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Academy Award for Best Director - Nominees

The Academy Award for Best Director, introduced at the awards debut in 1929, is presented annually for the best achievement in directing on a film from the previous year.

At the inaugural ceremony, the category was split into "Dramatic" and "Comedy" categories, however it was merged for all subsequent ceremonies.

Sorted Chronologically by Awards Year. Winners in BOLD. Acceptance speech linked in Notes (where available).

UPDATED: May 2026

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WINNERS LIST | SITE MAP

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AWARD RECORDS:
Most Awards: John Ford (4)
Most Nominations: William Wyler (12)
Most Nominations Without a Win: Clarence Brown (6)

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Read notes
  • 7th Heaven

    1

  • The Crowd

    2

  • Sorrell and Son

    3

  • Speedy

    4

  • Two Arabian Knights

    5

  • The Broadway Melody

    6

  • In Old Arizona

    7

  • The Patriot

    8

  • The Divine Lady

    9

  • Drag

    10

  • Madame X

    11

  • Weary River

    12

  • All Quiet on the Western Front

    13

  • The Divorcee

    14

  • The Love Parade

    15

  • Anna Christie

    16

  • Hallelujah

    17

  • Romance

    18

  • Cimarron

    19

  • The Front Page

    20

  • Skippy

    21

  • A Free Soul

    22

  • Morocco

    23

  • Bad Girl

    24

  • The Champ

    25

  • Shanghai Express

    26

  • Cavalcade

    27

  • Lady for a Day

    28

  • Little Women

    29

  • It Happened One Night

    30

  • One Night of Love

    31

  • The Thin Man

    32

  • Mutiny on the Bounty

    33

  • Captain Blood

    34

  • The Informer

    35

  • The Lives of a Bengal Lancer

    36

  • The Great Ziegfeld

    37

  • Dodsworth

    38

  • Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

    39

  • San Francisco

    40

  • My Man Godfrey

    41

  • The Life of Emile Zola

    42

  • The Awful Truth

    43

  • The Good Earth

    44

  • Stage Door

    45

  • A Star Is Born

    46

  • You Can't Take It with You

    47

  • Boys Town

    48

  • The Citadel

    49

  • Four Daughters

    50

  • Angels with Dirty Faces

    51

  • Gone with the Wind

    52

  • Goodbye, Mr. Chips

    53

  • Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

    54

  • Stagecoach

    55

  • Wuthering Heights

    56

  • Rebecca

    57

  • The Grapes of Wrath

    58

  • Kitty Foyle

    59

  • The Letter

    60

  • The Philadelphia Story

    61

  • How Green Was My Valley

    62

  • Citizen Kane

    63

  • Here Comes Mr. Jordan

    64

  • The Little Foxes

    65

  • Sergeant York

    66

  • Mrs. Miniver

    67

  • Kings Row

    68

  • Random Harvest

    69

  • Wake Island

    70

  • Yankee Doodle Dandy

    71

  • Casablanca

    72

  • Heaven Can Wait

    73

  • The Human Comedy

    74

  • The More the Merrier

    75

  • The Song of Bernadette

    76

  • Going My Way

    77

  • Double Indemnity

    78

  • Wilson

    79

  • Laura

    80

  • Lifeboat

    81

  • The Lost Weekend

    82

  • The Bells of St. Mary's

    83

  • Spellbound

    84

  • National Velvet

    85

  • The Southerner

    86

  • The Best Years of Our Lives

    87

  • It's a Wonderful Life

    88

  • The Yearling

    89

  • Brief Encounter

    90

  • The Killers

    91

  • Gentleman's Agreement

    92

  • The Bishop's Wife

    93

  • Crossfire

    94

  • Great Expectations

    95

  • A Double Life

    96

  • Hamlet

    97

  • Johnny Belinda

    98

  • The Snake Pit

    99

  • The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

    100