The Directors Guild of America has unveiled its nominees for the 2025 awards, and the lineup is both a celebration of fresh talent and a reflection of some glaring omissions. Five filmmakers are vying for the prestigious DGA Award for Directorial Achievement in Feature Film this year:
DGA President Lesli Linka Glatter emphasized the significance of this year’s nominees, calling their work “audacious and unique” and celebrating their ability to expand the possibilities of cinematic excellence.
This year’s feature film category is dominated by first-time DGA nominees, including industry veteran James Mangold. The nomination marks a long-overdue acknowledgment for the director of Walk the Line, Logan, and Ford v Ferrari. Mangold’s A Complete Unknown, a Bob Dylan biopic, has been steadily gaining awards-season momentum following its strong showing at the SAG Awards.
Edward Berger, who missed out on a directing nomination for All Quiet on the Western Front despite its BAFTA triumph, is also making his debut with Conclave. The religious drama positions the German filmmaker as a major contender this awards season.
Golden Globe winner Brady Corbet (The Brutalist), indie auteur Sean Baker (Anora), and French legend Jacques Audiard (Emilia Pérez) round out the list, bringing diverse storytelling styles to the forefront. The full list of film nominees:
- Jacques Audiard for Emilia Pérez
- Sean Baker for Anora
- Edward Berger for Conclave
- Brady Corbet for The Brutalist
- James Mangold for A Complete Unknown
Snubs and Surprises
The nominations also highlight some surprising omissions. Jon M. Chu (Wicked) and Denis Villeneuve (Dune: Part Two), who helmed two of the year’s biggest blockbusters, were notably absent from the lineup, dealing significant blows to their Oscars campaigns.
Female directors, who dominated in recent years, were also underrepresented. Coralie Fargeat (The Substance) and Payal Kapadia (All We Imagine as Light), both Golden Globe-nominated, failed to make the cut in the feature film category, though Kapadia earned a nod in the first-time director category.
First-Time Director Nominations
The DGA’s first-time director category features:
- Payal Kapadia for All We Imagine as Light
- Megan Park for My Old Ass
- RaMell Ross for Nickel Boys
- Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel for Armand
- Sean Wang for Dìdi
This year’s lineup moves away from the female-dominated rosters of recent years, with Kapadia and Park standing out as the only women among the nominees.
The DGA Awards have long been a bellwether for Oscars success. Since the award’s inception, only eight winners have failed to secure the Academy Award for Best Director. A DGA nomination is even more critical for Best Picture contenders, with only two films (Driving Miss Daisy and CODA) winning Best Picture without a DGA nod.
The winners will be announced at the 77th Annual DGA Awards on February 8, 2025, at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.
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