# List of accolades received by David Lynch

* This article is part of a series aboutDavid Lynch
Personal
Early life and work
Jennifer Lynch (daughter)
Filmography
Eraserhead
The Elephant Man
Dune
Blue Velvet
Twin Peaks
Fire Walk with Me
The Missing Pieces
The Return
Wild at Heart
Lost Highway
The Straight Story
Mulholland Drive
Inland Empire
Discography
Eraserhead
BlueBOB
The Air Is on Fire
Twin Peaks Music: Season Two Music and More
Polish Night Music
Crazy Clown Time
The Big Dream
Thought Gang
Cellophane Memories
Bibliography
Images
Catching the Big Fish
The Air Is on Fire
Dark Night of the Soul
Genealogies of Pain
Room to Dream
Characters
Frank Booth
Dale Cooper
Laura Palmer
Sheriff Harry Truman
Shelly Johnson
Donna Hayward
Audrey Horne
Maddy Ferguson
Benjamin Horne
Phillip Jeffries
Bob
Windom Earle
Mike
Leland Palmer
Log Lady
The Giant
The Man from Another Place / The Arm
Tommy Hill
Bobby Briggs
Related
Unrealized projects
Accolades received
Cultural impact
Frequent collaborators
David Lynch Foundation :
vte :
David Lynch (1946–2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician and actor. Known for his surrealist films, he developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound design. Over his career he won the Honorary Academy Award, two prizes from the Cannes Film Festival and the Golden Lion as well as nominations for two BAFTA Awards, nine Primetime Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Lynch's oeuvre encompasses work in both cinema and television. He received four nominations for the Academy Award for Best Director for his work on the biographical drama The Elephant Man (1980), the neo-noir Blue Velvet (1986), and his surrealist thriller Mulholland Drive (2001). He won the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or for his romance film Wild at Heart (1990). He also directed the space opera Dune (1984), the drama The Straight Story (1999), the surrealist crime drama Lost Highway (1997), and the experimental thriller Inland Empire (2006).
Lynch whilst his television debut, with the ABC mystery-horror series Twin Peaks (1990–1991) which earned five Primetime Emmy Award nominations for its first season. He was nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series and Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. Lynch made a prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) and revival series Twin Peaks: The Return (2017). Indeed, the surreal and in many cases violent elements to his films have earned them the reputation that they "disturb, offend or mystify" their audiences.
In the course of his career, Lynch has received multiple awards and nominations. Amongst these are three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. He received the Academy Honorary Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2019. Lynch has twice won France's César Award for Best Foreign Film, as well as the Palme d'Or and Best Director Prizes at the Cannes Film Festival and a Golden Lion award for lifetime achievement at the Venice Film Festival.
The French government has awarded him the Legion of Honour, the country's top civilian distinction, honoring him first as a Chevalier in 2002 and then as an Officier in 2009; Lynch was also awarded the key to the city of Bydgoszcz, Poland. In 2017, Lynch was awarded The Edward MacDowell Medal by The MacDowell Colony for outstanding contributions to American culture.

## Major associations
### Academy Awards

| Year | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 1980 | Best Adapted Screenplay | The Elephant Man | Nominated |
| 1980 | Best Director | The Elephant Man | Nominated |
| 1986 | Best Director | Blue Velvet | Nominated |
| 2001 | Best Director | Mulholland Drive | Nominated |
| 2019 | Academy Honorary Award | Academy Honorary Award | Won |

### BAFTA Awards

| Year | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
| 1981 | Best Direction | The Elephant Man | Nominated | |
| 1981 | Best Screenplay | The Elephant Man | Nominated | |

### Emmy Awards

| Year | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 1990 | Outstanding Drama Series | Twin Peaks (season one) | Nominated |
| 1990 | Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series | Twin Peaks (season one) | Nominated |
| 1990 | Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series | Twin Peaks (season one) | Nominated |
| 1990 | Outstanding Achievement in Main Title Theme Music | Twin Peaks (season one) | Nominated |
| 1990 | Outstanding Achievement in Music and Lyrics | Twin Peaks (season one) | Nominated |
| 2018 | Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series or Movie | Twin Peaks: The Return | Nominated |
| 2018 | Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series or Movie | Twin Peaks: The Return | Nominated |
| 2018 | Outstanding Single-Camera Editing for a Limited Series | Twin Peaks: The Return | Nominated |
| 2018 | Outstanding Sound Editing for a Limited Series or Movie | Twin Peaks: The Return | Nominated |

### Golden Globe Awards

| Year | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 1980 | Best Director | The Elephant Man | Nominated |
| 1986 | Best Screenplay | Blue Velvet | Nominated |
| 2001 | Best Director | Mulholland Drive | Nominated |
| 2001 | Best Screenplay | Mulholland Drive | Nominated |

### Screen Actors Guild Awards

| Year | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
| 2023 | Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | The Fabelmans (shared with the cast) | Nominated | |

## Industry awards

| Year | Association | Category | Project | Result |
| 1990 | Cannes Film Festival | Palme d'Or | Wild at Heart | Won |
| 1992 | Cannes Film Festival | Palme d'Or | Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me | Nominated |
| 1999 | Cannes Film Festival | Palme d'Or | The Straight Story | Nominated |
| 2001 | Cannes Film Festival | Palme d'Or | Mulholland Drive | Nominated |
| 2001 | Cannes Film Festival | Best Director | Mulholland Drive | Won |
| 1982 | César Awards | Best Foreign Film | The Elephant Man | Won |
| 2002 | César Awards | Best Foreign Film | Mulholland Drive | Won |
| 1980 | Directors Guild of America Awards | Outstanding Directing | The Elephant Man | Nominated |
| 2018 | Dorian Awards | TV Drama of the Year | Twin Peaks: The Return | Nominated |
| 1999 | European Film Awards | Best Non-European Film | The Straight Story | Won |
| 2018 | Golden Reel Awards | Outstanding Sound Editing – Episodic Short Form | Twin Peaks: The Return | Nominated |
| 1987 | Independent Spirit Awards | Best Director | Blue Velvet | Nominated |
| 1987 | Independent Spirit Awards | Best Screenplay | Blue Velvet | Nominated |
| 2000 | Independent Spirit Awards | Best Director | The Straight Story | Nominated |
| 2007 | Independent Spirit Awards | Special Distinction Award (Won with Laura Dern) | Special Distinction Award (Won with Laura Dern) | Won |
| 1993 | Saturn Awards | Best Writing | Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me | Nominated |
| 2018 | Saturn Awards | Best Guest Performance in a Television Series | Twin Peaks: The Return | Won |
| 2006 | Venice Film Festival | Future Film Festival Digital Award | Inland Empire | Won |
| 2006 | Venice Film Festival | Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement | Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement | Won |

## Critics awards

| Year | Association | Category | Project | Result |
| 2002 | American Film Institute | Best Director | Mulholland Drive | Nominated |
| 1986 | Boston Society of Film Critics | Best Director | Blue Velvet | Won |
| 2002 | Boston Society of Film Critics | Best Director | Mulholland Drive | Won |
| 2001 | Chicago Film Critics Association | Best Director | Mulholland Drive | Won |
| 1986 | Los Angeles Film Critics Association | Best Director | Blue Velvet | Won |
| 2001 | Los Angeles Film Critics Association | Best Director | Mulholland Drive | Won |
| 1986 | National Society of Film Critics | Best Director | Blue Velvet | Won |
| 2006 | National Society of Film Critics | Best Experimental Film | Inland Empire | Won |
| 2001 | Toronto Film Critics Association | Best Director | Mulholland Drive | Won |

## Honorary awards

| Year | Association | Award | Result |
| 1991 | American Film Institute | Schnaffer Alumni Medal | Won |
| 2000 | Camerimage | Award for the Director with Special Visual Sensitivity | Won |
| 2000 | Camerimage | Award for Director–Cinematographer Duo (Won with Fred Elmes) | Won |
| 2003 | Camerimage | Order for the Contribution to Polish Culture | Won |
| 2012 | Camerimage | Lifetime Achievement Award | Won |
| 2003 | Stockholm Film Festival | Lifetime Achievement Award | Won |

## Awards and nominations received by Lynch's films

| Year | Title | Academy Awards | Academy Awards | BAFTA Awards | BAFTA Awards | Golden Globe Awards | Golden Globe Awards |
| Year | Title | Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins |
| 1980 | The Elephant Man | 8 | | 7 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1984 | Dune | 1 | | | | | |
| 1986 | Blue Velvet | 1 | | | | 2 | |
| 1990 | Wild at Heart | 1 | | 1 | | 1 | |
| 1999 | The Straight Story | 1 | | | | 2 | |
| 2001 | Mulholland Drive | 1 | | 2 | 1 | 4 | |
| Total | Total | 15 | | 10 | 4 | 15 | |

## Special honors

Lynch has also been honored by the French government with induction into the Legion of Honour, first being honored as a Chevalier (knight) in 2002, and again as an Officier (officer) in 2009. In 2012, Lynch was presented with the key to the city of Bydgoszcz, Poland, by the city's mayor Rafał Bruski. The presentation was part of that year's Plus Camerimage festival.