Best Director
The following is the average ranking of Best Director Oscar nominees by the Twitter followers of And the Runner-Up Is.
Results are tallied using a positional voting system, where the nominees receive points based on their rank position on each submission and the nominee with the most points overall wins.
Bold = the actual Academy Award winner
1920s
| Year | Nominee and rank | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 1927–28 | 1. King Vidor | The Crowd |
| 2. Frank Borzage | 7th Heaven | |
| 3. Ted Wilde | Speedy | |
| 4. Lewis Milestone | Two Arabian Knights | |
| 5. Herbert Brenon | Sorrell and Son | |
| 1928–29 | 1. Frank Lloyd | The Divine Lady |
| 2. Irving Cummings | In Old Arizona | |
| 3. Harry Beaumont | The Broadway Melody | |
| 4. Lionel Barrymore | Madame X | |
| 5. Frank Lloyd | Weary River | |
| 6. Frank Lloyd | Drag | |
| -Ernst Lubitsch | The Patriot |
1930s
| Year | Nominee and rank | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 1929–30 | 1. Lewis Milestone | All Quiet on the Western Front |
| 2. Clarence Brown | Anna Christie | |
| 3. Robert Z. Leonard | The Divorcee | |
| 4. Ernst Lubitsch | The Love Parade | |
| 5. King Vidor | Hallelujah | |
| 6. Clarence Brown | Romance | |
| 1930–31 | 1. Josef von Sternberg | Morocco |
| 2. Lewis Milestone | The Front Page | |
| 3. Norman Taurog | Skippy | |
| 4. Clarence Brown | A Free Soul | |
| 5. Wesley Ruggles | Cimarron | |
| 1931–32 | 1. Josef von Sternberg | Shanghai Express |
| 2. King Vidor | The Champ | |
| 3. Frank Borzage | Bad Girl | |
| 1932–33 | 1. Frank Capra | Lady for a Day |
| 2. George Cukor | Little Women | |
| 3. Frank Lloyd | Cavalcade | |
| 1934 | 1. Frank Capra | It Happened One Night |
| 2. W.S. Van Dyke | The Thin Man | |
| 3. Victor Schertzinger | One Night of Love | |
| 1935 | 1. John Ford | The Informer |
| 2. Frank Lloyd | Mutiny on the Bounty | |
| 3. Michael Curtiz | Captain Blood | |
| 4. Henry Hathaway | The Lives of a Bengal Lancer | |
| 1936 | 1. Gregory La Cava | My Man Godfrey |
| 2. William Wyler | Dodsworth | |
| 3. Frank Capra | Mr. Deeds Goes to Town | |
| 4. Robert Z. Leonard | The Great Ziegfeld | |
| 5. W.S. Van Dyke | San Francisco | |
| 1937 | 1. Leo McCarey | The Awful Truth |
| 2. William A. Wellman | A Star Is Born | |
| 3. Gregory La Cava | Stage Door | |
| 4. William Dieterle | The Life of Emile Zola | |
| 5. Sidney Franklin | The Good Earth | |
| 1938 | 1. Michael Curtiz | Angels with Dirty Faces |
| 2. Frank Capra | You Can't Take It with You | |
| 3. King Vidor | The Citadel | |
| 4. Michael Curtiz | Four Daughters | |
| 5. Norman Taurog | Boys Town | |
| 1939 | 1. Victor Fleming | Gone with the Wind |
| 2. Frank Capra | Mr. Smith Goes to Washington | |
| 3. John Ford | Stagecoach | |
| 4. William Wyler | Wuthering Heights | |
| 5. Sam Wood | Goodbye, Mr. Chips |
1940s
| Year | Nominee and rank | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 1940 | 1. John Ford | The Grapes of Wrath |
| 2. Alfred Hitchcock | Rebecca | |
| 3. George Cukor | The Philadelphia Story | |
| 4. William Wyler | The Letter | |
| 5. Sam Wood | Kitty Foyle | |
| 1941 | 1. Orson Welles | Citizen Kane |
| 2. John Ford | How Green Was My Valley | |
| 3. William Wyler | The Little Foxes | |
| 4. Howard Hawks | Sergeant York | |
| 5. Alexander Hall | Here Comes Mr. Jordan | |
| 1942 | 1. William Wyler | Mrs. Miniver |
| 2. Mervyn LeRoy | Random Harvest | |
| 3. Michael Curtiz | Yankee Doodle Dandy | |
| 4. Sam Wood | Kings Row | |
| 5. John Farrow | Wake Island | |
| 1943 | 1. Michael Curtiz | Casablanca |
| 2. George Stevens | The More the Merrier | |
| 3. Ernst Lubitsch | Heaven Can Wait | |
| 4. Henry King | The Song of Bernadette | |
| 5. Clarence Brown | The Human Comedy | |
| 1944 | 1. Billy Wilder | Double Indemnity |
| 2. Otto Preminger | Laura | |
| 3. Alfred Hitchcock | Lifeboat | |
| 4. Leo McCarey | Going My Way | |
| 5. Henry King | Wilson | |
| 1945 | 1. Billy Wilder | The Lost Weekend |
| 2. Alfred Hitchcock | Spellbound | |
| 3. Jean Renoir | The Southerner | |
| 4. Clarence Brown | National Velvet | |
| 5. Leo McCarey | The Bells of St. Mary's | |
| 1946 | 1. William Wyler | The Best Years of Our Lives |
| 2. David Lean | Brief Encounter | |
| 3. Frank Capra | It's a Wonderful Life | |
| 4. Robert Siodmak | The Killers | |
| 5. Clarence Brown | The Yearling | |
| 1947 | 1. David Lean | Great Expectations |
| 2. Edward Dmytryk | Crossfire | |
| 3. Elia Kazan | Gentleman’s Agreement | |
| 4. George Cukor | A Double Life | |
| 5. Henry Koster | The Bishop's Wife | |
| 1948 | 1. John Huston | The Treasure of the Sierra Madre |
| 2. Fred Zinnemann | The Search | |
| 3. Laurence Olivier | Hamlet | |
| 4. Anatole Litvak | The Snake Pit | |
| 5. Jean Negulesco | Johnny Belinda | |
| 1949 | 1. William Wyler | The Heiress |
| 2. Carol Reed | The Fallen Idol | |
| 3. Joseph L. Mankiewicz | A Letter to Three Wives | |
| 4. Robert Rossen | All the King's Men | |
| 5. William A. Wellman | Battleground |
1950s
| Year | Nominee and rank | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 1. Billy Wilder | Sunset Boulevard |
| 2. Joseph L. Mankiewicz | All About Eve | |
| 3. Carol Reed | The Third Man | |
| 4. John Huston | The Asphalt Jungle | |
| 5. George Cukor | Born Yesterday | |
| 1951 | 1. Elia Kazan | A Streetcar Named Desire |
| 2. George Stevens | A Place in the Sun | |
| 3. John Huston | The African Queen | |
| 4. Vincente Minnelli | An American in Paris | |
| 5. William Wyler | Detective Story | |
| 1952 | 1. Fred Zinnemann | High Noon |
| 2. John Ford | The Quiet Man | |
| 3. John Huston | Moulin Rouge | |
| 4. Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Five Fingers | |
| 5. Cecil B. DeMille | The Greatest Show on Earth | |
| 1953 | 1. Fred Zinnemann | From Here to Eternity |
| 2. George Stevens | Shane | |
| 3. William Wyler | Roman Holiday | |
| 4. Billy Wilder | Stalag 17 | |
| 5. Charles Walters | Lili | |
| 1954 | 1. Elia Kazan | On the Waterfront |
| 2. Alfred Hitchcock | Rear Window | |
| 3. Billy Wilder | Sabrina | |
| 4. William A. Wellman | The High and the Mighty | |
| 5. George Seaton | The Country Girl | |
| 1955 | 1. Elia Kazan | East of Eden |
| 2. Delbert Mann | Marty | |
| 3. David Lean | Summertime | |
| 4. John Sturges | Bad Day at Black Rock | |
| 5. Joshua Logan | Picnic | |
| 1956 | 1. George Stevens | Giant |
| 2. Walter Lang | The King and I | |
| 3. William Wyler | Friendly Persuasion | |
| 4. King Vidor | War and Peace | |
| 5. Michael Anderson | Around the World in 80 Days | |
| 1957 | 1. Sidney Lumet | 12 Angry Men |
| 2. David Lean | The Bridge on the River Kwai | |
| 3. Billy Wilder | Witness for the Prosecution | |
| 4. Mark Robson | Peyton Place | |
| 5. Joshua Logan | Sayonara | |
| 1958 | 1. Richard Brooks | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof |
| 2. Stanley Kramer | The Defiant Ones | |
| 3. Robert Wise | I Want to Live! | |
| 4. Vincente Minnelli | Gigi | |
| 5. Mark Robson | The Inn of the Sixth Happiness | |
| 1959 | 1. Billy Wilder | Some Like It Hot |
| 2. William Wyler | Ben-Hur | |
| 3. Jack Clayton | Room at the Top | |
| 4. George Stevens | The Diary of Anne Frank | |
| 5. Fred Zinnemann | The Nun's Story |
1960s
| Year | Nominee and rank | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 1. Alfred Hitchcock | Psycho |
| 2. Billy Wilder | The Apartment | |
| 3. Jack Cardiff | Sons and Lovers | |
| 4. Jules Dassin | Never on Sunday | |
| 5. Fred Zinnemann | The Sundowners | |
| 1961 | 1. Robert Wise, Jerome Robbins | West Side Story |
| 2. Federico Fellini | La Dolce Vita | |
| 3. Robert Rossen | The Hustler | |
| 4. Stanley Kramer | Judgment at Nuremberg | |
| 5. J. Lee Thompson | The Guns of Navarone | |
| 1962 | 1. David Lean | Lawrence of Arabia |
| 2. Robert Mulligan | To Kill a Mockingbird | |
| 3. Arthur Penn | The Miracle Worker | |
| 4. Pietro Germi | Divorce Italian Style | |
| 5. Frank Perry | David and Lisa | |
| 1963 | 1. Federico Fellini | 8½ |
| 2. Martin Ritt | Hud | |
| 3. Elia Kazan | America America | |
| 4. Otto Preminger | The Cardinal | |
| 5. Tony Richardson | Tom Jones | |
| 1964 | 1. Stanley Kubrick | Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb |
| 2. Robert Stevenson | Mary Poppins | |
| 3. George Cukor | My Fair Lady | |
| 4. Peter Glenville | Becket | |
| 5. Michael Cacoyannis | Zorba the Greek | |
| 1965 | 1. Robert Wise | The Sound of Music |
| 2. Hiroshi Teshigahara | Woman in the Dunes | |
| 3. David Lean | Doctor Zhivago | |
| 4. William Wyler | The Collector | |
| 5. John Schlesinger | Darling | |
| 1966 | 1. Mike Nichols | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? |
| 2. Michelangelo Antonioni | Blow-Up | |
| 3. Fred Zinnemann | A Man for All Seasons | |
| 4. Richard Brooks | The Professionals | |
| 5. Claude Lelouch | A Man and a Woman | |
| 1967 | 1. Mike Nichols | The Graduate |
| 2. Arthur Penn | Bonnie and Clyde | |
| 3. Richard Brooks | In Cold Blood | |
| 4. Norman Jewison | In the Heat of the Night | |
| 5. Stanley Kramer | Guess Who's Coming to Dinner | |
| 1968 | 1. Stanley Kubrick | 2001: A Space Odyssey |
| 2. Gillo Pontecorvo | The Battle of Algiers | |
| 3. Anthony Harvey | The Lion in Winter | |
| 4. Franco Zeffirelli | Romeo and Juliet | |
| 5. Carol Reed | Oliver! | |
| 1969 | 1. John Schlesinger | Midnight Cowboy |
| 2. Sydney Pollack | They Shoot Horses, Don't They? | |
| 3. Costa-Gavras | Z | |
| 4. George Roy Hill | Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid | |
| 5. Arthur Penn | Alice's Restaurant |
1970s
| Year | Nominee and rank | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 1. Robert Altman | M*A*S*H |
| 2. Ken Russell | Women in Love | |
| 3. Franklin J. Schaffner | Patton | |
| 4. Federico Fellini | Fellini Satyricon | |
| 5. Arthur Hiller | Love Story | |
| 1971 | 1. Peter Bogdanovich | The Last Picture Show |
| 2. Stanley Kubrick | A Clockwork Orange | |
| 3. William Friedkin | The French Connection | |
| 4. John Schlesinger | Sunday Bloody Sunday | |
| 5. Norman Jewison | Fiddler on the Roof | |
| 1972 | 1. Francis Ford Coppola | The Godfather |
| 2. Bob Fosse | Cabaret | |
| 3. John Boorman | Deliverance | |
| 4. Jan Troell | The Emigrants | |
| 5. Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Sleuth | |
| 1973 | 1. William Friedkin | The Exorcist |
| 2. Ingmar Bergman | Cries and Whispers | |
| 3. George Lucas | American Graffiti | |
| 4. Bernardo Bertolucci | Last Tango in Paris | |
| 5. George Roy Hill | The Sting | |
| 1974 | 1. Francis Ford Coppola | The Godfather Part II |
| 2. Roman Polanski | Chinatown | |
| 3. John Cassavetes | A Woman Under the Influence | |
| 4. François Truffaut | Day for Night | |
| 5. Bob Fosse | Lenny | |
| 1975 | 1. Robert Altman | Nashville |
| 2. Sidney Lumet | Dog Day Afternoon | |
| 3. Stanley Kubrick | Barry Lyndon | |
| 4. Miloš Forman | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | |
| 5. Federico Fellini | Amarcord | |
| 1976 | 1. Sidney Lumet | Network |
| 2. Alan J. Pakula | All the President's Men | |
| 3. Lina Wertmüller | Seven Beauties | |
| 4. John G. Avildsen | Rocky | |
| 5. Ingmar Bergman | Face to Face | |
| 1977 | 1. Woody Allen | Annie Hall |
| 2. Steven Spielberg | Close Encounters of the Third Kind | |
| 3. George Lucas | Star Wars | |
| 4. Fred Zinnemann | Julia | |
| 5. Herbert Ross | The Turning Point | |
| 1978 | 1. Michael Cimino | The Deer Hunter |
| 2. Hal Ashby | Coming Home | |
| 3. Woody Allen | Interiors | |
| 4. Alan Parker | Midnight Express | |
| 5. Warren Beatty & Buck Henry | Heaven Can Wait | |
| 1979 | 1. Francis Ford Coppola | Apocalypse Now |
| 2. Bob Fosse | All That Jazz | |
| 3. Robert Benton | Kramer vs. Kramer | |
| 4. Peter Yates | Breaking Away | |
| 5. Édouard Molinaro | La Cage aux Folles |
1980s
| Year | Nominee and rank | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 1. Martin Scorsese | Raging Bull |
| 2. Robert Redford | Ordinary People | |
| 3. David Lynch | The Elephant Man | |
| 4. Roman Polanski | Tess | |
| 5. Richard Rush | The Stunt Man | |
| 1981 | 1. Steven Spielberg | Raiders of the Lost Ark |
| 2. Warren Beatty | Reds | |
| 3. Louis Malle | Atlantic City | |
| 4. Mark Rydell | On Golden Pond | |
| 5. Hugh Hudson | Chariots of Fire | |
| 1982 | 1. Steven Spielberg | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial |
| 2. Sydney Pollack | Tootsie | |
| 3. Wolfgang Petersen | Das Boot | |
| 4. Sidney Lumet | The Verdict | |
| 5. Richard Attenborough | Gandhi | |
| 1983 | 1. James L. Brooks | Terms of Endearment |
| 2. Ingmar Bergman | Fanny and Alexander | |
| 3. Mike Nichols | Silkwood | |
| 4. Peter Yates | The Dresser | |
| 5. Bruce Beresford | Tender Mercies | |
| 1984 | 1. Miloš Forman | Amadeus |
| 2. Roland Joffé | The Killing Fields | |
| 3. David Lean | A Passage to India | |
| 4. Woody Allen | Broadway Danny Rose | |
| 5. Robert Benton | Places in the Heart | |
| 1985 | 1. Akira Kurosawa | Ran |
| 2. Peter Weir | Witness | |
| 3. John Huston | Prizzi's Honor | |
| 4. Hector Babenco | Kiss of the Spider Woman | |
| 5. Sydney Pollack | Out of Africa | |
| 1986 | 1. David Lynch | Blue Velvet |
| 2. Woody Allen | Hannah and Her Sisters | |
| 3. Oliver Stone | Platoon | |
| 4. James Ivory | A Room with a View | |
| 5. Roland Joffé | The Mission | |
| 1987 | 1. Bernardo Bertolucci | The Last Emperor |
| 2. Norman Jewison | Moonstruck | |
| 3. Adrian Lyne | Fatal Attraction | |
| 4. John Boorman | Hope and Glory | |
| 5. Lasse Hallström | My Life as a Dog | |
| 1988 | 1. Martin Scorsese | The Last Temptation of Christ |
| 2. Charles Crichton | A Fish Called Wanda | |
| 3. Mike Nichols | Working Girl | |
| 4. Alan Parker | Mississippi Burning | |
| 5. Barry Levinson | Rain Man | |
| 1989 | 1. Oliver Stone | Born on the Fourth of July |
| 2. Woody Allen | Crimes and Misdemeanors | |
| 3. Peter Weir | Dead Poets Society | |
| 4. Kenneth Branagh | Henry V | |
| 5. Jim Sheridan | My Left Foot |
1990s
| Year | Nominee and rank | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 1. Martin Scorsese | GoodFellas |
| 2. Stephen Frears | The Grifters | |
| 3. Kevin Costner | Dances with Wolves | |
| 4. Francis Ford Coppola | The Godfather Part III | |
| 5. Barbet Schroeder | Reversal of Fortune | |
| 1991 | 1. Jonathan Demme | The Silence of the Lambs |
| 2. Oliver Stone | JFK | |
| 3. John Singleton | Boyz n the Hood | |
| 4. Ridley Scott | Thelma & Louise | |
| 5. Barry Levinson | Bugsy | |
| 1992 | 1. Clint Eastwood | Unforgiven |
| 2. Robert Altman | The Player | |
| 3. Neil Jordan | The Crying Game | |
| 4. James Ivory | Howards End | |
| 5. Martin Brest | Scent of a Woman | |
| 1993 | 1. Steven Spielberg | Schindler's List |
| 2. Jane Campion | The Piano | |
| 3. Robert Altman | Short Cuts | |
| 4. James Ivory | The Remains of the Day | |
| 5. Jim Sheridan | In the Name of the Father | |
| 1994 | 1. Quentin Tarantino | Pulp Fiction |
| 2. Krzysztof Kieślowski | Three Colours: Red | |
| 3. Robert Zemeckis | Forrest Gump | |
| 4. Robert Redford | Quiz Show | |
| 5. Woody Allen | Bullets over Broadway | |
| 1995 | 1. Chris Noonan | Babe |
| 2. Tim Robbins | Dead Man Walking | |
| 3. Mike Figgis | Leaving Las Vegas | |
| 4. Mel Gibson | Braveheart | |
| 5. Michael Radford | The Postman (Il Postino) | |
| 1996 | 1. Joel Coen | Fargo |
| 2. Mike Leigh | Secrets & Lies | |
| 3. Anthony Minghella | The English Patient | |
| 4. Miloš Forman | The People vs. Larry Flynt | |
| 5. Scott Hicks | Shine | |
| 1997 | 1. Curtis Hanson | L.A. Confidential |
| 2. James Cameron | Titanic | |
| 3. Gus Van Sant | Good Will Hunting | |
| 4. Atom Egoyan | The Sweet Hereafter | |
| 5. Peter Cattaneo | The Full Monty | |
| 1998 | 1. Steven Spielberg | Saving Private Ryan |
| 2. Peter Weir | The Truman Show | |
| 3. Terrence Malick | The Thin Red Line | |
| 4. John Madden | Shakespeare in Love | |
| 5. Roberto Benigni | Life Is Beautiful | |
| 1999 | 1. Sam Mendes | American Beauty |
| 2. Spike Jonze | Being John Malkovich | |
| 3. M. Night Shyamalan | The Sixth Sense | |
| 4. Michael Mann | The Insider | |
| 5. Lasse Hallström | The Cider House Rules |
2000s
| Year | Nominee and rank | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 1. Ang Lee | Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon |
| 2. Steven Soderbergh | Traffic | |
| 3. Ridley Scott | Gladiator | |
| 4. Stephen Daldry | Billy Elliot | |
| 5. Steven Soderbergh | Erin Brockovich | |
| 2001 | 1. David Lynch | Mulholland Drive |
| 2. Peter Jackson | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | |
| 3. Robert Altman | Gosford Park | |
| 4. Ridley Scott | Black Hawk Down | |
| 5. Ron Howard | A Beautiful Mind | |
| 2002 | 1. Pedro Almodóvar | Talk to Her |
| 2. Roman Polanski | The Pianist | |
| 3. Rob Marshall | Chicago | |
| 4. Martin Scorsese | Gangs of New York | |
| 5. Stephen Daldry | The Hours | |
| 2003 | 1. Peter Jackson | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King |
| 2. Sofia Coppola | Lost in Translation | |
| 3. Fernando Meirelles | City of God | |
| 4. Clint Eastwood | Mystic River | |
| 5. Peter Weir | Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World | |
| 2004 | 1. Martin Scorsese | The Aviator |
| 2. Alexander Payne | Sideways | |
| 3. Clint Eastwood | Million Dollar Baby | |
| 4. Mike Leigh | Vera Drake | |
| 5. Taylor Hackford | Ray | |
| 2005 | 1. Ang Lee | Brokeback Mountain |
| 2. Steven Spielberg | Munich | |
| 3. George Clooney | Good Night, and Good Luck | |
| 4. Bennett Miller | Capote | |
| 5. Paul Haggis | Crash | |
| 2006 | 1. Martin Scorsese | The Departed |
| 2. Paul Greengrass | United 93 | |
| 3. Clint Eastwood | Letters from Iwo Jima | |
| 4. Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Babel | |
| 5. Stephen Frears | The Queen | |
| 2007 | 1. Paul Thomas Anderson | There Will Be Blood |
| 2. Joel Coen & Ethan Coen | No Country for Old Men | |
| 3. Julian Schnabel | The Diving Bell and the Butterfly | |
| 4. Tony Gilroy | Michael Clayton | |
| 5. Jason Reitman | Juno | |
| 2008 | 1. Danny Boyle | Slumdog Millionaire |
| 2. David Fincher | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | |
| 3. Gus Van Sant | Milk | |
| 4. Ron Howard | Frost/Nixon | |
| 5. Stephen Daldry | The Reader | |
| 2009 | 1. Kathryn Bigelow | The Hurt Locker |
| 2. Quentin Tarantino | Inglourious Basterds | |
| 3. James Cameron | Avatar | |
| 4. Jason Reitman | Up in the Air | |
| 5. Lee Daniels | Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire |
2010s
| Year | Nominee and rank | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1. David Fincher | The Social Network |
| 2. Darren Aronofsky | Black Swan | |
| 3. Joel & Ethan Coen | True Grit | |
| 4. David O. Russell | The Fighter | |
| 5. Tom Hooper | The King's Speech | |
| 2011 | 1. Terrence Malick | The Tree of Life |
| 2. Martin Scorsese | Hugo | |
| 3. Michel Hazanavicius | The Artist | |
| 4. Woody Allen | Midnight in Paris | |
| 5. Alexander Payne | The Descendants | |
| 2012 | 1. Ang Lee | Life of Pi |
| 2. Michael Haneke | Amour | |
| 3. Steven Spielberg | Lincoln | |
| 4. Benh Zeitlin | Beasts of the Southern Wild | |
| 5. David O. Russell | Silver Linings Playbook | |
| 2013 | 1. Alfonso Cuarón | Gravity |
| 2. Steve McQueen | 12 Years a Slave | |
| 3. Martin Scorsese | The Wolf of Wall Street | |
| 4. Alexander Payne | Nebraska | |
| 5. David O. Russell | American Hustle | |
| 2014 | 1. Richard Linklater | Boyhood |
| 2. Wes Anderson | The Grand Budapest Hotel | |
| 3. Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) | |
| 4. Bennett Miller | Foxcatcher | |
| 5. Morten Tyldum | The Imitation Game | |
| 2015 | 1. George Miller | Mad Max: Fury Road |
| 2. Alejandro G. Iñárritu | The Revenant | |
| 3. Lenny Abrahamson | Room | |
| 4. Tom McCarthy | Spotlight | |
| 5. Adam McKay | The Big Short | |
| 2016 | 1. Barry Jenkins | Moonlight |
| 2. Damien Chazelle | La La Land | |
| 3. Denis Villeneuve | Arrival | |
| 4. Kenneth Lonergan | Manchester by the Sea | |
| 5. Mel Gibson | Hacksaw Ridge | |
| 2017 | 1. Paul Thomas Anderson | Phantom Thread |
| 2. Christopher Nolan | Dunkirk | |
| 3. Guillermo del Toro | The Shape of Water | |
| 4. Jordan Peele | Get Out | |
| 5. Greta Gerwig | Lady Bird | |
| 2018 | 1. Alfonso Cuarón | Roma |
| 2. Yorgos Lanthimos | The Favourite | |
| 3. Spike Lee | BlacKkKlansman | |
| 4. Paweł Pawlikowski | Cold War | |
| 5. Adam McKay | Vice | |
| 2019 | 1. Bong Joon-ho | Parasite |
| 2. Sam Mendes | 1917 | |
| 3. Martin Scorsese | The Irishman | |
| 4. Quentin Tarantino | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | |
| 5. Todd Phillips | Joker |
2020s
| Year | Nominee and rank | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 1. Chloé Zhao | Nomadland |
| 2. Lee Isaac Chung | Minari | |
| 3. Emerald Fennell | Promising Young Woman | |
| 4. Thomas Vinterberg | Another Round | |
| 5. David Fincher | Mank | |
| 2021 | 1. Jane Campion | The Power of the Dog |
| 2. Steven Spielberg | West Side Story | |
| 3. Ryusuke Hamaguchi | Drive My Car | |
| 4. Paul Thomas Anderson | Licorice Pizza | |
| 5. Kenneth Branagh | Belfast | |
| 2022 | 1. Todd Field | TÁR |
| 2. Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert | Everything Everywhere All at Once | |
| 3. Steven Spielberg | The Fabelmans | |
| 4. Martin McDonagh | The Banshees of Inisherin | |
| 5. Ruben Östlund | Triangle of Sadness | |
| 2023 | 1. Christopher Nolan | Oppenheimer |
| 2. Jonathan Glazer | The Zone of Interest | |
| 3. Martin Scorsese | Killers of the Flower Moon | |
| 4. Justine Triet | Anatomy of a Fall | |
| 5. Yorgos Lanthimos | Poor Things | |
| 2024 | 1. Brady Corbet | The Brutalist |
| 2. Coralie Fargeat | The Substance | |
| 3. Sean Baker | Anora | |
| 4. James Mangold | A Compete Unknown | |
| 5. Jacques Audiard | Emilia Pérez | |
| 2025 | 1. Paul Thomas Anderson | One Battle After Another |
| 2. Ryan Coogler | Sinners | |
| 3. Joachim Trier | Sentimental Value | |
| 4. Chloé Zhao | Hamnet | |
| 5. Josh Safdie | Marty Supreme |
Multiple winners
- Martin Scorsese – 5 (Raging Bull; The Last Temptation of Christ; GoodFellas; The Aviator; The Departed)
- Steven Spielberg – 4 (Raiders of the Lost Ark; E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial; Schindler’s List; Saving Private Ryan)
- Billy Wilder – 4 (Double Indemnity: The Lost Weekend; Sunset Boulevard; Some Like It Hot)
- Paul Thomas Anderson – 3 (There Will Be Blood; Phantom Thread; One Battle After Another)
- Francis Ford Coppola – 3 (The Godfather; The Godfather Part II; Apocalypse Now)
- Elia Kazan – 3 (A Streetcar Named Desire; On the Waterfront; East of Eden)
- Ang Lee – 3 (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Brokeback Mountain; Life of Pi)
- William Wyler – 3 (Mrs. Miniver; The Best Years of Our Lives; The Heiress)
- Robert Altman – 2 (M*A*S*H; Nashville)
- Frank Capra – 2 (Lady for a Day; It Happened One Night)
- Alfonso Cuarón – 2 (Gravity; Roma)
- Michael Curtiz – 2 (Angels with Dirty Faces; Casablanca)
- John Ford – 2 (The Informer; The Grapes of Wrath)
- Stanley Kubrick – 2 (Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb; 2001: A Space Odyssey)
- David Lean – 2 (Great Expectations; Lawrence of Arabia)
- Sidney Lumet – 2 (12 Angry Men; Network)
- David Lynch – 2 (Blue Velvet; Mulholland Drive)
- Mike Nichols – 2 (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; The Graduate)
- Josef von Sternberg – 2 (Morocco; Shanghai Express)
- Robert Wise – 2 (West Side Story; The Sound of Music)
- Fred Zinnemann – 2 (High Noon; From Here to Eternity)
Most nominations without a win
- Clarence Brown – 6 (Anna Christie; Romance; A Free Soul; The Human Comedy; National Velvet; The Yearling)
- George Cukor – 5 (Little Women; The Philadelphia Story; A Double Life; Born Yesterday; My Fair Lady)
- Joseph L. Mankiewicz – 4 (A Letter to Three Wives; All About Eve; Five Fingers; Sleuth)
- Peter Weir – 4 (Witness; Dead Poets Society; The Truman Show; Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World)
- Ingmar Bergman – 3 (Cries and Whispers; Face to Face; Fanny and Alexander)
- Stephen Daldry – 3 (Billy Elliot; The Hours; The Reader)
- Bob Fosse – 3 (Cabaret; Lenny; All That Jazz)
- Alejandro G. Iñárritu – 3 (Babel; Birdman; The Revenant)
- James Ivory – 3 (A Room with a View; Howards End; The Remains of the Day)
- Norman Jewison – 3 (In the Heat of the Night; Fiddler on the Roof; Moonstruck)
- Stanley Kramer – 3 (The Defiant Ones; Judgment at Nuremberg; Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner)
- Ernst Lubitsch – 3 (The Patriot; The Love Parade; Heaven Can Wait)
- Alexander Payne – 3 (Sideways, The Descendants; Nebraska)
- Arthur Penn – 3 (The Miracle Worker; Bonnie and Clyde; Alice’s Restaurant)
- Roman Polanski – 3 (Chinatown; Tess; The Pianist)
- Sydney Pollack – 3 (They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?; Tootsie; Out of Africa)
- Carol Reed – 3 (The Fallen Idol; The Third Man; Oliver!)
- David O. Russell – 3 (The Fighter; Silver Linings Playbook; American Hustle)
- Ridley Scott – 3 (Thelma & Louise; Gladiator; Black Hawk Down)
- William A. Wellman – 3 (A Star Is Born; Battleground; The High and the Mighty)
- Sam Wood – 3 (Goodbye, Mr. Chips; Kitty Foyle; Kings Row)
