Art house auteurs, a blockbuster maestro and an all-time legend comprise an intriguing mix of nominees for the 75th Annual Directors Guild Awards.
Steven Spielberg, fresh off a Golden Globe win, received his thirteenth DGA Feature Film nomination for his semi-autobiographical passion project The Fabelmans.
He is joined by Martin McDonagh, a second-time nominee for The Banshees of Inisherin, and first-time nominees Todd Field (TÁR), Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick) and The Daniels team of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All At Once).
The most glaring, titanic omission: James Cameron for Avatar: The Way of Water. Despite the gargantuan task he undertook to bring this long-awaited sequel to life, the DGA membership denied Cameron a second nomination for his popular franchise (he received a DGA nod in 2009 for the original Avatar, and won the award 25 years ago for Titanic).
Other directors who were ignored and, thus, saw their films’ Best Picture and Director chances dim a bit: Damien Chazelle‘s Babylon, Sarah Polley‘s Women Talking, Gina Prince-Bythewood‘s The Woman King, and Baz Luhrmann‘s Elvis. Hope springs eternal, however, as the Academy’s Best Picture race nominates ten features.
DGA and Academy Award nominations for Director don’t always line up 5-for-5. Possible Oscar contenders not acknowledged by the DGA (along with the above snubs) are two foreign-language heavyweights: South Korea’s Park Chan-wook, for his lauded crime thriller romance Decision to Leave, and Germany’s Edward Berger whose All Quiet on the Western Front is a mammoth production that could surprise with a slew of Oscar nominations, including Director. Historically, the Academy’s directing branch has been more open to nominating non-U.S. filmmakers than the DGA has been.
While female directors were shut out for the main prize (after historic back-to-back wins by Chloé Zhao for Nomadland and Jane Campion for The Power of the Dog), women accounted for four of the five nominees in the First-Feature category. Nominated for their directorial debuts were Alice Diop (Saint Omer), Audrey Diwan (Happening), Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović (Murina), and Charlotte Wells (Aftersun).
Notably, all four female directors and their films hail from European countries (France, France, Croatia, and Scotland, respectively). The only first-time American helmer nominated by the DGA is male nominee John Patton Ford for his indie thriller starring Aubrey Plaza, Emily the Criminal.
The 75th Annual DGA Awards — honoring directorial achievement for the screen in 2022 — will take place on Saturday, February 18, 2023 at The Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel.
Directors Guild of America
2022 Nominees
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film
- Todd Field, TÁR
- Joseph Kosinski, Top Gun: Maverick
- Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All At Once
- Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin
- Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans
Outstanding Directorial Achievement for a First-Time Feature Film Director
- Alice Diop, Saint Omer
- Audrey Diwan, Happening
- John Patton Ford, Emily the Criminal
- Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović, Murina
- Charlotte Wells, Aftersun
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentaries
- Sara Dosa, Fire of Love
- Matthew Heineman, Retrograde
- Laura Poitras, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
- Daniel Roher, Navalny
- Shaunak Sen , All That Breathes
Robert B. Aldrich Award (for extraordinary service to the Directors Guild of America and to its membership): TBD
Frank Capra Achievement Award (given to an Assistant Director or Unit Production Manager for career achievement): Mark Hansson, First Assistant Director
Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award (given to an Associate Director or Stage Manager for service to the industry and the DGA): Valdez Flagg, Stage Manager
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Click on links below for other major Critics Group Awards and Guild Nominees that have been announced so far for the 2022 / 23 season:
The 95th Academy Award Nominations
Producers Guild of America Nominees
Screen Actors Guild Awards Nominees
Golden Globe Winners
Chicago Film Critics Association
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
American Film Institute Top 10 Films of 2022
National Board of Review
New York Film Critics Circle