# Satellite Award for Best Director

The Satellite Award for Best Director is one of the annual Satellite Awards given by the International Press Academy.

## Winners and nominees
### 1990s

| Year | Director(s) | Film |
| 1996 | Joel Coen | Fargo |
| 1996 | Scott Hicks | Shine |
| 1996 | Mike Leigh | Secrets & Lies |
| 1996 | Anthony Minghella | The English Patient |
| 1996 | Lars von Trier | Breaking the Waves |
| 1997 | James Cameron | Titanic |
| 1997 | Paul Thomas Anderson | Boogie Nights |
| 1997 | Curtis Hanson | L.A. Confidential |
| 1997 | Steven Spielberg | Amistad |
| 1997 | Gus Van Sant | Good Will Hunting |
| 1998 | Terrence Malick | The Thin Red Line |
| 1998 | John Boorman | The General |
| 1998 | Shekhar Kapur | Elizabeth |
| 1998 | Gary Ross | Pleasantville |
| 1998 | Steven Spielberg | Saving Private Ryan |
| 1999 | Michael Mann | The Insider |
| 1999 | Paul Thomas Anderson | Magnolia |
| 1999 | Sam Mendes | American Beauty |
| 1999 | Anthony Minghella | The Talented Mr. Ripley |
| 1999 | Kimberly Peirce | Boys Don't Cry |

### 2000s

| Year | Director(s) | Film |
| 2000 | Steven Soderbergh | Traffic |
| 2000 | Cameron Crowe | Almost Famous |
| 2000 | Philip Kaufman | Quills |
| 2000 | Ang Lee | Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wo hu cang long) |
| 2000 | Ridley Scott | Gladiator |
| 2000 | Steven Soderbergh | Erin Brockovich |
| 2001 | Baz Luhrmann | Moulin Rouge! |
| 2001 | Jonathan Glazer | Sexy Beast |
| 2001 | Scott McGehee and David Siegel | The Deep End |
| 2001 | John Cameron Mitchell | Hedwig and the Angry Inch |
| 2001 | Christopher Nolan | Memento |
| 2002 | Todd Haynes | Far from Heaven |
| 2002 | Stephen Daldry | The Hours |
| 2002 | Peter Jackson | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers |
| 2002 | Phillip Noyce | The Quiet American |
| 2002 | Denzel Washington | Antwone Fisher |
| 2003 | Jim Sheridan | In America |
| 2003 | Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini | American Splendor |
| 2003 | Niki Caro | Whale Rider |
| 2003 | Sofia Coppola | Lost in Translation |
| 2003 | Clint Eastwood | Mystic River |
| 2003 | Catherine Hardwicke | Thirteen |
| 2004 | Mel Gibson | The Passion of the Christ |
| 2004 | Taylor Hackford | Ray |
| 2004 | Joshua Marston | Maria Full of Grace (María llena eres de gracia) |
| 2004 | Alexander Payne | Sideways |
| 2004 | Martin Scorsese | The Aviator |
| 2005 | Ang Lee | Brokeback Mountain |
| 2005 | George Clooney | Good Night, and Good Luck |
| 2005 | James Mangold | Walk the Line |
| 2005 | Rob Marshall | Memoirs of a Geisha |
| 2005 | Bennett Miller | Capote |
| 2006 | Bill Condon | Dreamgirls |
| 2006 | Clint Eastwood | Flags of Our Fathers |
| 2006 | Pedro Almodóvar | Volver |
| 2006 | Stephen Frears | The Queen |
| 2006 | Alejandro González Iñárritu | Babel |
| 2006 | Martin Scorsese | The Departed |
| 2007 | Joel Coen and Ethan Coen | No Country for Old Men |
| 2007 | David Cronenberg | Eastern Promises |
| 2007 | Olivier Dahan | La Vie en Rose |
| 2007 | Ang Lee | Lust, Caution |
| 2007 | Sidney Lumet | Before the Devil Knows You're Dead |
| 2007 | Sarah Polley | Away from Her |
| 2008 | Danny Boyle | Slumdog Millionaire |
| 2008 | Stephen Daldry | The Reader |
| 2008 | Ron Howard | Frost/Nixon |
| 2008 | Tom McCarthy | The Visitor |
| 2008 | Christopher Nolan | The Dark Knight |
| 2008 | Gus Van Sant | Milk |
| 2009 | Kathryn Bigelow | The Hurt Locker |
| 2009 | Neill Blomkamp | District 9 |
| 2009 | Jane Campion | Bright Star |
| 2009 | Lee Daniels | Precious |
| 2009 | Rob Marshall | Nine |
| 2009 | Lone Scherfig | An Education |

### 2010s

| Year | Director(s) | Film |
| 2010 | David Fincher | The Social Network |
| 2010 | Ben Affleck | The Town |
| 2010 | Darren Aronofsky | Black Swan |
| 2010 | Danny Boyle | 127 Hours |
| 2010 | Lisa Cholodenko | The Kids Are All Right |
| 2010 | Debra Granik | Winter's Bone |
| 2010 | Tom Hooper | The King's Speech |
| 2010 | David Michôd | Animal Kingdom |
| 2010 | Christopher Nolan | Inception |
| 2010 | Roman Polanski | The Ghost Writer |
| 2011 | Nicolas Winding Refn | Drive |
| 2011 | Woody Allen | Midnight in Paris |
| 2011 | Tomas Alfredson | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy |
| 2011 | Michel Hazanavicius | The Artist |
| 2011 | John Michael McDonagh | The Guard |
| 2011 | Steve McQueen | Shame |
| 2011 | Alexander Payne | The Descendants |
| 2011 | Martin Scorsese | Hugo |
| 2011 | Steven Spielberg | War Horse |
| 2011 | Tate Taylor | The Help |
| 2012 | David O. Russell | Silver Linings Playbook |
| 2012 | Ben Affleck | Argo |
| 2012 | Kathryn Bigelow | Zero Dark Thirty |
| 2012 | Kim Ki-duk | Pietà |
| 2012 | Ben Lewin | The Sessions |
| 2012 | Steven Spielberg | Lincoln |
| 2013 | Steve McQueen | 12 Years a Slave |
| 2013 | Woody Allen | Blue Jasmine |
| 2013 | Joel Coen and Ethan Coen | Inside Llewyn Davis |
| 2013 | Alfonso Cuarón | Gravity |
| 2013 | Paul Greengrass | Captain Phillips |
| 2013 | Ron Howard | Rush |
| 2013 | David O. Russell | American Hustle |
| 2013 | Martin Scorsese | The Wolf of Wall Street |
| 2014 | Richard Linklater | Boyhood |
| 2014 | Damien Chazelle | Whiplash |
| 2014 | Ava DuVernay | Selma |
| 2014 | David Fincher | Gone Girl |
| 2014 | Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Birdman |
| 2014 | Morten Tyldum | The Imitation Game |
| 2015 | Tom McCarthy | Spotlight |
| 2015 | Lenny Abrahamson | Room |
| 2015 | Tom Hooper | The Danish Girl |
| 2015 | Alejandro G. Iñárritu | The Revenant |
| 2015 | Ridley Scott | The Martian |
| 2015 | Steven Spielberg | Bridge of Spies |
| 2016 | Kenneth Lonergan | Manchester by the Sea |
| 2016 | Damien Chazelle | La La Land |
| 2016 | Tom Ford | Nocturnal Animals |
| 2016 | Mel Gibson | Hacksaw Ridge |
| 2016 | Barry Jenkins | Moonlight |
| 2016 | Pablo Larraín | Jackie |
| 2016 | Denzel Washington | Fences |
| 2017 | Jordan Peele | Get Out |
| 2017 | Sean Baker | The Florida Project |
| 2017 | Guillermo del Toro | The Shape of Water |
| 2017 | Greta Gerwig | Lady Bird |
| 2017 | Christopher Nolan | Dunkirk |
| 2017 | Dee Rees | Mudbound |
| 2018 | Alfonso Cuarón | Roma |
| 2018 | Bradley Cooper | A Star Is Born |
| 2018 | Peter Farrelly | Green Book |
| 2018 | Barry Jenkins | If Beale Street Could Talk |
| 2018 | Yorgos Lanthimos | The Favourite |
| 2018 | Spike Lee | BlacKkKlansman |
| 2019 | James Mangold | Ford v Ferrari |
| 2019 | Pedro Almodóvar | Pain and Glory |
| 2019 | Noah Baumbach | Marriage Story |
| 2019 | Bong Joon-ho | Parasite |
| 2019 | Sam Mendes | 1917 |
| 2019 | Quentin Tarantino | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood |

### 2020s

| Year | Director(s) | Film |
| 2020 | Chloé Zhao | Nomadland |
| 2020 | Lee Isaac Chung | Minari |
| 2020 | David Fincher | Mank |
| 2020 | Darius Marder | Sound of Metal |
| 2020 | Aaron Sorkin | The Trial of the Chicago 7 |
| 2020 | Florian Zeller | The Father |
| 2021 | Jane Campion | The Power of the Dog |
| 2021 | Paul Thomas Anderson | Licorice Pizza |
| 2021 | Kenneth Branagh | Belfast |
| 2021 | Reinaldo Marcus Green | King Richard |
| 2021 | Lin-Manuel Miranda | tick, tick...BOOM! |
| 2021 | Denis Villeneuve | Dune |
| 2022 | James Cameron | Avatar: The Way of Water |
| 2022 | Joseph Kosinski | Top Gun: Maverick |
| 2022 | Baz Luhrmann | Elvis |
| 2022 | Martin McDonagh | The Banshees of Inisherin |
| 2022 | Sarah Polley | Women Talking |
| 2022 | Steven Spielberg | The Fabelmans |
| 2023 | Christopher Nolan | Oppenheimer |
| 2023 | Greta Gerwig | Barbie |
| 2023 | Jonathan Glazer | The Zone of Interest |
| 2023 | Yorgos Lanthimos | Poor Things |
| 2023 | Alexander Payne | The Holdovers |
| 2023 | Martin Scorsese | Killers of the Flower Moon |
| 2024 | Brady Corbet | The Brutalist |
| 2024 | Sean Baker | Anora |
| 2024 | Edward Berger | Conclave |
| 2024 | Greg Kwedar | Sing Sing |
| 2024 | RaMell Ross | Nickel Boys |
| 2024 | Denis Villeneuve | Dune: Part Two |

## Multiple winners

Only 2 directors have won the award multiple times.
| Wins | Director |
| 2 | Joel Coen |
| 2 | James Cameron |