# New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director

The New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director is an award given by the New York Film Critics Circle, honoring the finest achievements in filmmaking.

## Winners
### 1930s

| Year | Winner | Film |
| 1935 | John Ford | The Informer |
| 1936 | Rouben Mamoulian | The Gay Desperado |
| 1937 | Gregory La Cava | Stage Door |
| 1938 | Alfred Hitchcock | The Lady Vanishes |
| 1939 | John Ford | Stagecoach |

### 1940s

| Year | Winner | Film |
| 1940 | John Ford | The Grapes of Wrath |
| 1940 | John Ford | The Long Voyage Home |
| 1941 | John Ford | How Green Was My Valley |
| 1942 | John Farrow | Wake Island |
| 1943 | George Stevens | The More the Merrier |
| 1944 | Leo McCarey | Going My Way |
| 1945 | Billy Wilder | The Lost Weekend |
| 1946 | William Wyler | The Best Years of Our Lives |
| 1947 | Elia Kazan | Boomerang |
| 1947 | Elia Kazan | Gentleman's Agreement |
| 1948 | John Huston | The Treasure of the Sierra Madre |
| 1949 | Carol Reed | The Fallen Idol |

### 1950s

| Year | Winner | Film |
| 1950 | Joseph L. Mankiewicz | All About Eve |
| 1951 | Elia Kazan | A Streetcar Named Desire |
| 1952 | Fred Zinnemann | High Noon |
| 1953 | Fred Zinnemann | From Here to Eternity |
| 1954 | Elia Kazan | On the Waterfront |
| 1955 | David Lean | Summertime |
| 1956 | John Huston | Moby Dick |
| 1957 | David Lean | The Bridge on the River Kwai |
| 1958 | Stanley Kramer | The Defiant Ones |
| 1959 | Fred Zinnemann | The Nun's Story |

### 1960s

| Year | Winner | Film |
| 1960 | Jack Cardiff | Sons and Lovers |
| 1960 | Billy Wilder | The Apartment |
| 1961 | Robert Rossen | The Hustler |
| 1962 | No award given (newspaper strike) | No award given (newspaper strike) |
| 1963 | Tony Richardson | Tom Jones |
| 1964 | Stanley Kubrick | Dr. Strangelove |
| 1965 | John Schlesinger | Darling |
| 1966 | Fred Zinnemann | A Man for All Seasons |
| 1967 | Mike Nichols | The Graduate |
| 1968 | Paul Newman | Rachel, Rachel |
| 1969 | Costa-Gavras | Z |

### 1970s

| Year | Winner | Film |
| 1970 | Bob Rafelson | Five Easy Pieces |
| 1971 | Stanley Kubrick | A Clockwork Orange |
| 1972 | Ingmar Bergman | Cries and Whispers |
| 1973 | François Truffaut | Day for Night |
| 1974 | Federico Fellini | Amarcord |
| 1975 | Robert Altman | Nashville |
| 1976 | Alan J. Pakula | All the President's Men |
| 1977 | Woody Allen | Annie Hall |
| 1978 | Terrence Malick | Days of Heaven |
| 1979 | Woody Allen | Manhattan |

### 1980s

| Year | Winner | Film |
| 1980 | Jonathan Demme | Melvin and Howard |
| 1981 | Sidney Lumet | Prince of the City |
| 1982 | Sydney Pollack | Tootsie |
| 1983 | Ingmar Bergman | Fanny and Alexander |
| 1984 | David Lean | A Passage to India |
| 1985 | John Huston | Prizzi's Honor |
| 1986 | Woody Allen | Hannah and Her Sisters |
| 1987 | James L. Brooks | Broadcast News |
| 1988 | Chris Menges | A World Apart |
| 1989 | Paul Mazursky | Enemies, A Love Story |

### 1990s

| Year | Winner | Film |
| 1990 | Martin Scorsese | Goodfellas |
| 1991 | Jonathan Demme | The Silence of the Lambs |
| 1992 | Robert Altman | The Player |
| 1993 | Jane Campion | The Piano |
| 1994 | Quentin Tarantino | Pulp Fiction |
| 1995 | Ang Lee | Sense and Sensibility |
| 1996 | Lars von Trier | Breaking the Waves |
| 1997 | Curtis Hanson | L.A. Confidential |
| 1998 | Terrence Malick | The Thin Red Line |
| 1999 | Mike Leigh | Topsy-Turvy |

### 2000s

| Year | Winner | Film |
| 2000 | Steven Soderbergh | Erin Brockovich |
| 2000 | Steven Soderbergh | Traffic |
| 2001 | Robert Altman | Gosford Park |
| 2002 | Todd Haynes | Far from Heaven |
| 2003 | Sofia Coppola | Lost in Translation |
| 2004 | Clint Eastwood | Million Dollar Baby |
| 2005 | Ang Lee | Brokeback Mountain |
| 2006 | Martin Scorsese | The Departed |
| 2007 | Joel Coen and Ethan Coen | No Country for Old Men |
| 2008 | Mike Leigh | Happy-Go-Lucky |
| 2009 | Kathryn Bigelow | The Hurt Locker |

### 2010s

| Year | Winner | Film |
| 2010 | David Fincher | The Social Network |
| 2011 | Michel Hazanavicius | The Artist |
| 2012 | Kathryn Bigelow | Zero Dark Thirty |
| 2013 | Steve McQueen | 12 Years a Slave |
| 2014 | Richard Linklater | Boyhood |
| 2015 | Todd Haynes | Carol |
| 2016 | Barry Jenkins | Moonlight |
| 2017 | Sean Baker | The Florida Project |
| 2018 | Alfonso Cuarón | Roma |
| 2019 | Josh Safdie and Benny Safdie | Uncut Gems |

### 2020s

| Year | Winner | Film |
| 2020 | Chloé Zhao | Nomadland |
| 2021 | Jane Campion | The Power of the Dog |
| 2022 | S. S. Rajamouli | RRR |
| 2023 | Christopher Nolan | Oppenheimer |
| 2024 | RaMell Ross | Nickel Boys |

## Multiple winners

18 directors have won the award multiple times.
| Wins | Director |
| 4 | John Ford |
| 3 | Woody Allen |
| 3 | Robert Altman |
| 3 | John Huston |
| 3 | Elia Kazan |
| 3 | David Lean |
| 3 | Fred Zinnemann |
| 2 | Ingmar Bergman |
| 2 | Kathryn Bigelow |
| 2 | Jane Campion |
| 2 | Jonathan Demme |
| 2 | Todd Haynes |
| 2 | Stanley Kubrick |
| 2 | Ang Lee |
| 2 | Mike Leigh |
| 2 | Terrence Malick |
| 2 | Martin Scorsese |
| 2 | Billy Wilder |