Academy Award for best director: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As

Best Directing • Best Director • Oscar for best director

Notable Honorees

Steven Spielberg • Woody Allen • Martin Scorsese • Vincente Minnelli • John Huston • Frank Capra • Michael Curtiz • William Wyler • Billy Wilder • Clint Eastwood • George Stevens • George Cukor • Mike Nichols • Fred Zinnemann • Elia Kazan • Frank Borzage • Robert Wise • Joseph L. Mankiewicz • John Schlesinger • Sydney Pollack • Leo McCarey • Guillermo del Toro • John Ford • Robert Redford • Bob Fosse • Lewis Milestone • Steven Soderbergh • Alejandro González Iñárritu • Delbert Mann • Oliver Stone • Robert Benton • Sam Mendes • Victor Fleming • Christopher Nolan • George Roy Hill • Jerome Robbins • Miloš Forman • David Lean • Paul Thomas Anderson • Kevin Costner • Roman Polanski • Franklin J. Schaffner • Ron Howard • William Friedkin • James Cameron • Chloé Zhao • Danny Boyle • Warren Beatty • Ang Lee • Jonathan Demme • Mel Gibson • Peter Jackson • Alfonso Cuarón • Damien Chazelle • Carol Reed • Robert Zemeckis • Bernardo Bertolucci • John G. Avildsen • Tony Richardson • Richard Attenborough • Jane Campion • Barry Levinson • James L. Brooks • Ethan Coen • Joel Coen

Photos and Videos

Chloe Zhao smiles and holds an Oscar statuette in both hands while standing in front of an Oscars backdrop.

Roman Polanski in a close-up portrait, wearing a white collared shirt and dark jacket, smiling slightly at the Cannes Film Festival.

Steven Spielberg wearing a tuxedo and bow tie, smiling at the camera on the red carpet at the Cannes International Film Festival.

Illustration of Oscar statuettes with a large gold figure in front and the words 'Who decides?' in bold white letters on a blue banner across the center.

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Topics

directing Academy Award Academy Award for best original screenplay Academy Award for best adapted screenplay Academy Award for best cinematography Academy Award for best animated feature Academy Award for best actress Academy Award for best actor Academy Award for best picture Academy Award for best supporting actor Academy Award for best supporting actress Who Votes for the Academy Awards?

Key People

Kathryn Bigelow smiling and looking to the side, wearing a black top and silver necklace, in the press room at the Critics' Choice Movie Awards.

Kathryn Bigelow

American director and screenwriter