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Academy Award for Best Director

{{short description|Category of film award}}

{{featured list}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}

{{Infobox award

| name = Academy Award for Best Director

| image = Sean Baker at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (cropped).jpg

| image_upright =

| caption = The 2025 recipient: Sean Baker

| awarded_for = Excellence in Cinematic Direction Achievement

| presenter = Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)

| country = United States

| year = {{start date and age|1929|5|16}} (for films released during the 1927/1928 film season)

| holder_label = Most recent winner

| holder = Sean Baker, Anora (2024)

| most_awards = John Ford (4)

| most_nominations = William Wyler (12)

| website = {{URL|oscars.org}}

}}

The Academy Award for Best Director (officially known as the Academy Award of Merit for Directing) is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given in honor of a film director who has exhibited outstanding directing while working in the film industry.

The 1st Academy Awards ceremony was held in 1929 with the award being split into "Dramatic" and "Comedy" categories; Frank Borzage and Lewis Milestone won for 7th Heaven and Two Arabian Knights, respectively.{{cite web|url=http://www.filmsite.org/aa27.html|title=1927–28 Academy Awards Winners|publisher=Rainbow Media|last=Dirks|first=Tim|access-date=November 20, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100724204258/http://www.filmsite.org/aa27.html|archive-date=July 24, 2010}} However, these categories were merged for all subsequent ceremonies.{{cite web|url=http://www.filmsite.org/oscars30.html|title=Academy Awards Winners (1927/8 – 1939)|publisher=Rainbow Media|last=Dirks|first=Tim|access-date=November 20, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160114184753/http://www.filmsite.org/oscars30.html|archive-date=January 14, 2016}} Nominees are determined by single transferable vote within the directors branch of AMPAS; winners are selected by a plurality vote from the entire eligible voting members of the academy.{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021054540/http://www.oscars.org/sites/default/files/87aa_rules.pdf |archive-date=October 21, 2014|url=http://www.oscars.org/sites/default/files/87aa_rules.pdf|title=87th Annual Academy Awards of Merit Rules|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|access-date=February 8, 2016 |pages=Rule 5.5 & Rule 10 |no-pp=y}}

{{cite news|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061017160343/http://theenvelope.latimes.com/awards/oscars/env-oscarvote7jan07%2C0%2C6919642%2Cprint.story?coll=env-home-headlines |archive-date=October 17, 2006 |url=http://theenvelope.latimes.com/awards/oscars/env-oscarvote7jan07,0,6919642,print.story?coll=env-home-headlines |title=Eight things every voter (and fan) should know about Oscar's decidedly unique nomination process. |first=Steve |last=Pond |access-date=2007-01-27 |date=January 7, 2006 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |url-status=dead }}{{cite magazine |url=http://www.ew.com/article/2011/01/27/oscar-voter-ballot-reader-poll-results |title=Oscars: The wacky way the Academy counts votes, and the results of our 'If You Were an Oscar Voter' poll |last=Young |first=John |date=January 27, 2011 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |access-date=February 29, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506042043/http://www.ew.com/article/2011/01/27/oscar-voter-ballot-reader-poll-results |archive-date=May 6, 2016}}

For the first eleven years of the Academy Awards, directors were allowed to be nominated for multiple films in the same year. However, after the nomination of Michael Curtiz for two films, Angels with Dirty Faces and Four Daughters, at the 11th Academy Awards, the rules were revised so that an individual could only be nominated for one film at each ceremony.{{cite news|url=http://www.filmsite.org/aa38.html|title=1938 Academy Awards Winners and History|publisher=Rainbow Media|last=Dirks|first=Tim|access-date=November 20, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121060632/http://www.filmsite.org/aa38.html|archive-date=November 21, 2015}} That rule has since been amended, although the only director who has received multiple nominations in the same year was Steven Soderbergh for Erin Brockovich and Traffic in 2000, winning the award for the latter.

The Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture have been very closely linked throughout their history. Of the 91 films that won Best Picture and were also nominated for Best Director, 70 won the award.{{cite web|url=http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/help/statistics/bestpixdirdiff.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113073946/http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/help/statistics/bestpixdirdiff.html|title=Picture/Director Not from Same Film|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|date=March 11, 2011|archive-date=January 13, 2012|access-date=February 8, 2016}}{{Cite web |title=Academy Awards Best Director – Facts & Trivia |url=https://www.filmsite.org/bestdirs1.html |access-date=2022-04-05 |website=www.filmsite.org |archive-date=November 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111222402/https://www.filmsite.org/bestdirs1.html |url-status=live }} The award has been criticised in recent years for failing to recognise female directors.{{cite news |last1=Davis |first1=Clayton |title=#OscarsSoMale: Academy Awards Shut Out Women for Best Director |url=https://variety.com/2023/awards/awards/no-women-directors-nominated-oscars-1235496819/ |access-date=7 January 2025 |date=24 January 2023}} Of the 257 individual directors nominated in the history of the award, only 9 have been women;{{cite news |last1=Verhoeven |first1=Beatrice |title=Oscars: Coralie Fargeat Gets Sole Female Best Director Nod |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/women-best-director-nominations-oscars-2025-1236115056/ |access-date=24 January 2025 |publisher=The Hollywood Reporter |date=23 January 2025}} and only 3 of the 76 winners have been women.{{cite news |last1=Wiese |first1=Jason |title=Academy Award For Best Director: How Many Women Have Ever Been Nominated Or Won? |url=https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2488534/academy-award-for-best-director-how-many-women-have-ever-been-nominated-or-won |access-date=7 January 2025 |publisher=CinemaBlend |date=24 February 2024}}

Since its inception, the award has been given to 74 different directors or directing teams. As of the 97th Academy Awards ceremony, American filmmaker Sean Baker is the most recent winner in this category for his work on Anora.

Winners and nominees

In the following table, the years are listed as per Academy convention, and generally correspond to the year of film release in Los Angeles County, California; the ceremonies are always held the following year.{{harvnb|Crouse|2005|p=257}} For the first five ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned twelve months from August 1 to July 31.Levy 2003, page 52 For the 6th ceremony held in 1934, the eligibility period lasted from August 1, 1932, to December 31, 1933. Since the 7th ceremony held in 1935, the period of eligibility became the full previous calendar year from January 1 to December 31.

File:Frank Borzage 001 (re-cropped).JPG won twice: "Dramatic director" at the first ceremony, for 7th Heaven (1927); & later, Bad Girl (1931).]]

File:Milestone1 (cropped).jpg won twice: "Comedy director" at the first ceremony, for Two Arabian Knights (1927); & later, All Quiet on the Western Front (1930).]]

File:Frank Lloyd, Boxoffice Barometer, 1939 (cropped).jpg won twice, for The Divine Lady (1929) & Cavalcade (1933).]]

File:Frank Capra (cropped).jpg won thrice, for It Happened One Night (1934), Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), & You Can't Take It with You (1938).]]

File:John Ford 1946 (zoom).jpg won a record four times, for: The Informer (1935), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), How Green Was My Valley (1941), & The Quiet Man (1952).]]

File:Leo McCarey 1930s portrait photo (cropped).jpg won twice, for The Awful Truth (1937) & Going My Way (1944).]]

File:Victor Fleming, Boxoffice Barometer, 1939 (cropped).jpg won for Gone with the Wind (1939).]]

File:William Wyler portrait (cropped).jpg, with a record twelve nominations, won thrice, for: Mrs. Miniver (1942), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), & Ben-Hur (1959).]]

File:Curtiz 1928 portrait (cropped).jpg won for Casablanca (1942).]]

File:Gloria Swanson & Billy Wilder - Sunset Blvd (zoom).JPG (right, with Gloria Swanson) won twice, for The Lost Weekend (1945) & The Apartment (1960).]]

File:Elia Kazan (cropped).JPG won twice, for Gentleman's Agreement (1947) & On the Waterfront (1954).]]

File:John Huston - publicity (cropped).JPG won for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948).]]

File:Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1950) (cropped).jpg won twice consecutively, for A Letter to Three Wives (1949) & All About Eve (1950).]]

File:George Stevens with Oscar for Giant (cropped).jpg won twice, for A Place in the Sun (1951) & Giant (1956).]]

File:Fred Zinnemann 1940s (cropped).jpg won twice, for From Here to Eternity (1953) & A Man for All Seasons (1966).]]

File:Lean-in-Joensuu-1965 CROPPED.jpg won twice, for The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) & Lawrence of Arabia (1962).]]

File:Vincent Minelli - 1950s.jpg won for Gigi (1958).]]

File:Robert wise 1990 (cropped).jpg won twice: jointly with Jerome Robbins (an Oscars first) for West Side Story (1961) & solo for The Sound of Music (1965).]]

File:George Cukor - 1946 (cropped).jpg won for My Fair Lady (1964).]]

File:Mike Nichols (cropped).png won for The Graduate (1967).]]

File:Fillmregisseur Carol Reed (van de film The Third Man) in Amsterdam, Bestanddeelnr 903-7970 (cropped).png won for Oliver! (1968).]]

File:Franklin J. Schaffner (cropped).jpg won for Patton (1970).]]

File:William Friedkin making The Exorcist in the streets of Georgetown (cropped).jpg won for The French Connection (1971).]]

File:Bob Fosse 1963 (trimmed).jpg won for Cabaret (1972).]]

File:Francis Ford Coppola -1976 (cropped).jpg won for The Godfather Part II (1974).]]

File:Milos Forman.jpg won twice, for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) & Amadeus (1984).]]

File:Woody Allen - Kup (cropped).JPG won for Annie Hall (1977).]]

File:Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here – Robert Redford photo (cropped).jpg won for Ordinary People (1980).]]

File:Warren Beatty, 1961 (trim).jpg won for Reds (1981).]]

File:Richard Attenborough.jpg won for Gandhi (1982).]]

File:Jameslbrooks.jpg won for Terms of Endearment (1983).]]

File:Sydney Pollack (cropped).jpg won for Out of Africa (1985).]]

File:Oliver Stone by Gage Skidmore (cropped).jpg won twice, for Platoon (1986) & Born on the Fourth of July (1989).]]

File:Bernardo Bertolucci (trimz).jpg won for The Last Emperor (1987).]]

File:Barry Levinson Shankbone 2009 Tribeca (cropped) (cropped).jpg won for Rain Man (1988).]]

File:Kevin Costner DF-SD-05-08959trim).jpg won for Dances With Wolves (1990).]]

File:Jonathan Demme May 2015.jpg won for The Silence of the Lambs (1991).]]

File:ClintEastwoodCannesMay08 (cropped).jpg won twice, for Unforgiven (1992) & Million Dollar Baby (2004)—latter, at 74, rendered him the oldest winner.]]

File:Steven Spielberg (36057844341) (cropped) (cropped).jpg won twice, for Schindler's List (1993) & Saving Private Ryan (1998).]]

File:Robert Zemeckis by David Shankbone (cropped).jpg won for Forrest Gump (1994).]]

File:Mel Gibson 1990 (re-cropped).jpg won for Braveheart (1995).]]

File:James Cameron October 2012 (trim).jpg won for Titanic (1997).]]

File:Sam Mendes, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 2013 (cropped) (cropped).jpg won for American Beauty (1999).]]

File:Steven Soderbergh zoom-in.jpg won for Traffic (2000).]]

File:Ron Howard (cropped).jpg won for A Beautiful Mind (2001).]]

File:Roman Polanski Cannes 2013 (cropped).jpg won for The Pianist (2002).]]

File:Peter Jackson SDCC 2014 (cropped).jpg won for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).]]

File:Ang Lee - Festival (trim crop).jpg won twice, for Brokeback Mountain (2005) & Life of Pi (2012); first Asian winner.]]

File:Martin Scorsese Berlinale (trim).jpg won for The Departed (2006).]]

File:COEN Brothers (cannesPH).jpg won for No Country for Old Men (2007).]]

File:Danny Boyle May 2019 (cropped).jpg won for Slumdog Millionaire (2008).]]

File:Kathryn Bigelow via David Shankbone.jpg won for The Hurt Locker (2009); first woman to win.]]

File:TomHopper10TIFF.jpg won for The King's Speech (2010).]]

File:Michel Hazanavicius Cannes 2015.jpg won for The Artist (2011).]]

File:Alfonso Cuarón (2013) trim.jpg won twice, for Gravity (2013) & Roma (2018); first Mexican winner.]]

File:Alejandro González Iñárritu with a camera in production cropped.jpg won twice consecutively, for Birdman (2014) & The Revenant (2015).]]

File:Damien Chazelle (cropped) (cropped).jpg won for La La Land (2016); youngest winner, at age 32.]]

File:Guillermo del Toro in 2017 (cropped).jpg won for The Shape of Water (2017).]]

File:Bong Joon-ho 2017 (cropped).jpg won for Parasite (2019); first to direct a foreign-language (Korean) winner for Best Picture.]]

File:Chloezhao (cropped).jpg won for Nomadland (2020); first woman of color to win.]]

File:Jane Campion (croopped).jpg won for The Power of the Dog (2021); first woman to be nominated twice.]]

File:Swiss Army Man Interview with Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan (cropped).jpg won for Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022).]]

File:Christopher Nolan Cannes 2018.jpg won for Oppenheimer (2023).]]

class="wikitable"

|+ Table key

height:20px; width:20px" | {{legend|#FAEB86|Indicates the winner}}

= 1920s =

class="wikitable sortable"

!scope="col" style="width:8%;"| Year

!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Director(s)

!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Film

!scope="col" style="width:2%;" class="unsortable"|{{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}}

scope="row" rowspan=6 style="text-align:center;" | 1927/28
{{small|(1st)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Borzage|Frank Borzage}}{{small| (Dramatic Picture)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | 7th Heaven

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1929|title=The 1st Academy Awards (1929) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402003037/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1929|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Brenon|Herbert Brenon}}{{small| (Dramatic Picture)}}

|Sorrell and Son

{{sort|Vidor|King Vidor}}{{small| (Dramatic Picture)}}

|{{sort|Crowd|The Crowd}}

style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Milestone|Lewis Milestone}}{{small| (Comedy Picture)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Two Arabian Knights

{{sort|Wilde|Ted Wilde}}{{small| (Comedy Picture)}}

|Speedy

{{sort|Chaplin|Charlie Chaplin}}{{small| (Comedy Picture)}}

| The Circus{{efn|name=circus|The Circus originally received a nomination for Best Director (Comedy Picture), as well as nominations for Best Actor and Best Writing (Original Story), all for Charlie Chaplin. However, the Academy subsequently decided to remove Chaplin's name from the competitive award categories and instead to confer upon him a Special Award "for acting, writing, directing and producing The Circus".}}

|{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2016/05/16/the-first-oscars-what-happened-in-1929/|first=Martin|last=Chilton|work=The Daily Telegraph|title=The first Oscars: what happened in 1929|access-date=February 25, 2021|url-access=subscription|date=May 16, 2016|url-status=live|archive-date=May 19, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160519015239/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2016/05/16/the-first-oscars-what-happened-in-1929/}}

scope="row" rowspan=7 "style=text-align:center;" | 1928/29
{{small|(2nd)}}
{{efn|name=2nd|The 2nd Academy Awards is the only ceremony for which there were no official nominees. Subsequent research by AMPAS has resulted in a list of unofficial or de facto nominees, based on records of which films were evaluated by the judges. While Frank Lloyd won for The Divine Lady, his other two nominated films are considered to be a single combined nomination.}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Lloyd|Frank Lloyd}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Divine|The Divine Lady}}

|rowspan="7"|{{cite news |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1930 |title=The 2nd Academy Awards Nominees and Winners |access-date=August 27, 2013 |publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402002823/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1930 |archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Barrymore|Lionel Barrymore}}

|Madame X

{{sort|Beaumont|Harry Beaumont}}

|{{sort|Broadway|The Broadway Melody}}

{{sort|Cummings|Irving Cummings}}

|In Old Arizona

rowspan="2"|{{sort|Lloyd|Frank Lloyd}}

|Drag

Weary River
{{sort|Lubitsch|Ernst Lubitsch}}

|{{sort|Patriot|The Patriot}}

= 1930s =

class="wikitable sortable"

!scope="col" style="width:8%;"| Year

!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Director(s)

!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Film

!scope="col" style="width:2%;" class="unsortable"|{{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}}

scope="row" rowspan=6 "style="text-align:center;" | 1929/30
{{small|(3rd)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Milestone|Lewis Milestone}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | All Quiet on the Western Front

|rowspan="6"|{{cite news |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1931 |title=The 3rd Academy Awards (1930) Nominees and Winners |access-date=August 27, 2013 |publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160802115930/https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1931 |archive-date=August 2, 2016}}

rowspan=2| {{sort|Brown|Clarence Brown}}{{efn|name=clarence|According to the Oscars.org database, Brown's directing nomination counts as one singular, joint, cumulative nomination for two films. This same recognition was applicable to all nominees, such as to Greta Garbo's acting nominations from the same respective films; as well as acting winners, Norma Shearer and George Arliss. No explanation was given for why the latter two were nominated with two films, yet only awarded for one each.}}

|Anna Christie

Romance
{{sort|Leonard|Robert Z. Leonard}}

|{{sort|Divorcee|The Divorcee}}

{{sort|Lubitsch|Ernst Lubitsch}}

|{{sort|Love|The Love Parade}}

{{sort|Vidor|King Vidor}}

|Hallelujah!

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1930/31
{{small|(4th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Taurog|Norman Taurog}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Skippy

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1932|title=The 4th Academy Awards (1931) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161102114813/https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1932|archive-date=November 2, 2016}}

{{sort|Brown|Clarence Brown}}

|{{sort|Free|A Free Soul}}

{{sort|Milestone|Lewis Milestone}}

|{{sort|Front|The Front Page}}

{{sort|Ruggles|Wesley Ruggles}}

|Cimarron

{{sort|Sternberg|Josef von Sternberg}}

|Morocco

scope="row" rowspan=3 style="text-align:center;" | 1931/32
{{small|(5th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Borzage|Frank Borzage}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Bad Girl

|rowspan="3"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1933|title=The 5th Academy Awards (1932) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402003113/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1933|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Vidor|King Vidor}}

|{{sort|Champ|The Champ}}

{{sort|Sternberg|Josef von Sternberg}}

|Shanghai Express

scope="row" rowspan=3 style="text-align:center;" | 1932/33
{{small|(6th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Lloyd|Frank Lloyd}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Cavalcade

|rowspan="3"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1934|title=The 6th Academy Awards (1933) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201231924/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1934|archive-date=February 1, 2017}}

{{sort|Capra|Frank Capra}}

|Lady for a Day

{{sort|Cukor|George Cukor}}

|Little Women

scope="row" rowspan=3 style="text-align:center;" | 1934
{{small|(7th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Capra|Frank Capra}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | It Happened One Night

|rowspan="3"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1935|title=The 7th Academy Awards (1935) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160702160154/https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1935|archive-date=July 2, 2016}}

{{sort|Schertzinger|Victor Schertzinger}}

|One Night of Love

{{sort|Van Dyke|W. S. Van Dyke}}

|{{sort|Thin|The Thin Man}}

scope="row" rowspan=4 style="text-align:center;" | 1935
{{small|(8th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Ford|John Ford}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Informer|The Informer}}

|rowspan="4"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1936|title=The 8th Academy Awards (1936) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111071955/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1936|archive-date=November 11, 2014}}{{Cite magazine |title=A Surprise 1936 Oscar Win Banned Write-in Campaigns Forever |date=2019-02-22 |magazine=New York |url=https://www.vulture.com/2019/02/a-surprise-1936-oscar-win-banned-write-in-campaigns-forever.html |last=Hunt |first=Kristin |access-date=2023-10-19 |editor-last=Moss |editor-first=Adam |editor-link=Adam Moss |issn=0028-7369 |quote=The effort nearly pushed Paul Muni and Michael Curtiz to respective wins in Best Actor and Best Director, despite their absences from the ballot. |via=Vulture |archive-date=November 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129233512/https://www.vulture.com/2019/02/a-surprise-1936-oscar-win-banned-write-in-campaigns-forever.html |url-status=live }}

{{sort|Hathaway|Henry Hathaway}}

|{{sort|Lives|The Lives of a Bengal Lancer}}

{{sort|Lloyd|Frank Lloyd}}

|Mutiny on the Bounty

{{sort|Curtiz|Michael Curtiz}} (Write-in){{efn|name=write-in|Michael Curtiz was not on the original ballot of nominees. However, after the year prior with Bette Davis's omission for Of Human Bondage, the resulting furor led to a write-in campaign determined to secure her a nomination. Thus, the Academy relaxed their rules and allowed her performance to be amongst the competition. They permitted this once more, prompting further submissions: Curtiz; Paul Muni for Black Fury; and several other categories, including Hal Mohr for A Midsummer Night's Dream. Ultimately, Mohr became the only person to win an Oscar as a result of this process. The Academy discontinued this option from the next ceremony forward to prevent any recurrence.}}

|Captain Blood

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1936
{{small|(9th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Capra|Frank Capra}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1937|title=The 9th Academy Awards (1937) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160702160200/https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1937|archive-date=July 2, 2016}}

{{sort|La Cava|Gregory La Cava}}

|My Man Godfrey

{{sort|Leonard|Robert Z. Leonard}}

|{{sort|Great|The Great Ziegfeld}}

{{sort|Van Dyke|W. S. Van Dyke}}

|San Francisco

{{sort|Wyler|William Wyler}}

|Dodsworth

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1937
{{small|(10th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|McCarey|Leo McCarey}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Awful|The Awful Truth}}

|rowspan=5|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1938|title=The 10th Academy Awards (1938) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160321113206/http://oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1938|archive-date=March 21, 2016}}

{{sort|Dieterle|William Dieterle}}

|{{sort|Life|The Life of Emile Zola}}

{{sort|Franklin|Sidney Franklin}}

|{{sort|Good|The Good Earth}}

{{sort|La Cava|Gregory La Cava}}

|Stage Door

{{sort|Wellman|William A. Wellman}}

|{{sort|Star|A Star Is Born}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1938
{{small|(11th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Capra|Frank Capra}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | You Can't Take It with You

|rowspan=5|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1939|title=The 11th Academy Awards (1939) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160702160206/https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1939|archive-date=July 2, 2016}}

rowspan="2"|{{sort|Curtiz|Michael Curtiz}}

|Angels with Dirty Faces

Four Daughters
{{sort|Taurog|Norman Taurog}}

|Boys Town

{{sort|Vidor|King Vidor}}

|{{sort|Citadel|The Citadel}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1939
{{small|(12th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Fleming|Victor Fleming}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Gone with the Wind

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1940|title=The 12th Academy Awards (1940) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170128185131/https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1940|archive-date=January 28, 2017}}

{{sort|Capra|Frank Capra}}

|Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

{{sort|Ford|John Ford}}

|Stagecoach

{{sort|Wood|Sam Wood}}

|Goodbye, Mr. Chips

{{sort|Wyler|William Wyler}}

|Wuthering Heights

=1940s=

class="wikitable sortable"

!scope="col" style="width:8%;"| Year

!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Director(s)

!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Film

!scope="col" style="width:2%;" class="unsortable"|{{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1940
{{small|(13th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Ford|John Ford}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Grapes|The Grapes of Wrath}}

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1941|title=The 13th Academy Awards (1941) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160321220635/http://oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1941|archive-date=March 21, 2016}}

{{sort|Cukor|George Cukor}}

|{{sort|Philadelphia|The Philadelphia Story}}

{{sort|Hitchcock|Alfred Hitchcock}}

|Rebecca

{{sort|Wood|Sam Wood}}

|Kitty Foyle

{{sort|Wyler|William Wyler}}

|{{sort|Letter|The Letter}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1941
{{small|(14th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Ford|John Ford}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | How Green Was My Valley

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1942|title=The 14th Academy Awards (1942) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402003256/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1942|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Hall|Alexander Hall}}

|Here Comes Mr. Jordan

{{sort|Hawks|Howard Hawks}}

|Sergeant York

{{sort|Welles|Orson Welles}}

|Citizen Kane

{{sort|Wyler|William Wyler}}

|{{sort|Little|The Little Foxes}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1942
{{small|(15th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Wyler|William Wyler}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Mrs. Miniver

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1943|title=The 15th Academy Awards (1943) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706093739/http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/15th-winners.html|archive-date=July 6, 2011}}

{{sort|Curtiz|Michael Curtiz}}

|Yankee Doodle Dandy

{{sort|Farrow|John Farrow}}

|Wake Island

{{sort|LeRoy|Mervyn LeRoy}}

|Random Harvest

{{sort|Wood|Sam Wood}}

|Kings Row

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1943
{{small|(16th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Curtiz|Michael Curtiz}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Casablanca

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1944|title=The 16th Academy Awards (1944) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160321095215/http://oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1944|archive-date=March 21, 2016}}

{{sort|Brown|Clarence Brown}}

|{{sort|Human|The Human Comedy}}

{{sort|King|Henry King}}

|{{sort|Song|The Song of Bernadette}}

{{sort|Lubitsch|Ernst Lubitsch}}

|Heaven Can Wait

{{sort|Stevens|George Stevens}}

|{{sort|More|The More the Merrier}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1944
{{small|(17th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|McCarey|Leo McCarey}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Going My Way

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1945|title=The 17th Academy Awards (1945) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160702160225/https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1945|archive-date=July 2, 2016}}

{{sort|Hitchcock|Alfred Hitchcock}}

|Lifeboat

{{sort|King|Henry King}}

|Wilson

{{sort|Preminger|Otto Preminger}}

|Laura

{{sort|Wilder|Billy Wilder}}

|Double Indemnity

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1945
{{small|(18th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Wilder|Billy Wilder}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Lost|The Lost Weekend}}

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1946|title=The 18th Academy Awards (1946) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402003401/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1946|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Brown|Clarence Brown}}

|National Velvet

{{sort|Hitchcock|Alfred Hitchcock}}

|Spellbound

{{sort|McCarey|Leo McCarey}}

|{{sort|Bells|The Bells of St. Mary's}}

{{sort|Renoir|Jean Renoir}}

|{{sort|Southerner|The Southerner}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1946
{{small|(19th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Wyler|William Wyler}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Best|The Best Years of Our Lives}}

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1947|title=The 19th Academy Awards (1947) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402003414/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1947|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Brown|Clarence Brown}}

|{{sort|Yearling|The Yearling}}

{{sort|Capra|Frank Capra}}

|It's a Wonderful Life

{{sort|Lean|David Lean}}

|Brief Encounter

{{sort|Siodmak|Robert Siodmak}}

|{{sort|Killers|The Killers}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1947
{{small|(20th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Kazan|Elia Kazan}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Gentleman's Agreement

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1948|title=The 20th Academy Awards (1948) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160702160236/https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1948|archive-date=July 2, 2016}}

{{sort|Cukor|George Cukor}}

|{{sort|Double|A Double Life}}

{{sort|Dmytryk|Edward Dmytryk}}

|Crossfire

{{sort|Koster|Henry Koster}}

|{{sort|Bishop|The Bishop's Wife}}

{{sort|Lean|David Lean}}

|Great Expectations

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1948
{{small|(21st)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Huston|John Huston}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Treasure|The Treasure of the Sierra Madre}}

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1949|title=The 21st Academy Awards (1949) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111072021/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1949|archive-date=November 11, 2014}}

{{sort|Litvak|Anatole Litvak}}

|{{sort|Snake|The Snake Pit}}

{{sort|Negulesco|Jean Negulesco}}

|Johnny Belinda

{{sort|Olivier|Laurence Olivier}}

|Hamlet

{{sort|Zinnemann|Fred Zinnemann}}

|{{sort|Search|The Search}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1949
{{small|(22nd)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Mankiewicz|Joseph L. Mankiewicz}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Letter|A Letter to Three Wives}}

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1950|title=The 22nd Academy Awards (1950) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402002854/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1950|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Reed|Carol Reed}}

|{{sort|Fallen|The Fallen Idol}}

{{sort|Rossen|Robert Rossen}}

|All the King's Men

{{sort|Wellman|William A. Wellman}}

|Battleground

{{sort|Wyler|William Wyler}}

|{{sort|Heiress|The Heiress}}

=1950s=

class="wikitable sortable"
scope="col" style="width:8%;"| Year

!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Director(s)

!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Film

!scope="col" style="width:2%;" |{{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1950
{{small|(23rd)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Mankiewicz|Joseph L. Mankiewicz}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | All About Eve

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1951|title=The 23rd Academy Awards (1951) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170128185155/https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1951|archive-date=January 28, 2017}}

{{sort|Cukor|George Cukor}}

|Born Yesterday

{{sort|Huston|John Huston}}

|{{sort|Asphalt|The Asphalt Jungle}}

{{sort|Reed|Carol Reed}}

|{{sort|Man|The Third Man}}

{{sort|Wilder|Billy Wilder}}

|Sunset Boulevard

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1951
{{small|(24th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Stevens|George Stevens}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Place|A Place in the Sun}}

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1952|title=The 24th Academy Awards (1952) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402003505/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1952|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Huston|John Huston}}

|{{sort|African|The African Queen}}

{{sort|Kazan|Elia Kazan}}

|{{sort|Streetcar|A Streetcar Named Desire}}

{{sort|Minnelli|Vincente Minnelli}}

|{{sort|American|An American in Paris}}

{{sort|Wyler|William Wyler}}

|Detective Story

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1952
{{small|(25th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Ford|John Ford}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Quiet|The Quiet Man}}

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1953|title=The 25th Academy Awards (1953) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111074417/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1953|archive-date=November 11, 2014}}

{{sort|DeMille|Cecil B. DeMille}}

|{{sort|Greatest|The Greatest Show on Earth}}

{{sort|Huston|John Huston}}

|Moulin Rouge

{{sort|Mankiewicz|Joseph L. Mankiewicz}}

|5 Fingers

{{sort|Zinnemann|Fred Zinnemann}}

|High Noon

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1953
{{small|(26th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Zinnemann|Fred Zinnemann}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | From Here to Eternity

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1954|title=The 26th Academy Awards (1954) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402003527/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1954|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Stevens|George Stevens}}

|Shane

{{sort|Walters|Charles Walters}}

|Lili

{{sort|Wilder|Billy Wilder}}

|Stalag 17

{{sort|Wyler|William Wyler}}

|Roman Holiday

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1954
{{small|(27th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Kazan|Elia Kazan}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | On the Waterfront

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1955|title=The 27th Academy Awards (1955) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220053716/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1955|archive-date=December 20, 2014}}

{{sort|Hitchcock|Alfred Hitchcock}}

|Rear Window

{{sort|Seaton|George Seaton}}

|{{sort|Country|The Country Girl}}

{{sort|Wellman|William A. Wellman}}

|{{sort|High|The High and the Mighty}}

{{sort|Wilder|Billy Wilder}}

|Sabrina

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1955
{{small|(28th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Mann|Delbert Mann}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Marty

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1956|title=The 28th Academy Awards (1956) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111073646/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1956|archive-date=November 11, 2014}}

{{sort|Kazan|Elia Kazan}}

|East of Eden

{{sort|Lean|David Lean}}

|Summertime

{{sort|Logan|Joshua Logan}}

|Picnic

{{sort|Sturges|John Sturges}}

|Bad Day at Black Rock

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;"| 1956
{{small|(29th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Stevens|George Stevens}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Giant

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1957|title=The 29th Academy Awards (1957) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402003615/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1957|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Anderson|Michael Anderson}}

|Around the World in 80 Days

{{sort|Lang|Walter Lang}}

|{{sort|King|The King and I}}

{{sort|Vidor|King Vidor}}

|War and Peace

{{sort|Wyler|William Wyler}}

|Friendly Persuasion

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1957
{{small|(30th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Lean|David Lean}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Bridge|The Bridge on the River Kwai}}

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1958|title=The 30th Academy Awards (1958) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402003629/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1958|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Logan|Joshua Logan}}

|Sayonara

{{sort|Lumet|Sidney Lumet}}

|12 Angry Men

{{sort|Robson|Mark Robson}}

|Peyton Place

{{sort|Wilder|Billy Wilder}}

|Witness for the Prosecution

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1958
{{small|(31st)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Minnelli|Vincente Minnelli}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Gigi

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1959|title=The 31st Academy Awards (1959) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402003640/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1959|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Brooks|Richard Brooks}}

|Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

{{sort|Kramer|Stanley Kramer}}

|{{sort|Defiant|The Defiant Ones}}

{{sort|Robson|Mark Robson}}

|{{sort|Inn|The Inn of the Sixth Happiness}}

{{sort|Wise|Robert Wise}}

|I Want to Live!

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1959
{{small|(32nd)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Wyler|William Wyler}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Ben-Hur

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1960|title=The 32nd Academy Awards (1960) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160908182807/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1960|archive-date=September 8, 2016}}

{{sort|Clayton|Jack Clayton}}

|Room at the Top

{{sort|Stevens|George Stevens}}

|{{sort|Diary|The Diary of Anne Frank}}

{{sort|Wilder|Billy Wilder}}

|Some Like It Hot

{{sort|Zinnemann|Fred Zinnemann}}

|{{sort|Nun's|The Nun's Story}}

=1960s=

class="wikitable sortable"
scope="col" style="width:8%;"| Year

!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Director(s)

!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Film

!scope="col" style="width:2%;" class="unsortable"|{{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1960
{{small|(33rd)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Wilder|Billy Wilder}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Apartment|The Apartment}}

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1961|title=The 33rd Academy Awards (1961) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402003651/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1961|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Cardiff|Jack Cardiff}}

|Sons and Lovers

{{sort|Dassin|Jules Dassin}}

|Never on Sunday

{{sort|Hitchcock|Alfred Hitchcock}}

|Psycho

{{sort|Zinnemann|Fred Zinnemann}}

|{{sort|Sundowners|The Sundowners}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1961
{{small|(34th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Wise|Robert Wise}} & {{sort|Robbins|Jerome Robbins}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | West Side Story

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1962|title=The 34th Academy Awards (1962) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402003704/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1962|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Fellini|Federico Fellini}}

|La Dolce Vita

{{sort|Kramer|Stanley Kramer}}

|Judgment at Nuremberg

{{sort|Rossen|Robert Rossen}}

|{{sort|Hustler|The Hustler}}

{{sort|Thompson|J. Lee Thompson}}

|{{sort|Guns|The Guns of Navarone}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1962
{{small|(35th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Lean|David Lean}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Lawrence of Arabia

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1963|title=The 35th Academy Awards (1963) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160702160340/https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1963|archive-date=July 2, 2016}}

{{sort|Germi|Pietro Germi}}

|Divorce Italian Style

{{sort|Mulligan|Robert Mulligan}}

|To Kill a Mockingbird

{{sort|Penn|Arthur Penn}}

|{{sort|Miracle|The Miracle Worker}}

{{sort|Perry|Frank Perry}}

|David and Lisa

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1963
{{small|(36th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Richardson|Tony Richardson}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Tom Jones

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1964|title=The 36th Academy Awards (1964) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402003742/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1964|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Fellini|Federico Fellini}}

|8½

{{sort|Kazan|Elia Kazan}}

|America America

{{sort|Preminger|Otto Preminger}}

|{{sort|Cardinal|The Cardinal}}

{{sort|Ritt|Martin Ritt}}

|Hud

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1964
{{small|(37th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Cukor|George Cukor}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | My Fair Lady

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1965|title=The 37th Academy Awards (1965) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402003759/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1965|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Cacoyannis|Michael Cacoyannis}}

|Zorba the Greek

{{sort|Glenville|Peter Glenville}}

|Becket

{{sort|Kubrick|Stanley Kubrick}}

|Dr. Strangelove

{{sort|Stevenson|Robert Stevenson}}

|Mary Poppins

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1965
{{small|(38th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Wise|Robert Wise}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Sound|The Sound of Music}}

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1966|title=The 38th Academy Awards (1966) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402003812/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1966|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Lean|David Lean}}

|Doctor Zhivago

{{sort|Schlesinger|John Schlesinger}}

|Darling

{{sort|Teshigahara|Hiroshi Teshigahara}}

|{{sort|Woman|Woman in the Dunes}}

{{sort|Wyler|William Wyler}}

|{{sort|Collector|The Collector}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1966
{{small|(39th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Zinnemann|Fred Zinnemann}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Man|A Man for All Seasons}}

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1967|title=The 39th Academy Awards (1967) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402003824/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1967|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Antonioni|Michelangelo Antonioni}}

|Blowup

{{sort|Brooks|Richard Brooks}}

|{{sort|Professionals|The Professionals}}

{{sort|Lelouch|Claude Lelouch}}

|{{sort|Man|A Man and a Woman}}

{{sort|Nichols|Mike Nichols}}

|Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1967
{{small|(40th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Nichols|Mike Nichols}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Graduate|The Graduate}}

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1968|title=The 40th Academy Awards (1968) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402003842/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1968|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Brooks|Richard Brooks}}

|In Cold Blood

{{sort|Jewison|Norman Jewison}}

|In the Heat of the Night

{{sort|Kramer|Stanley Kramer}}

|Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

{{sort|Penn|Arthur Penn}}

|Bonnie and Clyde

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;"| 1968
{{small|(41st)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Reed|Carol Reed}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Oliver!

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1969|title=The 41st Academy Awards (1969) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402003856/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1969|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Harvey|Anthony Harvey}}

|{{sort|Lion|The Lion in Winter}}

{{sort|Kubrick|Stanley Kubrick}}

|2001: A Space Odyssey

{{sort|Pontecorvo|Gillo Pontecorvo}}

|{{sort|Battle|The Battle of Algiers}}

{{sort|Zeffirelli|Franco Zeffirelli}}

|Romeo and Juliet

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1969
{{small|(42nd)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Schlesinger|John Schlesinger}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Midnight Cowboy

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1970|title=The 42nd Academy Awards (1970) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402002922/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1970|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Gavras|Costa-Gavras}}

|Z

{{sort|Hill|George Roy Hill}}

|Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

{{sort|Penn|Arthur Penn}}

|Alice's Restaurant

{{sort|Pollack|Sydney Pollack}}

|They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

=1970s=

class="wikitable sortable"
scope="col" style="width:8%;"| Year

!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Director(s)

!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Film

!scope="col" style="width:2%;" |{{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1970
{{small|(43rd)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Schaffner|Franklin J. Schaffner}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Patton

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1971|title=The 43rd Academy Awards (1971) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402003910/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1971|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Altman|Robert Altman}}

|M*A*S*H

{{sort|Fellini|Federico Fellini}}

|Fellini Satyricon

{{sort|Hiller|Arthur Hiller}}

|Love Story

{{sort|Russell|Ken Russell}}

|Women in Love

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1971
{{small|(44th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Friedkin|William Friedkin}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|French|The French Connection}}

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1972|title=The 44th Academy Awards (1972) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402003926/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1972|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Bogdanovich|Peter Bogdanovich}}

|{{sort|Last|The Last Picture Show}}

{{sort|Jewison|Norman Jewison}}

|Fiddler on the Roof

{{sort|Kubrick|Stanley Kubrick}}

|{{sort|Clockwork|A Clockwork Orange}}

{{sort|Schlesinger|John Schlesinger}}

|Sunday Bloody Sunday

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1972
{{small|(45th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Fosse|Bob Fosse}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Cabaret

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1973|title=The 45th Academy Awards (1973) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402003938/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1973|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Boorman|John Boorman}}

|Deliverance

{{sort|Coppola|Francis Ford Coppola}}

|{{sort|Godfather|The Godfather}}

{{sort|Mankiewicz|Joseph L. Mankiewicz}}

|Sleuth

{{sort|Troell|Jan Troell}}

|{{sort|Emigrants|The Emigrants}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1973
{{small|(46th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Hill|George Roy Hill}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Sting|The Sting}}

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1974|title=The 46th Academy Awards (1974) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402003953/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1974|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Bergman|Ingmar Bergman}}

|Cries and Whispers

{{sort|Bertolucci|Bernardo Bertolucci}}

|Last Tango in Paris

{{sort|Friedkin|William Friedkin}}

|{{sort|Exorcist|The Exorcist}}

{{sort|Lucas|George Lucas}}

|American Graffiti

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1974
{{small|(47th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Coppola|Francis Ford Coppola}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Godfather|The Godfather Part II}}

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1975|title=The 47th Academy Awards (1975) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004005/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1975|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Cassavetes|John Cassavetes}}

|{{sort|Woman|A Woman Under the Influence}}

{{sort|Fosse|Bob Fosse}}

|Lenny

{{sort|Polanski|Roman Polanski}}

|Chinatown

{{sort|Truffaut|François Truffaut}}

|Day for Night

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1975
{{small|(48th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Forman|Miloš Forman}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1976|title=The 48th Academy Awards (1976) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004018/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1976|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Altman|Robert Altman}}

|Nashville

{{sort|Fellini|Federico Fellini}}

|Amarcord

{{sort|Kubrick|Stanley Kubrick}}

|Barry Lyndon

{{sort|Lumet|Sidney Lumet}}

|Dog Day Afternoon

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1976
{{small|(49th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Avildsen|John G. Avildsen}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Rocky

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977|title=The 49th Academy Awards (1977) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004041/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1977|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Bergman|Ingmar Bergman}}

|Face to Face

{{sort|Lumet|Sidney Lumet}}

|Network

{{sort|Pakula|Alan J. Pakula}}

|All the President's Men

{{sort|Wertmüller|Lina Wertmüller}}

|Seven Beauties

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1977
{{small|(50th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Allen|Woody Allen}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Annie Hall

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1978|title=The 50th Academy Awards (1978) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004056/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1978|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Lucas|George Lucas}}

|Star Wars

{{sort|Ross|Herbert Ross}}

|{{sort|Turning|The Turning Point}}

{{sort|Spielberg|Steven Spielberg}}

|Close Encounters of the Third Kind

{{sort|Zinnemann|Fred Zinnemann}}

|Julia

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1978
{{small|(51st)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Cimino|Michael Cimino}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Deer|The Deer Hunter}}

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1979|title=The 51st Academy Awards (1979) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004111/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1979|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Allen|Woody Allen}}

|Interiors

{{sort|Ashby|Hal Ashby}}

|Coming Home

{{sort|Beatty|Warren Beatty}} & {{sort|Henry|Buck Henry}}

|Heaven Can Wait

{{sort|Parker|Alan Parker}}

|Midnight Express

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1979
{{small|(52nd)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Benton|Robert Benton}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Kramer vs. Kramer

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1980|title=The 52nd Academy Awards (1980) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402002939/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1980|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Coppola|Francis Ford Coppola}}

|Apocalypse Now

{{sort|Fosse|Bob Fosse}}

|All That Jazz

{{sort|Molinaro|Édouard Molinaro}}

|La Cage aux Folles

{{sort|Yates|Peter Yates}}

|Breaking Away

=1980s=

class="wikitable sortable"
scope="col" style="width:8%;"| Year

!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Director(s)

!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Film

!scope="col" style="width:2%;" |{{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1980
{{small|(53rd)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Redford|Robert Redford}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Ordinary People

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1981|title=The 53rd Academy Awards (1981) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004127/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1981|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Lynch|David Lynch}}

|{{sort|Elephant|The Elephant Man}}

{{sort|Polanski|Roman Polanski}}

|Tess

{{sort|Rush|Richard Rush}}

|{{sort|Stunt|The Stunt Man}}

{{sort|Scorsese|Martin Scorsese}}

|Raging Bull

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1981
{{small|(54th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Beatty|Warren Beatty}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Reds

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1982|title=The 54th Academy Awards (1982) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004138/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1982|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Hudson|Hugh Hudson}}

|Chariots of Fire

{{sort|Malle|Louis Malle}}

|Atlantic City

{{sort|Rydell|Mark Rydell}}

|On Golden Pond

{{sort|Spielberg|Steven Spielberg}}

|Raiders of the Lost Ark

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1982
{{small|(55th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Attenborough|Richard Attenborough}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Gandhi

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1983 |title=The 55th Academy Awards (1983) Nominees and Winners |access-date=August 27, 2013 |publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120905/http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/55th-winners.html |archive-date=September 5, 2012 }}

{{sort|Lumet|Sidney Lumet}}

|{{sort|Verdict|The Verdict}}

{{sort|Petersen|Wolfgang Petersen}}

|Das Boot

{{sort|Pollack|Sydney Pollack}}

|Tootsie

{{sort|Spielberg|Steven Spielberg}}

|E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1983
{{small|(56th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Brooks|James L. Brooks}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Terms of Endearment

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1984|title=The 56th Academy Awards (1984) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004202/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1984|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Beresford|Bruce Beresford}}

|Tender Mercies

{{sort|Bergman|Ingmar Bergman}}

|Fanny and Alexander

{{sort|Nichols|Mike Nichols}}

|Silkwood

{{sort|Yates|Peter Yates}}

|{{sort|Dresser|The Dresser}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1984
{{small|(57th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Forman|Miloš Forman}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Amadeus

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1985|title=The 57th Academy Awards (1985) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004214/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1985|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Allen|Woody Allen}}

|Broadway Danny Rose

{{sort|Benton|Robert Benton}}

|Places in the Heart

{{sort|Joffé|Roland Joffé}}

|{{sort|Killing|The Killing Fields}}

{{sort|Lean|David Lean}}

|{{sort|Passage|A Passage to India}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1985
{{small|(58th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Pollack|Sydney Pollack}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Out of Africa

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1986|title=The 58th Academy Awards (1986) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004226/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1986|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Babenco|Héctor Babenco}}

|Kiss of the Spider Woman

{{sort|Huston|John Huston}}

|Prizzi's Honor

{{sort|Kurosawa|Akira Kurosawa}}

|Ran

{{sort|Weir|Peter Weir}}

|Witness

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;"| 1986
{{small|(59th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Stone|Oliver Stone}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Platoon

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1987|title=The 59th Academy Awards (1987) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004243/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1987|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Allen|Woody Allen}}

|Hannah and Her Sisters

{{sort|Ivory|James Ivory}}

|{{sort|Room|A Room with a View}}

{{sort|Joffé|Roland Joffé}}

|{{sort|Mission|The Mission}}

{{sort|Lynch|David Lynch}}

|Blue Velvet

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1987
{{small|(60th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Bertolucci|Bernardo Bertolucci}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Emperor|The Last Emperor}}

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1988|title=The 60th Academy Awards (1988) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004300/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1988|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Boorman|John Boorman}}

|Hope and Glory

{{sort|Hallström|Lasse Hallström}}

|My Life as a Dog

{{sort|Jewison|Norman Jewison}}

|Moonstruck

{{sort|Lyne|Adrian Lyne}}

|Fatal Attraction

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1988
{{small|(61st)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Levinson|Barry Levinson}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Rain Man

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1989|title=The 61st Academy Awards (1989) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706095646/http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/61st-winners.html|archive-date=July 6, 2011}}

{{sort|Crichton|Charles Crichton}}

|{{sort|Fish|A Fish Called Wanda}}

{{sort|Nichols|Mike Nichols}}

|Working Girl

{{sort|Parker|Alan Parker}}

|Mississippi Burning

{{sort|Scorsese|Martin Scorsese}}

|{{sort|Last|The Last Temptation of Christ}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1989
{{small|(62nd)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Stone|Oliver Stone}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Born on the Fourth of July

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1990|title=The 62nd Academy Awards (1990) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402002952/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1990|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Allen|Woody Allen}}

|Crimes and Misdemeanors

{{sort|Branagh|Kenneth Branagh}}

|Henry V

{{sort|Sheridan|Jim Sheridan}}

|My Left Foot

{{sort|Weir|Peter Weir}}

|Dead Poets Society

=1990s=

class="wikitable sortable"
scope="col" style="width:8%;"| Year

!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Director(s)

!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Film

!scope="col" style="width:2%;" |{{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1990
{{small|(63rd)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | {{sort|Costner|Kevin Costner}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | Dances With Wolves

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1991|title=The 63rd Academy Awards (1991) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004341/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1991|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Coppola|Francis Ford Coppola}}

|{{sort|Godfather|The Godfather Part III}}

{{sort|Frears|Stephen Frears}}

|{{sort|Grifters|The Grifters}}

{{sort|Schroeder|Barbet Schroeder}}

|Reversal of Fortune

{{sort|Scorsese|Martin Scorsese}}

|Goodfellas

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1991
{{small|(64th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Demme|Jonathan Demme}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Silence|The Silence of the Lambs}}

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1992|title=The 64th Academy Awards (1992) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004405/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1992|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Levinson|Barry Levinson}}

|Bugsy

{{sort|Scott|Ridley Scott}}

|Thelma & Louise

{{sort|Singleton|John Singleton}}

|Boyz n the Hood

{{sort|Stone|Oliver Stone}}

|JFK

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1992
{{small|(65th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Eastwood|Clint Eastwood}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |Unforgiven

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1993|title=The 65th Academy Awards (1993) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004418/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1993|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Altman|Robert Altman}}

|{{sort|Player|The Player}}

{{sort|Brest|Martin Brest}}

|Scent of a Woman

{{sort|Ivory|James Ivory}}

|Howards End

{{sort|Jordan|Neil Jordan}}

|{{sort|Crying|The Crying Game}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1993
{{small|(66th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Spielberg|Steven Spielberg}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |Schindler's List

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1994|title=The 66th Academy Awards (1994) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004432/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1994|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Altman|Robert Altman}}

|Short Cuts

{{sort|Campion|Jane Campion}}

|{{sort|Piano|The Piano}}

{{sort|Ivory|James Ivory}}

|{{sort|Remains|The Remains of the Day}}

{{sort|Sheridan|Jim Sheridan}}

|In the Name of the Father

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1994
{{small|(67th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Zemeckis|Robert Zemeckis}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |Forrest Gump

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1995|title=The 67th Academy Awards (1995) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004445/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1995|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Allen|Woody Allen}}

|Bullets Over Broadway

{{sort|Kieślowski|Krzysztof Kieślowski}}

|Three Colours: Red

{{sort|Redford|Robert Redford}}

|Quiz Show

{{sort|Tarantino|Quentin Tarantino}}

|Pulp Fiction

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1995
{{small|(68th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Gibson|Mel Gibson}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |Braveheart

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1996|title=The 68th Academy Awards (1996) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004458/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1996|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Figgis|Mike Figgis}}

|Leaving Las Vegas

{{sort|Noonan|Chris Noonan}}

|Babe

{{sort|Radford|Michael Radford}}

|Il Postino: The Postman

{{sort|Robbins|Tim Robbins}}

|Dead Man Walking

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1996
{{small|(69th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Minghella|Anthony Minghella}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|English|The English Patient}}

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1997|title=The 69th Academy Awards (1997) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004512/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1997|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Coen|Joel Coen}}

|Fargo

{{sort|Forman|Miloš Forman}}

|{{sort|People|The People vs. Larry Flynt}}

{{sort|Hicks|Scott Hicks}}

|Shine

{{sort|Leigh|Mike Leigh}}

|Secrets & Lies

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1997
{{small|(70th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Cameron|James Cameron}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |Titanic

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998|title=The 70th Academy Awards (1998) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004523/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1998|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Cattaneo|Peter Cattaneo}}

|{{sort|Monty|The Full Monty}}

{{sort|Egoyan|Atom Egoyan}}

|{{sort|Sweet|The Sweet Hereafter}}

{{sort|Hanson|Curtis Hanson}}

|L.A. Confidential

{{sort|Van Sant|Gus Van Sant}}

|Good Will Hunting

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1998
{{small|(71st)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Spielberg|Steven Spielberg}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |Saving Private Ryan

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1999|title=The 71st Academy Awards (1999) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004536/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1999|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Benigni|Roberto Benigni}}

|Life Is Beautiful

{{sort|Madden|John Madden}}

|Shakespeare in Love

{{sort|Malick|Terrence Malick}}

|{{sort|Thin|The Thin Red Line}}

{{sort|Weir|Peter Weir}}

|{{sort|Truman|The Truman Show}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 1999
{{small|(72nd)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Mendes|Sam Mendes}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |American Beauty

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2000|title=The 72nd Academy Awards (2000) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402003006/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2000|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Hallström|Lasse Hallström}}

|{{sort|Cider|The Cider House Rules}}

{{sort|Jonze|Spike Jonze}}

|Being John Malkovich

{{sort|Mann|Michael Mann}}

|{{sort|Insider|The Insider}}

{{sort|Shyamalan|M. Night Shyamalan}}

|{{sort|Sixth|The Sixth Sense}}

=2000s=

class="wikitable sortable"
scope="col" style="width:8%;"| Year

!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Director(s)

!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Film

!scope="col" style="width:2%;" |{{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align;center;" | 2000
{{small|(73rd)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Soderbergh|Steven Soderbergh}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |Traffic

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2001|title=The 73rd Academy Awards (2001) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004546/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2001|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Daldry|Stephen Daldry}}

|Billy Elliot

{{sort|Lee|Ang Lee}}

|Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

{{sort|Scott|Ridley Scott}}

|Gladiator

{{sort|Soderbergh|Steven Soderbergh}}

|Erin Brockovich

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 2001
{{small|(74th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Howard|Ron Howard}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Beautiful|A Beautiful Mind}}

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2002|title=The 74th Academy Awards (2002) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004559/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2002|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Altman|Robert Altman}}

|Gosford Park

{{sort|Jackson|Peter Jackson}}

|{{sort|Lord|The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring}}

{{sort|Lynch|David Lynch}}

|Mulholland Drive

{{sort|Scott|Ridley Scott}}

|Black Hawk Down

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 2002
{{small|(75th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Polanski|Roman Polanski}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Pianist|The Pianist}}

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2003|title=The 75th Academy Awards (2003) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004617/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2003|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Almodóvar|Pedro Almodóvar}}

|Talk to Her

{{sort|Daldry|Stephen Daldry}}

|{{sort|Hours|The Hours}}

{{sort|Marshall|Rob Marshall}}

|Chicago

{{sort|Scorsese|Martin Scorsese}}

|Gangs of New York

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 2003
{{small|(76th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Jackson|Peter Jackson}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Lord|The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King}}

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2004|title=The 76th Academy Awards (2004) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004632/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2004|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Coppola|Sofia Coppola}}

|Lost in Translation

{{sort|Eastwood|Clint Eastwood}}

|Mystic River

{{sort|Meirelles|Fernando Meirelles}}

|City of God

{{sort|Weir|Peter Weir}}

|Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 2004
{{small|(77th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Eastwood|Clint Eastwood}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |Million Dollar Baby

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2005|title=The 77th Academy Awards (2005) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170502002335/https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2005|archive-date=May 2, 2017}}

{{sort|Hackford|Taylor Hackford}}

|Ray

{{sort|Leigh|Mike Leigh}}

|Vera Drake

{{sort|Payne|Alexander Payne}}

|Sideways

{{sort|Scorsese|Martin Scorsese}}

|{{sort|Aviator|The Aviator}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 2005
{{small|(78th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Lee|Ang Lee}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |Brokeback Mountain

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2006|title=The 78th Academy Awards (2006) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141109220946/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2006|archive-date=November 9, 2014}}

{{sort|Clooney|George Clooney}}

|Good Night, and Good Luck

{{sort|Haggis|Paul Haggis}}

|Crash

{{sort|Miller|Bennett Miller}}

|Capote

{{sort|Spielberg|Steven Spielberg}}

|Munich

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 2006
{{small|(79th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Scorsese|Martin Scorsese}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Departed|The Departed}}

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2007|title=The 79th Academy Awards (2007) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004711/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2007|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Eastwood|Clint Eastwood}}

|Letters from Iwo Jima

{{sort|Frears|Stephen Frears}}

|{{sort|Queen|The Queen}}

{{sort|Greengrass|Paul Greengrass}}

|United 93

{{sort|Iñárritu|Alejandro González Iñárritu}}

|Babel

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 2007
{{small|(80th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Coen|Joel Coen and Ethan Coen}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |No Country for Old Men

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2008|title=The 80th Academy Awards (2008) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004725/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2008|archive-date=April 2, 2015}}

{{sort|Anderson|Paul Thomas Anderson}}

|There Will Be Blood

{{sort|Gilroy|Tony Gilroy}}

|Michael Clayton

{{sort|Reitman|Jason Reitman}}

|Juno

{{sort|Schnabel|Julian Schnabel}}

|{{sort|Diving|The Diving Bell and the Butterfly}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 2008
{{small|(81st)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Boyle|Danny Boyle}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |Slumdog Millionaire

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2009|title=The 81st Academy Awards (2009) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110111206/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2009|archive-date=November 10, 2014}}

{{sort|Daldry|Stephen Daldry}}

|{{sort|Reader|The Reader}}

{{sort|Fincher|David Fincher}}

|{{sort|Curious|The Curious Case of Benjamin Button}}

{{sort|Howard|Ron Howard}}

|Frost/Nixon

{{sort|Van Sant|Gus Van Sant}}

|Milk

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 2009
{{small|(82nd)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Bigelow|Kathryn Bigelow}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Hurt|The Hurt Locker}}

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2010|title=The 82nd Academy Awards (2010) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120929191037/http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/82nd-winners.html|archive-date=September 29, 2012}}

{{sort|Cameron|James Cameron}}

|Avatar

{{sort|Daniels|Lee Daniels}}

|Precious

{{sort|Reitman|Jason Reitman}}

|Up in the Air

{{sort|Tarantino|Quentin Tarantino}}

|Inglourious Basterds

=2010s=

class="wikitable sortable"

!scope="col" style="width:8%;"| Year

!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Director(s)

!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Film

!scope="col" style="width:2%;" class="unsortable"|{{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 2010
{{small|(83rd)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Hooper|Tom Hooper}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|King's|The King's Speech}}

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2011|title=The 83rd Academy Awards (2011) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110505013733/http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/83/nominees.html|archive-date=May 5, 2011}}

{{sort|Aronofsky|Darren Aronofsky}}

|Black Swan

{{sort|Coen|Joel Coen and Ethan Coen}}

|True Grit

{{sort|Fincher|David Fincher}}

|{{sort|Social|The Social Network}}

{{sort|Russell|David O. Russell}}

|{{sort|Fighter|The Fighter}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 2011
{{small|(84th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Hazanavicius|Michel Hazanavicius}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Artist|The Artist}}

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2012|title=The 84th Academy Awards (2012) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141015232303/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2012|archive-date=October 15, 2014}}

{{sort|Allen|Woody Allen}}

|Midnight in Paris

{{sort|Malick|Terrence Malick}}

|{{sort|Tree|The Tree of Life}}

{{sort|Payne|Alexander Payne}}

|{{sort|Descendants|The Descendants}}

{{sort|Scorsese|Martin Scorsese}}

|Hugo

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 2012
{{small|(85th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Lee|Ang Lee}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |Life of Pi

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2013|title=The 85th Academy Awards (2013) Nominees and Winners|access-date=August 27, 2013|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141014074656/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2013|archive-date=October 14, 2014}}

{{sort|Haneke|Michael Haneke}}

|Amour

{{sort|Russell|David O. Russell}}

|Silver Linings Playbook

{{sort|Spielberg|Steven Spielberg}}

|Lincoln

{{sort|Zeitlin|Benh Zeitlin}}

|Beasts of the Southern Wild

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 2013
{{small|(86th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Cuarón|Alfonso Cuarón}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |Gravity

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2014|title=The 86th Academy Awards (2014) Nominees and Winners|access-date=April 10, 2014|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141014193700/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2014|archive-date=October 14, 2014}}

{{sort|McQueen|Steve McQueen}}

|12 Years a Slave

{{sort|Payne|Alexander Payne}}

|Nebraska

{{sort|Russell|David O. Russell}}

|American Hustle

{{sort|Scorsese|Martin Scorsese}}

|{{sort|Wolf|The Wolf of Wall Street}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 2014
{{small|(87th)}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Iñárritu|Alejandro G. Iñárritu}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |Birdman

|rowspan="5"|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2015|title=The 87th Academy Awards (2015) Nominees and Winners|access-date=January 15, 2015|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150310051043/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2015|archive-date=March 10, 2015}}

{{sort|Anderson|Wes Anderson}}

|{{sort|Grand|The Grand Budapest Hotel}}

{{sort|Linklater|Richard Linklater}}

|Boyhood

{{sort|Miller|Bennett Miller}}

|Foxcatcher

{{sort|Tyldum|Morten Tyldum}}

|{{sort|Imitation|The Imitation Game}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center" | 2015
{{small|(88th) }}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Iñárritu|Alejandro G. Iñárritu}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |The Revenant

| rowspan=5|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2016|title=The 88th Academy Awards (2016) Nominees and Winners|access-date=January 14, 2016|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160125161918/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2016|archive-date=January 25, 2016}}

{{sort|Abrahamson|Lenny Abrahamson}}

|Room

{{sort|McCarthy|Tom McCarthy}}

|Spotlight

{{sort|McKay|Adam McKay}}

|{{sort|Big|The Big Short}}

{{sort|Miller|George Miller}}

|Mad Max: Fury Road

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center" | 2016
{{small|(89th) }}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Chazelle|Damien Chazelle}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" | La La Land

| rowspan=5|{{cite news|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2017|title=The 89th Academy Awards (2017) Nominees and Winners|access-date=January 14, 2017|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170303235233/https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2017|archive-date=March 3, 2017}}

{{sort|Gibson|Mel Gibson}}

|Hacksaw Ridge

{{sort|Jenkins|Barry Jenkins}}

|Moonlight

{{sort|Lonergan|Kenneth Lonergan}}

|Manchester by the Sea

{{sort|Villeneuve|Denis Villeneuve}}

|Arrival

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center" | 2017
{{small|(90th) }}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|del Toro|Guillermo del Toro}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |The Shape of Water

| rowspan=5|{{cite news |first=Brooks |last=Barnes |title='The Shape of Water' Wins Best Picture as Oscars Project Diversity |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/04/movies/oscars-academy-awards.html |work=The New York Times |date=March 4, 2018 |access-date=March 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180305023608/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/04/movies/oscars-academy-awards.html |archive-date=March 5, 2018 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}

{{sort|Anderson|Paul Thomas Anderson}}

|Phantom Thread

{{sort|Gerwig|Greta Gerwig}}

|Lady Bird

{{sort|Nolan|Christopher Nolan}}

|Dunkirk

|{{sort|Peele|Jordan Peele}}

|Get Out

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center" | 2018
{{small|(91st) }}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Cuarón|Alfonso Cuarón}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |Roma

| rowspan=5|{{cite web|access-date=2019-12-23|title=Netflix's 'Roma' wins three Oscars, including Best Director (but not Best Picture)|date=February 25, 2019|url=https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/24/netflix-roma-oscars/|archive-date=March 16, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316071301/https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/24/netflix-roma-oscars/|url-status=live}}

{{sort|Lanthimos|Yorgos Lanthimos}}

|The Favourite

{{sort|Lee|Spike Lee}}

|BlacKkKlansman

{{sort|McKay|Adam McKay}}

|Vice

{{sort|Pawilikowski|Paweł Pawlikowski}}

|Cold War

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center" | 2019
(92nd)

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Bong|Bong Joon-ho}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |Parasite

| rowspan=5|{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jan/13/oscar-nominations-full-list-for-2020|title=The full list of 2020 Oscar nominations|date=January 14, 2020|work=Guardian|access-date=January 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114060413/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jan/13/oscar-nominations-full-list-for-2020|archive-date=January 14, 2020|url-status=live}}

{{sort|Mendes|Sam Mendes}}

| 1917

{{sort|Phillips|Todd Phillips}}

|Joker

{{sort|Scorsese|Martin Scorsese}}

| The Irishman

{{sort|Tarantino|Quentin Tarantino}}

| Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

=2020s=

class="wikitable sortable"

!scope="col" style="width:8%;"| Year

!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Director(s)

!scope="col" style="width:30%;"| Film

!scope="col" style="width:2%;" class="unsortable"|{{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}}

scope="row" rowspan=5 style="text-align:center;" | 2020/21
{{efn|name=covid-19|The eligibility period for the 93rd ceremony was extended through to February 28, 2021, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.}}
(93rd)

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Zhao|Chloé Zhao}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Nomadland|Nomadland}}

|rowspan=5|{{cite news|url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2021|title=The 93rd Academy Awards (2021) Nominees and Winners|access-date=March 14, 2023|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501233256/https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2021|archive-date=May 1, 2021}}

{{sort|Chung|Lee Isaac Chung}}

|Minari

{{sort|Fennel|Emerald Fennell}}

|Promising Young Woman

{{sort|Fincher|David Fincher}}

|Mank

{{sort|Vinterberg|Thomas Vinterberg}}

|{{sort|Another Round|Another Round}}

rowspan="5" |2021
(94th)

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort| Campion|Jane Campion}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort| The Power of the Dog (film)|The Power of the Dog}}

| rowspan="5" |{{cite news|url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2022|title=The 94th Academy Awards (2022) Nominees and Winners|access-date=March 14, 2023|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401051947/https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2022|archive-date=April 1, 2022}}

{{sort|Anderson|Paul Thomas Anderson}}

|Licorice Pizza

{{sort|Branagh|Kenneth Branagh}}

|Belfast

{{sort|Hamaguchi|Ryusuke Hamaguchi}}

|Drive My Car

{{sort|Spielberg|Steven Spielberg}}

|West Side Story

rowspan="5" |2022
(95th)

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Daniels|Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Everything Everywhere All at Once|Everything Everywhere All at Once}}

| rowspan="5" |{{cite news|url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2023|title=The 95th Academy Awards (2023) Nominees and Winners|access-date=March 14, 2023|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314145222/https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2023|archive-date=March 14, 2023}}

Todd Field

|Tár

Martin McDonagh

|The Banshees of Inisherin

Ruben Östlund

|Triangle of Sadness

Steven Spielberg

|The Fabelmans

rowspan="5" |2023
(96th)

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Nolan|Christopher Nolan}}

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |{{sort|Oppenheimer|Oppenheimer}}

| rowspan="5" |{{cite news|url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2024|title=The 96th Academy Awards (2024) Nominees and Winners|access-date=March 24, 2024|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240322080415/https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2024|archive-date=March 22, 2024}}

Jonathan Glazer

|The Zone of Interest

Yorgos Lanthimos

|Poor Things

Martin Scorsese

|Killers of the Flower Moon

Justine Triet

|Anatomy of a Fall

rowspan="5" |2024
(97th)

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |Sean Baker

| style="background:#FAEB86;" |Anora

| rowspan="5" |{{cite news|url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2025|title=The 97th Academy Awards (2025) Nominees and Winners|access-date=January 25, 2024|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)}}

Jacques Audiard

|Emilia Pérez

Brady Corbet

|The Brutalist

Coralie Fargeat

|The Substance

James Mangold

|A Complete Unknown

Multiple wins and nominations

= Multiple wins =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

! scope="col" width="55" | Wins

! scope="col" align="center" | Director

{{center|4}}

| John Ford

rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;" | 3

| Frank Capra

William Wyler
rowspan=18 style="text-align:center;" | 2

| Frank Borzage

Alfonso Cuarón
Clint Eastwood
Miloš Forman
Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Elia Kazan
David Lean
Ang Lee
Frank Lloyd{{efn|name=2nd}}
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Leo McCarey
Lewis Milestone
Steven Spielberg
George Stevens
Oliver Stone
Billy Wilder
Robert Wise{{efn|name=wise}}
Fred Zinnemann

=Three or more nominations=

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

! scope="col" width="55" | Nominations

! scope="col" align="center" | Director

rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;" | 12

| William Wyler

rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;" | 10

| Martin Scorsese

rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;" | 9

| Steven Spielberg

rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;" | 8

| Billy Wilder

rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;" | 7

| Woody Allen

David Lean
Fred Zinnemann
rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;" | 6

| Frank Capra

rowspan="9" style="text-align:center;" | 5

| Robert Altman

Clarence Brown{{efn|name=clarence}}
George Cukor
John Ford
Alfred Hitchcock
John Huston
Elia Kazan
George Stevens
King Vidor
rowspan="10" style="text-align:center;" | 4

| Francis Ford Coppola

Michael Curtiz{{efn|name=write-in}}
Clint Eastwood
Federico Fellini
Stanley Kubrick
Frank Lloyd{{efn|name=2nd}}
Sidney Lumet
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Mike Nichols
Peter Weir
rowspan="30" style="text-align:center;" | 3

| Paul Thomas Anderson

Ingmar Bergman
Richard Brooks
Joel Coen{{efn|name=Coens|While the Coen Brothers, as a directing duo, earned two nominations, their work on Fargo was credited as being split apart: Ethan was given sole producer credit, while Joel was listed as the sole director. Joel thus has one additional directing nomination combined with his work as part of their dual efforts.}}
Stephen Daldry
David Fincher
Miloš Forman
Bob Fosse
Alejandro González Iñárritu
James Ivory
Norman Jewison
Stanley Kramer
Ang Lee
Ernst Lubitsch
David Lynch
Leo McCarey
Lewis Milestone
Alexander Payne
Arthur Penn
Roman Polanski
Sydney Pollack
Carol Reed
David O. Russell
John Schlesinger
Ridley Scott
Oliver Stone
Quentin Tarantino
William A. Wellman
Robert Wise{{efn|name=wise|Wise earned two individual nominations (resulting in one win); and one joint nomination with Jerome Robbins, which also resulted in the pair of them winning.}}
Sam Wood

Age superlatives

{{Main|List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees#Best Director}}

class="wikitable"
scope="col" | Record

! scope="col" | Director

! scope="col" | Film

! scope="col" | Age

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}}

Oldest winner

| Clint Eastwood

| Million Dollar Baby

| 74 years, 272 days

| {{cite news|title=Oldest/Youngest Directing Nominees and Winners |url=http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/help/helpMain.jsp?helpContentURL=statistics/indexStats.html |access-date=November 19, 2015 |publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301005626/http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/help/helpMain.jsp?helpContentURL=statistics%2FindexStats.html |archive-date=March 1, 2009}}

Oldest nominee

| Martin Scorsese

| Killers of the Flower Moon

| 81 years, 67 days

|

Youngest winner

| Damien Chazelle

| La La Land

| 32 years, 38 days

|

Youngest nominee

| John Singleton

| Boyz n the Hood

| 24 years, 44 days

|

Records

Notes

{{notelist-la}}

See also

References

{{reflist}}

Bibliography

{{refbegin}}

  • {{cite book |last = Crouse

|first = Richard

|title = Reel Winners: Movie Award Trivia

|year = 2005

|isbn = 978-1-55002-574-3

|location = Toronto, Ontario, Canada

|publisher = University of Toronto Press

|url-access = registration

|url = https://archive.org/details/reelwinnersmovie0000crou

}}

  • {{cite book

| last = Levy

| first = Emanuel

| title = All About Oscar: The History and Politics of the Academy Awards

| year = 2003

| isbn = 978-0-8264-1452-6

| location = New York, United States

| publisher = Continuum International Publishing Group

| ref = Levy

}}

{{refend}}

External links

  • [http://www.oscars.org/ Oscars.org] (official Academy site)
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20080913120840/http://www.oscars.org/awardsdatabase/index.html The Academy Awards Database] (official site)
  • [http://www.oscar.com/ Oscar.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304014303/http://www.oscar.com/ |date=March 4, 2009 }} (official ceremony promotional site)

{{Academy Awards}}

{{Academy Awards lists}}

{{Academy Award Best Directing}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Academy Award For Best Directing}}

Directing

Category:Awards for best director