The Letterboxd Academy

List by The Letterboxd Academy Patron

Published Updated

Sort by

Academy Award for Best Director

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

─────

NOMINEES LIST | SITE MAP

─────

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

Block or Report
Read notes
  • 7th Heaven

    1

  • Two Arabian Knights

    2

  • The Divine Lady

    3

  • All Quiet on the Western Front

    4

  • Skippy

    5

  • Bad Girl

    6

  • Cavalcade

    7

  • It Happened One Night

    8

  • The Informer

    9

  • Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

    10

  • The Awful Truth

    11

  • You Can't Take It with You

    12

  • Gone with the Wind

    13

  • The Grapes of Wrath

    14

  • How Green Was My Valley

    15

  • Mrs. Miniver

    16

  • Casablanca

    17

  • Going My Way

    18

  • The Lost Weekend

    19

  • The Best Years of Our Lives

    20

  • Gentleman's Agreement

    21

  • The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

    22

  • A Letter to Three Wives

    23

  • All About Eve

    24

  • A Place in the Sun

    25

  • The Quiet Man

    26

  • From Here to Eternity

    27

  • On the Waterfront

    28

  • Marty

    29

  • Giant

    30

  • The Bridge on the River Kwai

    31

  • Gigi

    32

  • Ben-Hur

    33

  • The Apartment

    34

  • West Side Story

    35

  • Lawrence of Arabia

    36

  • Tom Jones

    37

  • My Fair Lady

    38

  • The Sound of Music

    39

  • A Man for All Seasons

    40

  • The Graduate

    41

  • Oliver!

    42

  • Midnight Cowboy

    43

  • Patton

    44

  • The French Connection

    45

  • Cabaret

    46

  • The Sting

    47

  • The Godfather Part II

    48

  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

    49

  • Rocky

    50

  • Annie Hall

    51

  • The Deer Hunter

    52

  • Kramer vs. Kramer

    53

  • Ordinary People

    54

  • Reds

    55

  • Gandhi

    56

  • Terms of Endearment

    57

  • Amadeus

    58

  • Out of Africa

    59

  • Platoon

    60

  • The Last Emperor

    61

  • Rain Man

    62

  • Born on the Fourth of July

    63

  • Dances with Wolves

    64

  • The Silence of the Lambs

    65

  • Unforgiven

    66

  • Schindler's List

    67

  • Forrest Gump

    68

  • Braveheart

    69

  • The English Patient

    70

  • Titanic

    71

  • Saving Private Ryan

    72

  • American Beauty

    73

  • Traffic

    74

  • A Beautiful Mind

    75

  • The Pianist

    76

  • The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

    77

  • Million Dollar Baby

    78

  • Brokeback Mountain

    79

  • The Departed

    80

  • No Country for Old Men

    81

  • Slumdog Millionaire

    82

  • The Hurt Locker

    83

  • The King's Speech

    84

  • The Artist

    85

  • Life of Pi

    86

  • Gravity

    87

  • Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

    88

  • The Revenant

    89

  • La La Land

    90

  • The Shape of Water

    91

  • Roma

    92

  • Parasite

    93

  • Nomadland

    94

  • The Power of the Dog

    95

  • Everything Everywhere All at Once

    96

  • Oppenheimer

    97

  • Anora

    98

  • One Battle After Another

    99