# Silver Shell for Best Director

The Silver Shell for Best Director (Spanish: Concha de Plata al Mejor Director; Basque: Zuzendari Onenaren Zilarrezko Maskorra) is one of the main awards presented at the San Sebastián Film Festival to the director of a competing film.

## Winners

| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director(s) |
| 1953 | I Was a Parish Priest | La guerra de Dios | Rafael Gil |
| 1954 | La patrulla | La patrulla | Pedro Lazaga |
| 1956 | The Railroad Man | Il ferroviere | Pietro Germi |
| 1957 | Vintage Car | Dědeček automobil | Alfréd Radok |
| 1957 | Ich suche Dich | Ich suche Dich | O. W. Fischer |
| 1958 | Vertigo | Vertigo | Alfred Hitchcock |
| 1959 | North by Northwest | North by Northwest | | Alfred Hitchcock |
| 1959 | Dagli Appennini alle Ande | Dagli Appennini alle Ande | Folco Quilici |
| 1960 | The Fugitive Kind | The Fugitive Kind | Sidney Lumet |
| 1961 | The Mishap | L'imprevisto | Alberto Lattuada |
| 1962 | Careless | Senilità | Mauro Bolognini |
| 1963 | In the Midst of Life | Au coeur de la vie | Robert Enrico |
| 1964 | Aunt Tula | La Tía Tula | Miguel Picazo |
| 1965 | Casanova 70 | Casanova 70 | Mario Monicelli |
| 1966 | Madamigella di Maupin | Madamigella di Maupin | Mauro Bolognini |
| 1967 | Jowita | Jowita | Janusz Morgenstern |
| 1968 | The Long Day's Dying | The Long Day's Dying | Peter Collinson |
| 1977 | Maiden's War | Maiden's War | Alf Brustellin, Bernhard Sinkel |
| 1978 | Sleepwalkers | Sonámbulos | Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón |
| 1979 | Angi Vera | Angi Vera | Pál Gábor |
| 1984 | Notre mariage | Notre mariage | Valeria Sarmiento |
| 1985 | The City and the Dogs | La ciudad y los perros | Francisco Lombardi |
| 1986 | Welcome in Vienna | Welcome in Vienna | Axel Corti |
| 1987 | Crazy Love | Crazy Love | Dominique Deruddere |
| 1988 | Rowing with the Wind | Remando al viento | Gonzalo Suárez |
| 1989 | Konsul | Konsul | Mirosław Bork |
| 1990 | Miller's Crossing | Miller's Crossing | Joel Coen |
| 1991 | Highway 61 | Highway 61 | Bruce McDonald |
| 1992 | Tito and Me | Tito i ja | Goran Markovic |
| 1993 | Lost in Transit | Tombés du ciel | Philippe Lioret |
| 1994 | Shallow Grave | Shallow Grave | Danny Boyle |
| 1995 | Leaving Las Vegas | Leaving Las Vegas | Mike Figgis |
| 1996 | Bajo la piel | Bajo la piel | Francisco José Lombardi |
| 1997 | The Swindle | Rien ne va plus | Claude Chabrol |
| 1998 | Barrio | Barrio | Fernando León de Aranoa |
| 1999 | Shower | 洗澡 | Zhang Yang |
| 1999 | Sachs' Disease | La Maladie de Sachs | Michel Deville |
| 2000 | Before the Storm | Före Stormen | Reza Parsa |
| 2001 | C'est la vie | C'est la vie | Jean-Pierre Améris |
| 2002 | Together | 和你在一起 | Chen Kaige |
| 2003 | Memories of Murder | 살인의 추억 | Bong Joon-ho |
| 2004 | Letter from an Unknown Woman | 一個陌生女人的來信 | Xu Jinglei |
| 2005 | Sunflower | 向日葵 | Zhang Yang |
| 2006 | Delirious | Delirious | Tom DiCillo |
| 2007 | Battle for Haditha | Battle for Haditha | Nick Broomfield |
| 2008 | Genova | Genova | Michael Winterbottom |
| 2009 | Woman Without Piano | La mujer sin piano | Javier Rebollo |
| 2010 | Mysteries of Lisbon | Mistérios de Lisboa | Raúl Ruiz |
| 2011 | Unfair World | Adikos Kosmos | Filippos Tsitos |
| 2012 | The Artist and the Model | El artista y la modelo | Fernando Trueba |
| 2013 | Club Sandwich | Club Sándwich | Fernando Eimbcke |
| 2014 | Magical Girl | Magical Girl | Carlos Vermut |
| 2015 | The White Knights | Les Chevaliers Blancs | Joachim Lafosse |
| 2016 | Yourself and Yours | 당신자신과 당신의 것 | Hong Sang-soo |
| 2017 | Alanis | Alanis | Anahí Berneri |
| 2018 | Rojo | Rojo | Benjamín Naishtat |
| 2019 | The Endless Trench | La Trinchera Infinita | Aitor Arregi, Jon Garaño and Jose Mari Goenaga |
| 2020 | Beginning | დასაწყისი | Déa Kulumbegashvili |
| 2021 | As in Heaven | Du Som Er I Himlen | Tea Lindeburg |
| 2022 | A Hundred Flowers | A Hundred Flowers | Genki Kawamura |