Academy Award for Best Director

The Academy Award for Best Directing (Best Director), usually known as the Best Director Oscar, is one of the Awards of Merit presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to directors for a movie.

Nominations for Best Director are made by members in the academy's Directing branch. The award winners are selected by the academy membership as a whole.

Winners and nominees
1920s
In the first year only, the award was separated into Dramatic Direction and Comedy Direction.

YearWinnerfilmNominated 1927/28 (Dramatic) Frank Borzage – Seventh Heaven Herbert Brenon – Sorrell and SonKing Vidor – The Crowd 1927/28 (Comedy) Lewis Milestone – Two Arabian Knights Ted Wilde – Speedy 1928/29 Frank Lloyd – The Divine Lady Lionel Barrymore – Madame X Harry Beaumont – The Broadway Melody Irving Cummings – In Old Arizona Frank Lloyd - Drag and Weary River Ernst Lubitsch – The Patriot 1929/30 Lewis Milestone – All Quiet on the Western Front Clarence Brown – Anna Christie and Romance Robert Z. Leonard – The Divorcée Ernst Lubitsch – The Love Parade King Vidor – Hallelujah

1930s
YearWinnerfilmNominated 1930/31 Norman Taurog – Skippy Clarence Brown – A Free Soul Lewis Milestone – The Front Page Wesley Ruggles – Cimarron Josef von Sternberg – Morocco 1931/32 Frank Borzage – Bad Girl King Vidor – The Champ Josef von Sternberg – Shanghai Express 1932/33 Frank Lloyd – Cavalcade Frank Capra – Lady for a Day George Cukor – Little Women
(The academy also announced that Capra came in second, and Cukor last.) 1934 Frank Capra – It Happened One Night Victor Schertzinger – One Night of Love W. S. Van Dyke – The Thin Man
(The academy also announced that Van Dyke came in second, and Schertzinger last.) 1935 John Ford – The Informer Henry Hathaway – The Lives of a Bengal LancerFrank Lloyd – Mutiny on the Bounty
(The academy also announced that write-in candidate Michael Curtiz, for Captain Blood, came in second, and Hathaway third.) 1936 Frank Capra – Mr. Deeds Goes to Town Gregory La Cava – My Man Godfrey Robert Z. Leonard – The Great Ziegfeld W. S. Van Dyke – San Francisco William Wyler – Dodsworth 1937 Leo McCarey – The Awful TruthWilliam Dieterle – The Life of Emile ZolaSidney Franklin – The Good Earth Gregory La Cava – Stage DoorWilliam A. Wellman – A Star Is Born 1938 Frank Capra – You Can't Take It with You Michael Curtiz – Angels with Dirty FacesMichael Curtiz – Four DaughtersNorman Taurog – Boys TownKing Vidor – The Citadel 1939 Victor Fleming – Gone with the Wind Frank Capra – Mr. Smith Goes to WashingtonJohn Ford – StagecoachSam Wood – Goodbye, Mr. Chips William Wyler – Wuthering Heights

1940s

YearWinnerfilmNominated 1940 John Ford – The Grapes of Wrath George Cukor – The Philadelphia StoryAlfred Hitchcock – Rebecca Sam Wood – Kitty Foyle William Wyler – The Letter 1941 John Ford – How Green Was My Valley Alexander Hall – Here Comes Mr. Jordan Howard Hawks – Sergeant York Orson Welles – Citizen Kane William Wyler – The Little Foxes 1942 William Wyler – Mrs. Miniver Michael Curtiz – Yankee Doodle Dandy John Farrow – Wake Island Mervyn LeRoy – Random Harvest Sam Wood – Kings Row 1943 Michael Curtiz – Casablanca Clarence Brown – The Human Comedy Henry King – The Song of Bernadette Ernst Lubitsch – Heaven Can Wait George Stevens – The More the Merrier 1944 Leo McCarey – Going My Way Alfred Hitchcock – Lifeboat Henry King – Wilson Otto Preminger – Laura Billy Wilder – Double Indemnity 1945 Billy Wilder – The Lost Weekend Clarence Brown – National Velvet Alfred Hitchcock – Spellbound Leo McCarey – The Bells of St. Mary's Jean Renoir – The Southerner 1946 William Wyler – The Best Years of Our Lives Clarence Brown – The Yearling Frank Capra – It's a Wonderful Life David Lean – Brief Encounter Robert Siodmak – The Killers 1947 Elia Kazan – Gentleman's Agreement George Cukor – A Double Life Edward Dmytryk – Crossfire Henry Koster – The Bishop's Wife David Lean – Great Expectations 1948 John Huston – The Treasure of the Sierra Madre Anatole Litvak – The Snake Pit Jean Negulesco – Johnny Belinda Laurence Olivier – Hamlet Fred Zinnemann – The Search 1949 Joseph L. Mankiewicz – A Letter to Three Wives Carol Reed – The Fallen Idol Robert Rossen – All the King's Men William A. Wellman – Battleground William Wyler – The Heiress

1950s
YearWinnerfilmNominated 1950 Joseph L. Mankiewicz – All About Eve George Cukor – Born Yesterday John Huston – The Asphalt Jungle Carol Reed – The Third Man Billy Wilder – Sunset Boulevard 1951 George Stevens – A Place in the Sun John Huston – The African Queen Elia Kazan – A Streetcar Named Desire Vincente Minnelli – An American in Paris William Wyler – Detective Story 1952 John Ford – The Quiet Man Cecil B. DeMille – The Greatest Show on Earth John Huston – Moulin RougeJoseph L. Mankiewicz – 5 Fingers Fred Zinnemann – High Noon 1953 Fred Zinnemann – From Here to Eternity George Stevens – Shane Charles Walters – Lili Billy Wilder – Stalag 17 William Wyler – Roman Holiday 1954 Elia Kazan – On the Waterfront Alfred Hitchcock – Rear Window George Seaton – The Country Girl William A. Wellman – The High and the Mighty Billy Wilder – Sabrina 1955 Delbert Mann – Marty Elia Kazan – East of Eden David Lean – Summertime Joshua Logan – Picnic John Sturges – Bad Day at Black Rock 1956 George Stevens – Giant Michael Anderson – Around the World in 80 Days Walter Lang – The King and I King Vidor – War and Peace William Wyler – Friendly Persuasion 1957 David Lean – The Bridge on the River Kwai Joshua Logan – Sayonara Sidney Lumet – 12 Angry Men Mark Robson – Peyton Place Billy Wilder – Witness for the Prosecution 1958 Vincente Minnelli – Gigi Richard Brooks – Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Stanley Kramer – The Defiant Ones Mark Robson – The Inn of the Sixth Happiness Robert Wise – I Want to Live! 1959 William Wyler – Ben-Hur Jack Clayton – Room at the Top George Stevens – The Diary of Anne Frank Billy Wilder – Some Like It Hot Fred Zinnemann – The Nun's Story

1960s
YearWinnerfilmNominated 1960 Billy Wilder – The Apartment Jack Cardiff – Sons and Lovers Jules Dassin – Never on Sunday Alfred Hitchcock – Psycho Fred Zinnemann – The Sundowners 1961 Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins – West Side Story Federico Fellini – La Dolce Vita Stanley Kramer – Judgment at Nuremberg Robert Rossen – The Hustler J. Lee Thompson – The Guns of Navarone 1962 David Lean – Lawrence of Arabia Pietro Germi – Divorce, Italian Style Robert Mulligan – To Kill a Mockingbird Arthur Penn – The Miracle Worker Frank Perry – David and Lisa 1963 Tony Richardson – Tom Jones Federico Fellini – 8½ Elia Kazan – America, America Otto Preminger – The Cardinal Martin Ritt – Hud 1964 George Cukor – My Fair Lady Michael Cacoyannis – Zorba the Greek Peter Glenville – Becket Stanley Kubrick – Dr. Strangelove Robert Stevenson – Mary Poppins 1965 Robert Wise – The Sound of Music David Lean – Doctor Zhivago John Schlesinger – Darling Hiroshi Teshigahara – The Woman in the Dunes William Wyler – The Collector 1966 Fred Zinnemann – A Man for All Seasons Michelangelo Antonioni – Blowup Richard Brooks – The Professionals Claude Lelouch – A Man and a Woman Mike Nichols – Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 1967 Mike Nichols – The Graduate Richard Brooks – In Cold BloodNorman Jewison – In the Heat of the NightStanley Kramer – Guess Who's Coming to DinnerArthur Penn – Bonnie and Clyde 1968 Carol Reed – Oliver! Anthony Harvey – The Lion in Winter Stanley Kubrick – 2001: A Space Odyssey Gillo Pontecorvo – The Battle of Algiers Franco Zeffirelli – Romeo and Juliet 1969 John Schlesinger – Midnight Cowboy Costa Gavras – Z George Roy Hill – Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Arthur Penn – Alice's Restaurant Sydney Pollack – They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

1970s
YearWinnerfilmNominated 1970 Franklin J. Schaffner – Patton Robert Altman – MASH Federico Fellini – Satyricon Arthur Hiller – Love Story Ken Russell – Women in Love 1971 William Friedkin – The French Connection Peter Bogdanovich – The Last Picture Show Norman Jewison – Fiddler on the Roof Stanley Kubrick – A Clockwork Orange John Schlesinger – Sunday Bloody Sunday 1972 Bob Fosse – Cabaret John Boorman – Deliverance Francis Ford Coppola – The Godfather Joseph L. Mankiewicz – SleuthJan Troell – The Emigrants 1973 George Roy Hill – The Sting Ingmar Bergman – Cries and Whispers Bernardo Bertolucci - Last Tango in Paris William Friedkin - The ExorcistGeorge Lucas – American Graffiti 1974 Francis Ford Coppola – The Godfather Part II John Cassavetes – A Woman Under the Influence Bob Fosse – Lenny Roman Polanski – Chinatown François Truffaut – Day for Night 1975 Miloš Forman – One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Robert Altman – Nashville Federico Fellini – AmarcordStanley Kubrick – Barry Lyndon Sidney Lumet – Dog Day Afternoon 1976 John G. Avildsen – Rocky Ingmar Bergman – Face to Face Sidney Lumet – Network Alan J. Pakula – All the President's Men Lina Wertmüller – Seven Beauties 1977 Woody Allen – Annie Hall George Lucas – Star Wars Herbert Ross – The Turning Point Steven Spielberg – Close Encounters of the Third Kind Fred Zinnemann – Julia 1978 Michael Cimino – The Deer Hunter Woody Allen – Interiors Hal Ashby – Coming Home Warren Beatty & Buck Henry – Heaven Can Wait Alan Parker – Midnight Express 1979 Robert Benton – Kramer vs. Kramer Francis Ford Coppola – Apocalypse Now Bob Fosse – All That Jazz Édouard Molinaro – La Cage aux Folles Peter Yates – Breaking Away

1980s
YearWinnerfilmNominated 1980 Robert Redford – Ordinary People David Lynch – The Elephant Man Roman Polanski – TessRichard Rush – The Stunt Man Martin Scorsese – Raging Bull 1981 Warren Beatty – Reds Hugh Hudson – Chariots of Fire Louis Malle – Atlantic City Mark Rydell – On Golden Pond Steven Spielberg – Raiders of the Lost Ark 1982 Richard Attenborough – Gandhi Sidney Lumet – The Verdict Wolfgang Petersen – Das Boot Sydney Pollack – Tootsie Steven Spielberg – E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 1983 James L. Brooks – Terms of Endearment Bruce Beresford – Tender Mercies Ingmar Bergman – Fanny and Alexander Mike Nichols – Silkwood Peter Yates – The Dresser 1984 Miloš Forman – Amadeus Woody Allen – Broadway Danny Rose Robert Benton – Places in the Heart Roland Joffé – The Killing Fields David Lean – A Passage to India 1985 Sydney Pollack – Out of Africa Héctor Babenco – Kiss of the Spider Woman John Huston – Prizzi's Honor Akira Kurosawa – Ran Peter Weir – Witness 1986 Oliver Stone – Platoon Woody Allen – Hannah and Her Sisters James Ivory – A Room with a View Roland Joffé – The Mission David Lynch – Blue Velvet 1987 Bernardo Bertolucci – The Last Emperor John Boorman – Hope and Glory Lasse Hallström – My Life as a Dog Norman Jewison – Moonstruck Adrian Lyne – Fatal Attraction 1988 Barry Levinson – Rain Man Charles Crichton – A Fish Called WandaMike Nichols – Working Girl Alan Parker – Mississippi Burning Martin Scorsese – The Last Temptation of Christ 1989 Oliver Stone – Born on the Fourth of July Woody Allen – Crimes and Misdemeanors Kenneth Branagh – Henry V Jim Sheridan – My Left Foot Peter Weir – Dead Poets Society

1990s
YearWinnerfilmNominated 1990 Kevin Costner – Dances with Wolves Francis Ford Coppola – The Godfather Part III Stephen Frears – The Grifters Barbet Schroeder – Reversal of Fortune Martin Scorsese – Goodfellas 1991 Jonathan Demme – The Silence of the Lambs Barry Levinson – Bugsy Ridley Scott – Thelma & LouiseJohn Singleton – Boyz n the Hood Oliver Stone – JFK 1992 Clint Eastwood – Unforgiven Robert Altman – The Player Martin Brest – Scent of a Woman James Ivory – Howards EndNeil Jordan – The Crying Game 1993 Steven Spielberg – Schindler's List Robert Altman – Short Cuts Jane Campion – The PianoJames Ivory – The Remains of the DayJim Sheridan – In the Name of the Father 1994 Robert Zemeckis – Forrest Gump Woody Allen – Bullets Over Broadway Krzysztof Kieślowski – Three Colors: Red Robert Redford – Quiz Show Quentin Tarantino – Pulp Fiction 1995 Mel Gibson – Braveheart Mike Figgis – Leaving Las Vegas Chris Noonan – BabeMichael Radford – Il Postino Tim Robbins – Dead Man Walking 1996 Anthony Minghella – The English Patient Joel Coen – Fargo Miloš Forman – The People vs. Larry Flynt Scott Hicks – Shine Mike Leigh – Secrets & Lies 1997 James Cameron – Titanic Peter Cattaneo – The Full Monty Atom Egoyan – The Sweet Hereafter Curtis Hanson – L.A. ConfidentialGus Van Sant – Good Will Hunting 1998 Steven Spielberg – Saving Private Ryan Roberto Benigni – Life Is BeautifulJohn Madden – Shakespeare in Love Terrence Malick – The Thin Red Line Peter Weir – The Truman Show 1999 Sam Mendes – American Beauty Lasse Hallström – The Cider House Rules Spike Jonze – Being John Malkovich Michael Mann – The Insider M. Night Shyamalan – The Sixth Sense

2000s
YearWinnerfilmNominated 2000 Steven Soderbergh – Traffic Stephen Daldry – Billy Elliot Ang Lee – Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Ridley Scott – Gladiator Steven Soderbergh – Erin Brockovich 2001 Ron Howard – A Beautiful Mind Robert Altman – Gosford Park Peter Jackson – The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring David Lynch – Mulholland Drive Ridley Scott – Black Hawk Down 2002 Roman Polanski – The Pianist Pedro Almodóvar – Talk to Her Stephen Daldry – The HoursRob Marshall – Chicago Martin Scorsese – Gangs of New York 2003 Peter Jackson – The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Sofia Coppola – Lost in Translation Clint Eastwood – Mystic River Fernando Meirelles – City of God Peter Weir – Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World 2004 Clint Eastwood – Million Dollar Baby Taylor Hackford – Ray Mike Leigh – Vera DrakeAlexander Payne – SidewaysMartin Scorsese – The Aviator 2005 Ang Lee – Brokeback Mountain George Clooney – Good Night, and Good Luck. Paul Haggis – Crash Bennett Miller – Capote Steven Spielberg – Munich 2006 Martin Scorsese – The Departed Clint Eastwood – Letters from Iwo Jima Stephen Frears – The Queen Alejandro González Iñárritu – BabelPaul Greengrass – United 93 2007 Joel & Ethan Coen – No Country for Old Men Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be BloodTony Gilroy – Michael ClaytonJason Reitman – JunoJulian Schnabel – The Diving Bell and the Butterfly 2008 Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire Stephen Daldry – The ReaderDavid Fincher – The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonRon Howard – Frost/NixonGus Van Sant – Milk 2009 Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt LockerJames Cameron – AvatarLee Daniels – Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by SapphireJason Reitman – Up in the AirQuentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds

2010s
YearWinnerfilmNominated 2010 Tom Hooper – The King's SpeechDarren Aronofsky – Black SwanJoel & Ethan Coen – True GritDavid Fincher – The Social NetworkDavid O. Russell – The Fighter 2011 Michel Hazanavicius -The ArtistWoody Allen – Midnight in ParisTerrence Malick – The Tree of LifeAlexander Payne – The DescendantsMartin Scorsese – Hugo

International presence

As the Academy Awards are based in the United States and are centered on the Hollywood film industry, the majority of Academy Award winners have been Americans. Nonetheless, there is significant international presence at the awards, as evidenced by the following list of winners of the Academy Award for Best Director.
 Australia: Mel Gibson, Tom Hooper (Gibson, a U.S. citizen, moved with his family to Australia at the age of 12. Hooper, born in the U.K., is a dual citizen of Australia and the United Kingdom as his mother was born in Australia.)
 Austria: Billy Wilder, Fred Zinnemann (Both Wilder and Zinnemann moved to America in their twenties and became naturalized U.S. citizens.)
 Canada: James Cameron (Cameron was applying to become a U.S. citizen.)
 Czech Republic: Miloš Forman (naturalized U.S. citizen since 1977)
 France: Michel Hazanavicius
 Germany: William Wyler, Mike Nichols (After moving to America in 1921, Wyler became a naturalized U.S. citizen in his twenties. Wyler was born in Alsace which was part of the German Empire then, but now is part of France. Nichols' family moved from Germany when he was eight-years old, and he became a naturalized U.S. citizen five years later.)
 Italy: Bernardo Bertolucci
 New Zealand: Peter Jackson
 Poland: Roman Polanski (French citizenship)
 Taiwan: Ang Lee (naturalized U.S. citizen who has lived in America since the early 1980s.)
 United Kingdom: Richard Attenborough, Danny Boyle, David Lean, Sam Mendes, Anthony Minghella, Carol Reed, Tony Richardson, John Schlesinger, and Tom Hooper

However, no director has won for a film that is entirely in a foreign language.

There have been 20 directors nominated for films entirely or significantly in a foreign (non-English) language.
 Federico Fellini (nominated for 4 films, which were all in Italian)
 Ingmar Bergman (nominated for 3 films, which were all in Swedish)
 Pietro Germi (Italian)
 Hiroshi Teshigahara (Japanese)
 Claude Lelouch (French)
 Gillo Pontecorvo (Italian-born director nominated for The Battle of Algiers, which was in French and Arabic)
 Costa Gavras (Greek-born director nominated for French-language film Z.)
 Jan Troell (Swedish)
 François Truffaut (French)
 Lina Wertmuller (Italian)
 Edouard Molinaro (French)
 Wolfgang Petersen (German)
 Akira Kurosawa (Japanese)
 Lasse Hallström (Swedish. He was also nominated for the English-language film The Cider House Rules.)
 Krzysztof Kieslowski (Polish-born director nominated for French-language film Three Colours: Red)
 Michael Radford (an English-born director nominated for the Italian-language film Il Postino.)
 Roberto Benigni (Italian)
 Ang Lee (Taiwanese-born director nominated for the Mandarin-language film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. He would later win for the English-language film Brokeback Mountain.)
 Pedro Almodóvar (Spanish)
 Fernando Meirelles (Brazilian Portuguese)
 Clint Eastwood (an American director nominated for the Japanese-language film Letters from Iwo Jima, which has a few brief scenes in English).
 Julian Schnabel (an American director nominated for the French-language film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.)

Ironically, internationally known filmmakers Jean Renoir (for The Southerner), Michelangelo Antonioni (for Blowup) and Louis Malle (for Atlantic City) were nominated for films that were in English and not their native language.

Nominations for films primarily in English with some scenes (of a notable length) in a foreign language includes:
 Jules Dassin for Never on Sunday (Greek)
 Bernardo Bertolucci for Last Tango in Paris (French)
 Francis Coppola for The Godfather Part II (Italian) (Winner)
 Kevin Costner for Dances with Wolves (Lakota and Pawnee) (Winner)
 Steven Soderbergh for Traffic (Spanish) (Winner)
 Alejandro González Iñárritu for Babel (Spanish, Arabic, French, Japanese, Japanese Sign Language, Berber)
 Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire (Hindi) (Winner)
 Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds (French, German and Italian)

Several international nominees (regardless of the language used in their respective films) include:
 Australia: Bruce Beresford, Scott Hicks, Chris Noonan and Peter Weir
 Austria: Otto Preminger, Josef von Sternberg
 Brazil: Héctor Babenco, Fernando Meirelles
 Canada: Atom Egoyan, Arthur Hiller, Norman Jewison and Jason Reitman
 Cyprus: Michael Cacoyannis
 France: Michel Hazanavicius, Claude Lelouch, Louis Malle and François Truffaut
 Germany: William Dieterle, Ernst Lubitsch and Wolfgang Petersen
 Greece: Costa Gavras
 India: M. Night Shyamalan
 Ireland: Jim Sheridan, Neil Jordan and Kenneth Branagh
 Italy: Roberto Benigni, Federico Fellini, Pietro Germi, Gillo Pontecorvo, Lina Wertmüller, Franco Zeffirelli and Michelangelo Antonioni
 Japan: Akira Kurosawa and Hiroshi Teshigahara
 Mexico: Alejandro González Iñárritu
 New Zealand: Jane Campion
 Poland: Krzysztof Kieślowski
 Spain: Pedro Almodóvar
 Sweden: Ingmar Bergman, Lasse Hallström and Jan Troell
 United Kingdom: Alfred Hitchcock, John Boorman, Peter Cattaneo, Charles Crichton, Stephen Daldry, Stephen Frears, Laurence Olivier, Paul Greengrass, Roland Joffé, Mike Leigh, Adrian Lyne, Hugh Hudson, Alan Parker and Ridley Scott

Related pages
 Golden Globe Award for Best Director
 BAFTA Award for Best Direction

References

Other websites
 Oscars.org (official Academy site)

Director