Academy Award for Best Director
The Best Director Oscar honors the achievements of the directors of a film.
- Eight directors were nominated for Best Director and Best Actor in a Leading Role for the same film: Warren Beatty for Heaven Must Wait and Reds, Clint Eastwood for Relentless and Million Dollar Baby, Orson Welles (Citizen Kane), Laurence Olivier (Hamlet), Woody Allen (The Urban Neurotic), Kenneth Branagh (Henry V. ), Kevin Costner (Dances With Wolves) and Roberto Benigni (Life Is Beautiful).
- The only brothers to be nominated together were Ethan and Joel Coen for No Country for Old Men (2007) and True Grit (2010).
- Steven Soderbergh is so far the only director to be nominated for two films in the same year: At the 2001 Oscars, he won for Traffic - Power of the Cartel, and was nominated for Erin Brockovich.
- John Ford, Joseph L. Mankiewicz and Alejandro González Iñárritu are the only titleholders.
- Since 2014, the Oscar has been awarded to Mexican directors 5 times in 6 award ceremonies: Alfonso Cuarón won in 2014 and 2019 for Gravity and Roma, Alejandro González Iñárritu won in 2015 and 2016 for Birdman and The Revenant - The Returnee, and Guillermo del Toro won in 2018 for Shape of Water - The Whisper of Water.
- A total of 25 directors were nominated whose films are not in English. Only Alfonso Cuarón (Roma) and Bong Joon-ho (Parasite) were able to win.
- Only 7 female directors were nominated for Best Director: Lina Wertmüller for Seven Beauties, Jane Campion for The Piano, Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation, Kathryn Bigelow for Deadly Command - The Hurt Locker (won), Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird, Emerald Fennell for Promising Young Woman and Chloe Zhao for Nomadland (won).
Films qualify for an Oscar in the year following their release. In the table below, the award winners are sorted by the year of the award.
1929–1930
| Year | Laureate | for the film | Nominations |
| 1929 | Category: DramaFrank | Happiness in the attic | Herbert Brenon for Captain Sorrell and His SonKing |
| Category: ComedyLewis | The Slaughterers | Ted Wilde for Street Hunting with Speedy | |
| 1930 (1) | Frank Lloyd | The uncrowned queen | Lionel Barrymore for Madame XHarry |
| 1930 (2) | Lewis Milestone | Nothing new in the West | Clarence Brown for Anna ChristieClarence |
1931–1940
| Year | Laureate | for the film | Nominations |
| 1931 | Norman Taurog | Skippy | Wesley Ruggles for Pioneers of the Wild WestClarence |
| 1932 | Frank Borzage | Bad Girl | King Vidor for The ChampJosef |
| 1933 | Prize not awarded | ||
| 1934 | Frank Lloyd | Kavalkade | Frank Capra for Lady for a Day |
| 1935 | Frank Capra | It happened one night | Victor Schertzinger for The Shining TargetW |
| 1936 | John Ford | The Street Traitor | Michael Curtiz for Under a Pirate FlagHenry |
| 1937 | Frank Capra | Mr. Deeds goes to town | William Wyler for Time of Love, Time of GoodbyeRobert |
| 1938 | Leo McCarey | The awful truth | Sidney Franklin for The Good EarthWilliam |
| 1939 | Frank Capra | Lifelong | Michael Curtiz for Chicago - Angels with Dirty FacesNorman |
| 1940 | Victor Fleming | Gone with the wind | Sam Wood for Goodbye, Mr. ChipsFrank |
Questions and Answers
Q: What is the Academy Award for Best Director?
A: The Academy Award for Best Director is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to directors for a movie.
Q: What is the common name for the Best Director Oscar?
A: The Best Director Oscar is the common name for the Academy Award for Best Directing.
Q: Who nominates directors for the Best Director award?
A: Members of the academy's Directing branch nominate directors for the Best Director award.
Q: Who decides the winners of the Best Director award?
A: The academy membership as a whole is responsible for selecting the winners of the Best Director award.
Q: What type of award is the Best Director award?
A: The Best Director award is one of the Awards of Merit presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Q: What is the purpose of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences?
A: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is an organization that presents awards and promotes the art and science of filmmaking.
Q: Is the Best Director award given to directors of any type of movie?
A: Yes, the Best Director award is given to directors of movies.
