# Asian Film Award for Best Director

Asian Film Award for Best Director is presented annually by the Asian Film Awards Academy (AFAA), a non-profit organization founded by Busan International Film Festival, Hong Kong International Film Festival and Tokyo International Film Festival with the shared goal of celebrating excellence in Asian cinema. It was first presented in 2007.

## Winners and nominees
### 2000s

| Year | Recipient(s) | English title | Original title |
| 2007 | Jia Zhangke | Still Life | 三峡好人 |
| 2007 | Hong Sang-soo | Woman on the Beach | 해변의 여인 |
| 2007 | Jafar Panahi | Offside | آفساید |
| 2007 | Johnnie To | Exiled | 放逐 |
| 2007 | Tsai Ming-liang | I Don't Want to Sleep Alone | 黑眼圈 |
| 2007 | Apichatpong Weerasethakul | Syndromes and a Century | อภิชาติพงศ์ วีระเศรษฐกุล |
| 2008 | Lee Chang-dong | Secret Sunshine | 밀양 |
| 2008 | Peter Chan | The Warlords | 投名状 |
| 2008 | Jiang Wen | The Sun Also Rises | 太阳照常升起 |
| 2008 | Ang Lee | Lust, Caution | 投名状 |
| 2008 | Masayuki Suo | I Just Didn't Do It | それでもボクはやってない |
| 2008 | Zhang Lu | Desert Dream | 경계 |
| 2009 | Hirokazu Koreeda | Still Walking | 歩いても 歩いても |
| 2009 | Feng Xiaogang | If You Are the One | 非诚勿扰 |
| 2009 | Kim Jee-woon | The Good, the Bad, the Weird | 좋은 놈, 나쁜 놈, 이상한 놈 |
| 2009 | Brillante Mendoza | Service | Serbis |
| 2009 | Hayao Miyazaki | Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea | 崖の上のポニョ |
| 2009 | John Woo | Red Cliff | — |

### 2010s

| Year | Recipient(s) | English title | Original title |
| 2010 | Lu Chuan | City of Life and Death | 南京! 南京! |
| 2010 | Bong Joon-ho | Mother | 마더 |
| 2010 | Asghar Farhadi | About Elly | درباره الی, Darbareye Elly |
| 2010 | Brillante Mendoza | Grandmother | Lola |
| 2010 | Sion Sono | Love Exposure | 愛のむきだし |
| 2010 | Yonfan | Prince of Tears | 淚王子 |
| 2011 | Lee Chang-dong | Poetry | 시 |
| 2011 | Feng Xiaogang | Aftershock | 唐山大地震 |
| 2011 | Jiang Wen | Let the Bullets Fly | 让子弹飞 |
| 2011 | Takashi Miike | 13 Assassins | 十三人の刺客 |
| 2011 | Na Hong-jin | The Yellow Sea | 황해 |
| 2011 | Tetsuya Nakashima | Confessions | 告白 |
| 2012 | Asghar Farhadi | A Separation | جدایی نادر از سیمین, Jodái-e Náder az Simin |
| 2012 | Teddy Soeriaatmadja | Lovely Man | — |
| 2012 | Sion Sono | Guilty of Romance | 恋の罪 |
| 2012 | Tsui Hark | Flying Swords of Dragon Gate | — |
| 2012 | Wei Te-sheng | Seediq Bale | 賽德克·巴萊 |
| 2012 | Zhang Yimou | The Flowers of War | 金陵十三钗 |
| 2013 | Takeshi Kitano | Outrage Beyond | アウトレイジ ビヨンド |
| 2013 | Anurag Kashyap | Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 1 & 2 | — |
| 2013 | Abbas Kiarostami | Like Someone in Love | ライク・サムワン・イン・ラブ |
| 2013 | Kim Ki-duk | Pietà | 피에타 |
| 2013 | Lou Ye | Mystery | 浮城谜事 |
| 2014 | Wong Kar-wai | The Grandmaster | 一代宗師 |
| 2014 | Bong Joon-ho | Snowpiercer | 설국열차 |
| 2014 | Anthony Chen | Ilo Ilo | 爸妈不在家 |
| 2014 | Hirokazu Koreeda | Like Father, Like Son | そして父になる, Soshite Chichi ni Naru |
| 2014 | Tsai Ming-liang | Stray Dogs | Jiao You |
| 2015 | Ann Hui | The Golden Era | 黃金時代 |
| 2015 | Vishal Bhardwaj | Haider | — |
| 2015 | Lav Diaz | From What Is Before | Mula sa Kung Ano ang Noon |
| 2015 | Hong Sang-soo | Hill of Freedom | 자유의 언덕 |
| 2015 | Lou Ye | Blind Massage | 推拿 |
| 2015 | Shinya Tsukamoto | Fires on the Plain | Nobi |
| 2016 | Hou Hsiao-hsien | The Assassin | 刺客聶隱娘 |
| 2016 | Guan Hu | Mr. Six | 老炮兒 |
| 2016 | Jia Zhangke | Mountains May Depart | 山河故人 |
| 2016 | Hirokazu Kore-eda | Our Little Sister | 海街diary |
| 2016 | Ryoo Seung-wan | Veteran | 베테랑 |
| 2017 | Na Hong-jin | The Wailing | 곡성 |
| 2017 | Lav Diaz | The Woman Who Left | Ang Babaeng Humayo |
| 2017 | Feng Xiaogang | I Am Not Madame Bovary | 我不是潘金莲 |
| 2017 | Kōji Fukada | Harmonium | 淵に立つ |
| 2017 | Derek Tsang | Soul Mate | 七月與安生 |
| 2018 |
| 2018 | Yuya Ishii | The Tokyo Night Sky Is Always the Densest Shade of Blue | 映画 夜空はいつでも最高密度の青色だ |
| 2018 | Sylvia Chang | Love Education | 相愛相親 |
| 2018 | Chen Kaige | Legend of the Demon Cat | 妖猫传 |
| 2018 | Feng Xiaogang | Youth | 芳华 |
| 2018 | Hong Sang-soo | The Day After | 그 후 |
| 2018 | Ann Hui | Our Time Will Come | 明月幾時有 |
| 2019 | Lee Chang-dong | Burning | 버닝 |
| 2019 | Pema Tseden | Jinpa | 撞死了一只羊 |
| 2019 | Rajkumar Hirani | Sanju | |
| 2019 | Hirokazu Kore-eda | Shoplifters | 万引き家族 |
| 2019 | Fruit Chan | Three Husbands | 三夫 |

### 2020s

| Year | Recipient(s) | English title | Original title | Ref. |
| 2020 | Wang Xiaoshuai | So Long, My Son | 地久天长 | |
| 2020 | Pema Tseden | Balloon | དབུགས་ལྒང་། (Tibetan); 气球 (Simplified Chinese) | |
| 2020 | Tsai Ming-liang | Days | 日子 | |
| 2020 | Bong Joon-ho | Parasite | 기생충 | |
| 2020 | Chung Mong-hong | A Sun | 陽光普照 | |
| 2020 | Nobuhiro Suwa | Voices in the Wind | 風の電話 | |
| 2021 | Zhang Yimou | One Second | 一秒钟 | |
| 2021 | Adhilkan Yerzhanov | Yellow Cat | — | |
| 2021 | Kiyoshi Kurosawa | Wife of a Spy | スパイの妻 | |
| 2021 | Ryusuke Hamaguchi | Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy | 偶然と想像 | |
| 2021 | Lee Joon-ik | The Book of Fish | 자산어보 | |
| 2023 | Hirokazu Kore-eda | Broker | 브로커 | [1] [2] |
| 2023 | Park Chan-wook | Decision to Leave | 헤어질 결심 | [1] [2] |
| 2023 | Ryusuke Hamaguchi | Drive My Car | ドライブ・マイ・カー | [1] [2] |
| 2023 | Davy Chou | Return to Seoul | Retour à Séoul | [1] [2] |
| 2023 | Darezhan Omirbaev | Poet | Akyn | [1] [2] |
| 2024 | Hirokazu Kore-eda | Monster | 怪物 | |
| 2024 | Gu Xiaogang | Dwelling by the West Lake | 草木人間 | |
| 2024 | Ryusuke Hamaguchi | Evil Does Not Exist | 悪は存在しない | |
| 2024 | Kim Sung-su | 12.12: The Day | 서울의 봄 | |
| 2024 | Prasanna Vithanage | Paradise | Paradise | |
| 2025 | Daihachi Yoshida | Teki Cometh | 敵 | |
| 2025 | Payal Kapadia | All We Imagine as Light | All We Imagine as Light | |
| 2025 | Jang Jae-hyun | Exhuma | 파묘 | |
| 2025 | Guan Hu | Black Dog | 狗阵 | |
| 2025 | Rithy Panh | Meeting with Pol Pot | Rendez-vous avec Pol Pot | |