# German Film Award for Best Director

The German Film Award for Best Director recognizes a film director who has exhibited outstanding directing while working in the German film industry.

## Multiple wins and nominations

The following individuals received two or more Best Director awards:
| Wins | Director |
| 4 | Bernhard Wicki |
| 3 | Andreas Dresen |
| 3 | Volker Schlöndorff |
| 3 | Werner Schroeter |
| 3 | Wim Wenders |
| 2 | Fatih Akin |
| 2 | Helmut Dietl |
| 2 | Rainer Werner Fassbinder |
| 2 | Helmut Käutner |
| 2 | Peter Lilienthal |
| 2 | Johannes Schaaf |
| 2 | Tom Tykwer |
The following individuals received three or more Best Director nominations:
| Nominations | Director |
| 7 | Andreas Dresen |
| 6 | Tom Tykwer |
| 5 | Dominik Graf |
| 5 | Christian Petzold |
| 5 | Wim Wenders |
| 4 | Fatih Akin |
| 4 | Volker Schlöndorff |
| 4 | Bernhard Wicki |

## All winners and nominees
### 1956-1996

| Year | Winner | English title | Original title |
| 1951 | Josef von Báky | Two Times Lotte | Das doppelte Lottchen |
| 1952 | Award not given | Award not given | Award not given |
| 1953 | Rudolf Jugert | Nights on the Road (aka The Mistress) | Nachts auf den Straßen |
| 1954 | Helmut Käutner | The Last Bridge | Die letzte Brücke |
| 1955 | Alfred Weidenmann | Canaris | Canaris |
| 1956 | Award not given | Award not given | Award not given |
| 1957 | Helmut Käutner | The Captain from Köpenick | Der Hauptmann von Köpenick |
| 1958 | Robert Siodmak | The Devil Strikes at Night | Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam |
| 1959 | Frank Wisbar | Stalingrad: Dogs, Do You Want to Live Forever? (aka Battle Inferno) | Hunde, wollt ihr ewig leben |
| 1960 | Bernhard Wicki | The Bridge | Die Brücke |
| 1961– 1964 | Award not given | Award not given | Award not given |
| 1965 | Kurt Hoffmann | The House in Karp Lane | Das Haus in der Karpfengasse |
| 1966 | Ulrich Schamoni | It | Es |
| 1966 | Volker Schlöndorff | Young Törless | Der junge Törless |
| 1967 | Alexander Kluge | Yesterday Girl | Abschied von gestern (Anita G.) |
| 1968 | Johannes Schaaf | Tattoo | Tätowierung |
| 1969 | Peter Zadek | I'm an Elephant, Madame | Ich bin ein Elefant, Madame |
| 1970 | Award not given | Award not given | Award not given |
| 1971 | Michael Fengler, Rainer Werner Fassbinder | Why Does Herr R. Run Amok? | Warum läuft Herr R. Amok? |
| 1971 | Volker Schlöndorff | The Sudden Wealth of the Poor People of Kombach | Der plötzliche Reichtum der armen Leute von Kombach |
| 1972 | Johannes Schaaf | Trotta | Trotta |
| 1972 | Bernhard Wicki | The False Weight [de] | Das falsche Gewicht |
| 1973 | Award not given | Award not given | Award not given |
| 1974 | Roland Klick | Supermarket | Supermarkt |
| 1975 | Wim Wenders | The Wrong Move | Falsche Bewegung |
| 1976 | Award not given | Award not given | Award not given |
| 1977 | Volker Schlöndorff | Coup de Grâce | Der Fangschuß |
| 1978 | Rainer Werner Fassbinder | Despair | Despair – Eine Reise ins Licht |
| 1978 | Wim Wenders | The American Friend | Der amerikanische Freund |
| 1979 | Rainer Werner Fassbinder | The Marriage of Maria Braun | Die Ehe der Maria Braun |
| 1979 | Werner Schroeter | The Reign of Naples [it] | Neapolitanische Geschwister |
| 1980 | Heidi Genée | 1+1=3 | 1+1=3 |
| 1981 | Walter Bockmayer Rolf Bührmann | Looping [de] | Looping [de] |
| 1982 | Werner Schroeter | Day of the Idiots | Tag der Idioten |
| 1983 | Peter Lilienthal | Dear Mr. Wonderful | Dear Mr. Wonderful |
| 1983 | Lutz Konermann [de] | Aufdermauer | Aufdermauer |
| 1984 | Josef Rusnak | Cold Fever | Kaltes Fieber |
| 1984 | Uwe Schrader [de] | White Trash [de] | Kanakerbraut |
| 1985 | Maria Knilli | Dear Karl | Lieber Karl |
| 1985 | Bernhard Wicki | Grünstein's Clever Move [de] | Die Grünstein-Variante |
| 1986 | Hans-Jürgen Syberberg | Die Nacht | Die Nacht |
| 1987 | Peter Lilienthal | Das Schweigen des Dichters | Das Schweigen des Dichters |
| 1988 | Dominik Graf | The Cat | Die Katze |
| 1989 | Maria Theresia Wagner | Die Nacht des Marders | Die Nacht des Marders |
| 1990 | Uli Edel | Last Exit to Brooklyn | Letzte Ausfahrt Brooklyn |
| 1990 | Bernhard Wicki | Spider's Web | Das Spinnennetz |
| 1991 | Werner Schroeter | Malina | Malina |
| 1992 | Helmut Dietl | Schtonk! | Schtonk! |
| 1993 | Adolf Winkelmann | North Curve [de] | Nordkurve |
| 1994 | Peter Sehr [de] | Kaspar Hauser [de] | Kaspar Hauser [de] |

### 1990s

| Year | Winners and nominees | English title | Original title |
| 1995 | Sönke Wortmann | Maybe… Maybe Not | Der bewegte Mann |
| 1995 | Doris Dörrie | Nobody Loves Me | Keiner liebt mich |
| 1995 | Dominik Graf | The Invincibles [de] | Die Sieger |
| 1996 | Romuald Karmakar | Deathmaker | Der Totmacher |
| 1996 | Rainer Kaufmann | Talk of the Town | Stadtgespräch |
| 1996 | Dani Levy | Silent Night | Stille Nacht |
| 1997 | Helmut Dietl | Rossini [de] | Rossini – oder die mörderische Frage, wer mit wem schlief |
| 1997 | Caroline Link | Beyond Silence | Jenseits der Stille |
| 1997 | Roland Suso Richter | 14 Days to Life | 14 Tage lebenslänglich |
| 1998 | Wim Wenders | The End of Violence | Am Ende der Gewalt |
| 1998 | Tom Tykwer | Winter Sleepers | Winterschläfer |
| 1998 | Joseph Vilsmaier | The Harmonists | Comedian Harmonists |
| 1999 | Tom Tykwer | Run Lola Run | Lola rennt |
| 1999 | Fatih Akın | Short Sharp Shock | Kurz und schmerzlos |
| 1999 | Andreas Dresen | Nightshapes | Nachtgestalten |

### 2000s

| Year | Winners and nominees | English title | Original title |
| 2000 | Pepe Danquart | Heimspiel | Heimspiel |
| 2000 | Veit Helmer | Tuvalu | Tuvalu |
| 2000 | Wim Wenders | The Million Dollar Hotel | The Million Dollar Hotel |
| 2001 | Esther Gronenborn | Alaska.de | Alaska.de |
| 2001 | Christian Petzold | The State I Am In | Die innere Sicherheit |
| 2001 | Tom Tykwer | The Princess and the Warrior | Der Krieger und die Kaiserin |
| 2002 | Caroline Link | Nowhere in Africa | Jenseits von Afrika |
| 2002 | Andreas Dresen | Grill Point | Halbe Treppe |
| 2002 | Dominik Graf | A Map of the Heart | Der Felsen |
| 2003 | Wolfgang Becker | Good Bye, Lenin! | Good Bye, Lenin! |
| 2003 | Hans-Christian Schmid | Distant Lights | Lichter |
| 2003 | Tony Wigand | The Flying Classroom [de] | Das fliegende Klassenzimmer |
| 2004 | Fatih Akın | Head-On | Gegen die Wand |
| 2004 | Christian Petzold | Wolfsburg | Wolfsburg |
| 2004 | Sönke Wortmann | The Miracle of Bern | Das Wunder von Bern |
| 2005 | Dani Levy | Go for Zucker | Alles auf Zucker! |
| 2005 | Hans Weingartner | The Edukators | Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei |
| 2005 | Volker Schlöndorff | The Ninth Day | Der neunte Tag |
| 2006 | Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck | The Lives of Others | Das Leben der Anderen |
| 2006 | Andreas Dresen | Summer in Berlin | Sommer vorm Balkon |
| 2006 | Hans-Christian Schmid | Requiem | Requiem |
| 2007 | Marcus H. Rosenmüller | Grave Decisions | Wer früher stirbt, ist länger tot |
| 2007 | Matthias Glasner | The Free Will | Der freie Wille |
| 2007 | Chris Kraus | Four Minutes | Vier Minuten |
| 2007 | Tom Tykwer | Perfume: The Story of a Murderer | Das Parfum - Die Geschichte eines Mörders |
| 2008 | Fatih Akın | The Edge of Heaven | Auf der anderen Seite |
| 2008 | Doris Dörrie | Cherry Blossoms | Hanami - Kirschblüten |
| 2008 | Christian Petzold | Yella | Yella |
| 2009 | Andreas Dresen | Cloud Nine | Wolke Neun |
| 2009 | Uli Edel | The Baader Meinhof Complex | Der Baader Meinhof Komplex |
| 2009 | Florian Gallenberger | John Rabe | John Rabe |
| 2009 | Christian Petzold | Jerichow | Jerichow |

### 2010s

| Year | Winners and nominees | English title |
| 2010 | Michael Haneke | The White Ribbon |
| 2010 | Maren Ade | Everyone Else |
| 2010 | Feo Aladag | When We Leave |
| 2010 | Hans-Christian Schmid | Storm |
| 2011 | Tom Tykwer | Three |
| 2011 | Florian Cossen [de] | The Day I Was Not Born [de] |
| 2011 | Wim Wenders | Pina |
| 2012 | Andreas Dresen | Stopped on Track |
| 2012 | Christian Petzold | Barbara |
| 2012 | Hans Weingartner | Hut in the Woods |
| 2013 | Jan-Ole Gerster | A Coffee in Berlin |
| 2013 | Margarethe von Trotta | Hannah Arendt |
| 2013 | Lana Wachowski, Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski | Cloud Atlas |
| 2014 | Edgar Reitz | Home from Home |
| 2014 | Andreas Prochaska | The Dark Valley |
| 2014 | Katrin Gebbe | Nothing Bad Can Happen |
| 2015 | Sebastian Schipper | Victoria |
| 2015 | Edward Berger | Jack |
| 2015 | Dominik Graf | Beloved Sisters |
| 2015 | Johannes Naber | Age of Cannibals |
| 2016 | Lars Kraume | The People vs. Fritz Bauer |
| 2016 | Maria Schrader | Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe |
| 2016 | David Wnendt | Look Who's Back |
| 2017 | Maren Ade | Toni Erdmann |
| 2017 | Anne Zohra Berrached | 24 Weeks |
| 2017 | Chris Kraus | The Bloom of Yesterday |
| 2017 | Nicolette Krebitz | Wild |
| 2018 | Emily Atef | 3 Days in Quiberon |
| 2018 | Fatih Akin | In the Fade |
| 2018 | Valeska Grisebach | Western |
| 2019 | Andreas Dresen | Gundermann |
| 2019 | Wolfgang Fischer | Styx |
| 2019 | Caroline Link | All About Me |

### 2020s

| Year | Winners and nominees | English title |
| 2020 | Nora Fingscheidt | System Crasher |
| 2020 | İlker Çatak | I Was, I Am, I Will Be |
| 2020 | Burhan Qurbani | Berlin Alexanderplatz |
| 2021 | Maria Schrader | I'm Your Man |
| 2021 | Dominik Graf | Fabian: Going to the Dogs |
| 2021 | Maria Speth | Herr Bachmann und seine Klasse |
| 2022 | Andreas Kleinert | Dear Thomas |
| 2022 | Andreas Dresen | Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush |
| 2022 | Sebastian Meise | Great Freedom |
| 2023 | İlker Çatak | The Teachers' Lounge |
| 2023 | Ali Abbasi | Holy Spider |
| 2023 | Edward Berger | All Quiet on the Western Front |
| 2023 | Sonja Heiss | Wann wird es endlich wieder so, wie es nie war |
| 2024 | Ayşe Polat | In the Blind Spot |
| 2024 | Matthias Glasner | Dying |
| 2024 | Timm Kröger | The Universal Theory |