phantom Thread

2017

Barry Jenkins

Moonlight (2016)

2017

Denis Villeneuve

Arrival (2016)

2017

Mel Gibson

Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

2016

Tom McCarthy

Spotlight (2015)

2016

Adam McKay

The Big Short (2015)

2016

George Miller

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

2015

Bennett Miller

Foxcatcher

2015

Wes Anderson

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

2015

Richard Linklater

Boyhood (2014)

2015

Morten Tyldum

The Imitation Game (2014)

2014

Alexander Payne

Nebraska (2013)

2014

David O. Russell

American Hustle (2013)

2014

Martin Scorsese

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

2014

Steve McQueen

12 Years a Slave (2013)

2013

David O. Russell

Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

2013

Steven Spielberg

Lincoln (2012)

2013

Michael Haneke

Amour (2012)

2012

Alexander Payne

The Descendants (2011)

2012

Martin Scorsese

Hugo (2011)

2012

Woody Allen

Midnight in Paris

2012

Terrence Malick

The Tree of Life (2011)

2011

Darren Aronofsky

Black Swan (2010)

2011

David Fincher

The Social Network (2010)

2011

David O. Russell

The Fighter (2010)

2011

Joel Coen

True Grit

2011

Ethan Coen

True Grit

2010

Jason Reitman

Up in the Air (2009)

2010

James Cameron

Avatar (2009)

2010

Quentin Tarantino

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

2010

Lee Daniels

Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire (2009)

2009

David Fincher

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

2009

Gus Van Sant

Milk (2008)

2009

Ron Howard

Frost/Nixon

2009

Stephen Daldry

The Reader (2008)

2008

Jason Reitman

Juno

2008

Paul Thomas Anderson

There Will Be Blood (2007)

2008

Andrzej Wajda

Katyn (2007)

2008

Julian Schnabel

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)

2007

Alejandro González Iñárritu

Babel (2006)

2007

Clint Eastwood

Letters from Iwo Jima

2007

Stephen Frears

The Queen (2006)

2007

Paul Greengrass

United 93

2006

George Clooney

Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005)

2006

Bennett Miller

Capote (2005)

2006

Steven Spielberg

Munich

2006

Paul Haggis

Crash (2005)

2005

Alexander Payne

Sideways

2005

Martin Scorsese

The Aviator (2004)

2005

Taylor Hackford

Ray (2004)

2004

Clint Eastwood

Mystic River (2003)

2004

Sofia Coppola

Lost in Translation (2003)

2004

Peter Weir

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

2003

Martin Scorsese

Gangs of New York (2002)

2003

Stephen Daldry

The Hours (2002)

2003

Andrzej Wajda

The Revenge

2003

Pedro Almodóvar

Talk to Her

2002

Peter Jackson

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

2002

Ridley Scott

Black Hawk Down

2002

Robert Altman

Gosford Park (2001)

2002

David Lynch

Mulholland Drive (2001)

2001

Ang Lee

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

2001

Stephen Daldry

Billy Elliot (2000)

2000

Lasse Hallström

The Cider House Rules (1999)

2000

M. Night Shyamalan

The Sixth Sense (1999)

2000

Spike Jonze

Being John Malkovich (1999)

2000

Michael Mann

The Insider (1999)

2000

Andrzej Wajda

Pan Tadeusz

1999

Terrence Malick

The Thin Red Line (1998)

1999

Peter Weir

The Truman Show (1998)

1999

Roberto Benigni

Life Is Beautiful (1997)

1999

John Madden

Shakespeare in Love (1998)

1998

Curtis Hanson

L.A. Confidential (1997)

1998

Gus Van Sant

Good Will Hunting (1997)

1997

Joel Coen

Fargo (1996)

1997

Miloš Forman

The People vs. Larry Flynt

1997

Scott Hicks

Shine (1996)

1996

Michael Radford

Il Postino: The Postman

1995

Quentin Tarantino

Pulp Fiction (1994)

1995

Robert Redford

Quiz Show

1995

Woody Allen

Bullets Over Broadway (1994)

1995

Krzysztof Kieślowski

Three Colours: Red

1994

Robert Altman

Short Cuts

1994

Jane Campion

The Piano (1993)

1994

James Ivory

The Remains of the Day (1993)

1993

Neil Jordan

The Crying Game

1993

Martin Brest

Scent of a Woman (1992)

1993

Robert Altman

The Player (1992)

1993

James Ivory

Howards End (1992)

1992

Barry Levinson

Bugsy

1992

Ridley Scott

Thelma & Louise (1991)

1992

Oliver Stone

JFK (1991)

1991

Francis Ford Coppola

The Godfather Part III (1990)

1991

Martin Scorsese

GoodFellas (1990)

1991

Stephen Frears

The Grifters

1990

Woody Allen

Crimes and Misdemeanors

1990

Kenneth Branagh

Henry V

1990

Peter Weir

Dead Poets Society (1989)

1989

Martin Scorsese

The Last Temptation of Christ

1989

Mike Nichols

Working Girl (1988)

1989

Alan Parker

Mississippi Burning (1988)

1988

Adrian Lyne

Fatal Attraction (1987)

1988

Lasse Hallström

My Life as a Dog

1988

Norman Jewison

Moonstruck (1987)

1988

John Boorman

Hope and Glory (1987)

1987

Woody Allen

Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

1987

David Lynch

Blue Velvet (1986)

1987

James Ivory

A Room with a View (1986)

1987

Roland Joffé

The Mission (1986)

1986

Peter Weir

Witness (1985)

1986

Akira Kurosawa

Ran (1985)

1986

John Huston

Prizzi's Honor (1985)

1985

Woody Allen

Broadway Danny Rose

1985

Robert Benton

Places in the Heart (1984)

1985

David Lean

A Passage to India (1984)

1985

Roland Joffé

The Killing Fields (1984)

1984

Mike Nichols

Silkwood

1984

Peter Yates

The Dresser (1983)

1984

Ingmar Bergman

Fanny and Alexander (1982)

1983

Steven Spielberg

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

1983

Wolfgang Petersen

Das Boot (1981)

1983

Sydney Pollack

Tootsie (1982)

1983

Sidney Lumet

The Verdict (1982)

1982

Steven Spielberg

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

1982

Louis Malle

Atlantic City (1980)

1981

Martin Scorsese

Raging Bull (1980)

1981

Roman Polanski

Tess

1981

David Lynch

The Elephant Man (1980)

1980

Francis Ford Coppola

Apocalypse Now (1979)

1980

Bob Fosse

All That Jazz (1979)

1980

Peter Yates

Breaking Away (1979)

1979

Woody Allen

Interiors

1979

Warren Beatty

Heaven Can Wait

1979

Alan Parker

Midnight Express (1978)

1979

Buck Henry

Heaven Can Wait (1978)

1979

Hal Ashby

Coming Home (1978)

1978

Steven Spielberg

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

1978

George Lucas

Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope

1978

Herbert Ross

The Turning Point (1977)

1978

Fred Zinnemann

Julia (1977)

1977

Sidney Lumet

Network (1976)

1977

Alan J. Pakula

All the President's Men (1976)

1977

Ingmar Bergman

Face to Face

1976

Stanley Kubrick

Barry Lyndon

1976

Sidney Lumet

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

1976

Robert Altman

Nashville

1976

Federico Fellini

Amarcord (1973)

1975

Roman Polanski

Chinatown (1974)

1975

Bob Fosse

Lenny (1974)

1975

François Truffaut

Day for Night (1973)

1974

George Lucas

American Graffiti (1973)

1974

Bernardo Bertolucci

Last Tango in Paris

1974

Ingmar Bergman

Cries and Whispers (1972)

1973

Francis Ford Coppola

The Godfather (1972)

1973

John Boorman

Deliverance (1972)

1973

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Sleuth (1972)

1972

Stanley Kubrick

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

1972

Peter Bogdanovich

The Last Picture Show

1972

Norman Jewison

Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

1972

John Schlesinger

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

1971

Robert Altman

MASH

1971

Federico Fellini

Satyricon

1971

Arthur Hiller

Love Story (1970)

1970

Sydney Pollack

They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

1970

Costa-Gavras

Z (1969)

1970

George Roy Hill

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

1969

Stanley Kubrick

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

1968

Norman Jewison

In the Heat of the Night (1967)

1968

Stanley Kramer

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)

1968

Richard Brooks

In Cold Blood

1967

Mike Nichols

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

1967

Richard Brooks

The Professionals

1966

William Wyler

The Collector

1966

John Schlesinger

Darling (1965)

1966

David Lean

Doctor Zhivago (1965)

1965

Stanley Kubrick

Dr. Strangelove

1965

Robert Stevenson

Mary Poppins (1964)

1965

Mihalis Kakogiannis

Zorba the Greek (1964)

1964

Federico Fellini

8½ (1963)

1964

Elia Kazan

America America

1964

Otto Preminger

The Cardinal

1963

Robert Mulligan

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

1962

Federico Fellini

La Dolce Vita (1960)

1962

Robert Rossen

The Hustler (1961)

1962

Stanley Kramer

Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

1961

Alfred Hitchcock

Psycho (1960)

1961

Fred Zinnemann

The Sundowners (1960)

1960

Billy Wilder

Some Like It Hot (1959)

1960

Fred Zinnemann

The Nun's Story (1959)

1960

Jack Clayton

Room at the Top (1958)

1960

George Stevens

The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)

1959

Robert Wise

I Want to Live!

1959

Stanley Kramer

The Defiant Ones (1958)

1959

Richard Brooks

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)

1958

Sidney Lumet

12 Angry Men (1957)

1958

Billy Wilder

Witness for the Prosecution (1957)

1958

Joshua Logan

Sayonara (1957)

1957

William Wyler

Friendly Persuasion (1956)

1957

Michael Anderson

Around the World in 80 Days (1956)

1957

Walter Lang

The King and I (1956)

1957

King Vidor

War and Peace (1968)

1956

David Lean

Summertime

1956

Elia Kazan

East of Eden (1955)

1956

Joshua Logan

Picnic (1955)

1955

Alfred Hitchcock

Rear Window (1954)

1955

William A. Wellman

The High and the Mighty

1955

Billy Wilder

Sabrina

1954

William Wyler

Roman Holiday (1953)

1954

Billy Wilder

Stalag 17 (1953)

1954

George Stevens

Shane (1953)

1953

John Huston

Moulin Rouge (1952)

1953

Fred Zinnemann

High Noon (1952)

1953

Cecil B. DeMille

The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

1953

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

5 Fingers

1952

William Wyler

Detective Story

1952

Vincente Minnelli

An American in Paris (1951)

1952

Elia Kazan

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

1952

John Huston

The African Queen (1952)

1951

Carol Reed

The Third Man

1951

George Cukor

Born Yesterday (1950)

1951

Billy Wilder

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

1951

John Huston

The Asphalt Jungle

1950

William A. Wellman

Battleground (1949)

1950

William Wyler

The Heiress (1949)

1950

Carol Reed

The Fallen Idol

1950

Robert Rossen

All the King's Men (1949)

1949

Laurence Olivier

Hamlet (1948)

1949

Fred Zinnemann

The Search

1949

Anatole Litvak

The Snake Pit (1948)

1948

George Cukor

A Double Life (1947)

1948

David Lean

Great Expectations (1946)

1948

Edward Dmytryk

Crossfire (1947)

1948

Henry Koster

The Bishop's Wife (1947)

1947

David Lean

Brief Encounter

1947

Frank Capra

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

1947

Clarence Brown

The Yearling (1946)

1946

Alfred Hitchcock

Spellbound

1946

Leo McCarey

The Bells of St. Mary's (1945)

1946

Clarence Brown

National Velvet (1945)

1945

Alfred Hitchcock

Lifeboat

1945

Billy Wilder

Double Indemnity (1944)

1945

Otto Preminger

Laura

1945

Henry King

Wilson (1944)

1944

Henry King

The Song of Bernadette (1943)

1944

Clarence Brown

The Human Comedy (1943)

1944

George Stevens

The More the Merrier (1943)

1943

Michael Curtiz

Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

1943

Mervyn LeRoy

Random Harvest (1942)

1943

Sam Wood

Kings Row (1942)

1942

Orson Welles

Citizen Kane

1942

William Wyler

The Little Foxes (1941)

1942

Howard Hawks

Sergeant York (1941)

1941

Alfred Hitchcock

Rebecca

1941

William Wyler

The Letter (1940)

1941

George Cukor

The Philadelphia Story (1940)

1941

Sam Wood

Kitty Foyle (1940)

1940

William Wyler

Wuthering Heights (1939)

1940

John Ford

Stagecoach (1939)

1940

Frank Capra

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

1940

Sam Wood

Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)

1939

Michael Curtiz

Four Daughters

1939

King Vidor

The Citadel (1938)

1938

William A. Wellman

A Star Is Born (2018)

1938

William Dieterle

The Life of Emile Zola (1937)

1938

Sidney Franklin

The Good Earth (1937)

1937

William Wyler

Dodsworth (1936)

1937

W.S. Van Dyke

San Francisco (1936)

1936

Michael Curtiz

Captain Blood (1935)

1936

Frank Lloyd

Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

1936

Henry Hathaway

The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935)

1935

W.S. Van Dyke

The Thin Man (1934)

1935

Victor Schertzinger

One Night of Love (1934)

1934

George Cukor

Little Women (1994)

1934

Frank Capra

Lady for a Day

1932

King Vidor

The Champ (1931)

1931

Lewis Milestone

The Front Page

1931

Clarence Brown

A Free Soul (1931)

1931

Wesley Ruggles

Cimarron (1931)

1930

Clarence Brown

Anna Christie

1930

King Vidor

Hallelujah!

1929

Lionel Barrymore

Madame X

1929

Frank Lloyd

Weary River

1929

King Vidor

The Crowd

All Nominees

Julian Schnabel

Scott Hicks