Directors Guild of America Awards
The Directors Guild of America Awards are issued annually by the Directors Guild of America. The first DGA Award was an "Honorary Life Member" award issued in 1938 to D. W. Griffith. The statues are made by New York firm, Society Awards.
Categories
Competitive categories
Special awards
Discontinued categories
Winners – Motion Picture
Lifetime Achievement Award
- 1953: Cecil B. DeMille
- 1954: John Ford
- 1955: No award
- 1956: Henry King
- 1957: King Vidor
- 1958: No award
- 1959: Frank Capra
- 1960: George Stevens
- 1961: Frank Borzage
- 1962–1965: No award
- 1966: William Wyler
- 1967: No award
- 1968: Alfred Hitchcock
- 1969: No award
- 1970: Fred Zinnemann
- 1971–1972: No award
- 1973: William A. Wellman and David Lean
- 1974–1980: No award
- 1981: George Cukor
- 1982: Rouben Mamoulian
- 1983: John Huston
- 1984: Orson Welles
- 1985: Billy Wilder
- 1986: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
- 1987: Elia Kazan
- 1988: Robert Wise
- 1989: No award
- 1990: Ingmar Bergman
- 1991: No award
- 1992: Akira Kurosawa
- 1993: Sidney Lumet
- 1994: Robert Altman
- 1995: James Ivory
- 1996: Woody Allen
- 1997: Stanley Kubrick
- 1998: Francis Ford Coppola
- 1999: No award
- 2000: Steven Spielberg
- 2001: No award
- 2002: Martin Scorsese
- 2003: No award
- 2004: Mike Nichols
- 2005: No award
- 2006: Clint Eastwood
- 2007–2009: No award
- 2010: Norman Jewison
- 2011: Alice Guy-Blaché
- 2012: Miloš Forman
- 2013–2015: No award
- 2016: Ridley Scott
- 2017–2020: No award
- 2021: Spike Lee
- 2022–2023: No award
- 2024: Ang Lee
Outstanding Achievement in Feature Film
- 1948: Joseph L. Mankiewicz – A Letter to Three Wives ¿
- 1949: Robert Rossen – All the King's Men ¿ '**
- 1950: Joseph L. Mankiewicz – All About Eve †' **
- 1951: George Stevens – A Place in the Sun †
- 1952: John Ford – The Quiet Man †
- 1953: Fred Zinnemann – From Here to Eternity † '**
- 1954: Elia Kazan – On the Waterfront †' **
- 1955: Delbert Mann – Marty † '**
- 1956: George Stevens – Giant †'
- 1957: David Lean – The Bridge on the River Kwai † '**
- 1958: Vincente Minnelli – Gigi †' **
- 1959: William Wyler – Ben-Hur † '**
- 1960: Billy Wilder – The Apartment †' **
- 1961: Robert Wise – West Side Story † '**
- 1962: David Lean – Lawrence of Arabia †' **
- 1963: Tony Richardson – Tom Jones † '**
- 1964: George Cukor – My Fair Lady †' **
- 1965: Robert Wise – The Sound of Music † '**
- 1966: Fred Zinnemann – A Man for All Seasons †' **
- 1967: Mike Nichols – The Graduate †
- 1968: Anthony Harvey – The Lion in Winter ‡
- 1969: John Schlesinger – Midnight Cowboy † '**
- 1970: Franklin Schaffner – Patton †' **
- 1971: William Friedkin – The French Connection † '**
- 1972: Francis Ford Coppola – The Godfather ‡' **
- 1973: George Roy Hill – The Sting † '**
- 1974: Francis Ford Coppola – The Godfather Part II †' **
- 1975: Miloš Forman – One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest † '**
- 1976: John G. Avildsen – Rocky †' **
- 1977: Woody Allen – Annie Hall † '**
- 1978: Michael Cimino – The Deer Hunter †' **
- 1979: Robert Benton – Kramer vs. Kramer † '**
- 1980: Robert Redford – Ordinary People †' **
- 1981: Warren Beatty – Reds †
- 1982: Richard Attenborough – Gandhi † '**
- 1983: James L. Brooks – Terms of Endearment †' **
- 1984: Miloš Forman – Amadeus † '**
- 1985: Steven Spielberg – The Color Purple §'
- 1986: Oliver Stone – Platoon † '**
- 1987: Bernardo Bertolucci – The Last Emperor †' **
- 1988: Barry Levinson – Rain Man † '**
- 1989: Oliver Stone – Born on the Fourth of July †'
- 1990: Kevin Costner – Dances with Wolves † '**
- 1991: Jonathan Demme – The Silence of the Lambs †' **
- 1992: Clint Eastwood – Unforgiven † '**
- 1993: Steven Spielberg – Schindler's List †' **
- 1994: Robert Zemeckis – Forrest Gump † '**
- 1995: Ron Howard – Apollo 13 §'
- 1996: Anthony Minghella – The English Patient † '**
- 1997: James Cameron – Titanic †' **
- 1998: Steven Spielberg – Saving Private Ryan †
- 1999: Sam Mendes – American Beauty † '**
- 2000: Ang Lee – Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon ‡'
- 2001: Ron Howard – A Beautiful Mind † '**
- 2002: Rob Marshall – Chicago ‡' **
- 2003: Peter Jackson – The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King † '**
- 2004: Clint Eastwood – Million Dollar Baby †' **
- 2005: Ang Lee – Brokeback Mountain †
- 2006: Martin Scorsese – The Departed † '**
- 2007: Joel and Ethan Coen – No Country for Old Men †' **
- 2008: Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire † '**
- 2009: Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker †' **
- 2010: Tom Hooper – The King's Speech † '**
- 2011: Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist †' **
- 2012: Ben Affleck – Argo § '**
- 2013: Alfonso Cuarón – Gravity †'
- 2014: Alejandro G. Iñárritu – Birdman or † '**
- 2015: Alejandro G. Iñárritu – The Revenant †'
- 2016: Damien Chazelle – La La Land †
- 2017: Guillermo del Toro – The Shape of Water † '**
- 2018: Alfonso Cuarón — Roma †'
- 2019: Sam Mendes — 1917 ‡
- 2020: Chloe Zhao — Nomadland † '**
- 2021: Jane Campion — The Power of the Dog †'
- 2022: The Daniels — Everything Everywhere All at Once † '**
- 2023: Christopher Nolan — Oppenheimer †' **
- 2024: Sean Baker - Anora † '**
- †' – Director won the Academy Award.
- ‡ – Director did not win the Academy Award.
- § – Director was not nominated for Academy Award that year.
- ** – Film also won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
- ¿ – Originally, the DGA used a non-calendar year for its award. Both films competed in the 22nd Academy Awards for 1949, and both directors were nominated for Best Director; Mankiewicz won. All the King's Men won Best Picture; Rossen's DGA was not awarded until after the Oscars.
Outstanding Achievement in Documentary
- 1991: Barbara Kopple – American Dream
- 1992: Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky – Brother's Keeper
- 1993: Barbara Kopple – Fallen Champ: The Untold Story of Mike Tyson
- 1994: Steve James – Hoop Dreams
- 1995: Terry Zwigoff – Crumb
- 1996: Al Pacino – Looking for Richard
- 1997: Michael Uys and Lexy Lovell – Riding the Rails
- 1998: Jerry Blumenthal, Peter Gilbert, and Gordon Quinn – Vietnam, Long Time Coming
- 1999: Nanette Burstein and Brett Morgen – On the Ropes
- 2000: Chuck Braverman – High School Boot Camp
- 2001: Chris Hegedus and Jehane Noujaim – Startup.com
- 2002: Tasha Oldham – The Smith Family
- 2003: Nathaniel Kahn – My Architect
- 2004: Byambasuren Davaa and Luigi Falorni – The Story of the Weeping Camel
- 2005: Werner Herzog – Grizzly Man
- 2006: Arūnas Matelis – Before Flying Back to Earth
- 2007: Asger Leth – Ghosts of Cité Soleil
- 2008: Ari Folman – Waltz with Bashir
- 2009: Louie Psihoyos – The Cove
- 2010: Charles Ferguson – Inside Job
- 2011: James Marsh – Project Nim
- 2012: Malik Bendjelloul – Searching for Sugar Man
- 2013: Jehane Noujaim – The Square
- 2014: Laura Poitras – Citizenfour
- 2015: Matthew Heineman – Cartel Land
- 2016: Ezra Edelman – O.J.: Made in America
- 2017: Matthew Heineman – City of Ghosts
- 2018: Tim Wardle – Three Identical Strangers
- 2019: Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert — American Factory
- 2020: Michael Dweck & Gregory Kershaw — The Truffle Hunters
- 2021: Stanley Nelson Jr. — Attica
- 2022: Sara Dosa – Fire of Love
- 2023: Mstyslav Chernov – 20 Days in Mariupol
- 2024: Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev – ''Porcelain War''