DGA Awards: Directors Guild Nominates Paul Thomas Anderson, Ryan Coogler, Guillermo del Toro, Josh Safdie, Chloé Zhao
Directors Guild of America President Christopher Nolan today announced the nominees for the DGA Awards for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film and for the Michael Apted Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Theatrical Feature Film for 2025.
As largely expected the nominees for Theatrical Feature Film are Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another, Ryan Coogler for Sinners, Guillermo del Toro for Frankenstein, Josh Safdie for Marty Supreme and Chloé Zhao for Hamnet. This is the first time ever that the SAG Cast five and DGA five have aligned exactly. One outlier year to that was 2004, when SAG had six nominees and Hotel Rwanda was nominated there but not at DGA.
Del Toro and Zhao are previous winners here (for The Shape of Water and Nomadland, respectively) who also went on to win the Oscar for Best Director and their films won Best Picture. Anderson had two previous nominations here (There Will Be Blood and Licorice Pizza) that both turned into Oscar nominations, and Coogler and Safdie are first-time DGA nominees.
Since 2000, only three DGA winners didn’t turn that into an Oscar win: Ang Lee for 2000’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Steven Soderbergh won for Traffic), Rob Marshall for 2002’s Chicago (Roman Polanski won for The Pianist) and Ben Affleck for 2012’s Argo. Affleck was famously snubbed at the Oscars and Ang Lee won for Life of Pi.
Coogler is only the fifth Black director ever nominated by the DGA in the main category, and the first since Spike Lee for BlacKkKlansman (2018). Previous Black nominees include Jordan Peele (2017’s Get Out), Barry Jenkins (2016’s Moonlight) and Lee Daniels (2009’s Precious). To date, no Black filmmaker has ever won the DGA’s top directing prize or the Best Director Oscar.
Zhao, who was the first and still only Asian woman to win the DGA Award, joins Jane Campion, Kathryn Bigelow and Greta Gerwig as the only women to earn multiple DGA nominations. In total, just 12 women have ever been nominated in the category.
For first-time directors, the nominees are Hasan Hadi for The President’s Cake, Harry Lighton for Pillion, Charlie Polinger for The Plague, Alex Russell for Lurker and Eva Victor for Sorry, Baby.
“We could not be prouder to recognize the incredible work of this year’s nominees for their dedication to the art of filmmaking,” said Nolan. “On behalf of the entire Guild community, I extend my congratulations to these directors on this achievement, and we look forward to celebrating your work at the DGA Awards.”
The winners will be announced at the 78th Annual DGA Awards on Saturday, February 7, 2026.
Dolby is the Official Premier Sponsor of the 78th Annual DGA Awards.
THEATRICAL FEATURE FILM
The nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film for 2025 are (in alphabetical order):
PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON
One Battle After Another
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
Directorial Team:
- Unit Production Manager: Will Weiske
- First Assistant Director: Adam Somner
- Second Assistant Director: Trevor Tavares, Ian Stone
- Second Second Assistant Director: Dominic Pacitti, Rafael Sanz-Jimenez
- Additional Second Assistant Director: Nuekellar Hardy, Chunning Chang, Kit Conners, Kasia Trojak, Tyler Young
RYAN COOGLER
Sinners
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
Directorial Team:
- Unit Production Manager: Will Greenfield, Kenneth Yu
- First Assistant Director: Marvin Williams
- Second Assistant Director: Amir R. Khan
- Additional Second Assistant Director: Gregg Carr, Desiree Stevenson
GUILLERMO DEL TORO
Frankenstein
(Netflix)
Directorial Team:
- Unit Production Manager: J. Miles Dale
- First Assistant Director: Walter Gasparovic
- Second Assistant Director: Chad Belair
JOSH SAFDIE
Marty Supreme
(A24)
Directorial Team:
- Unit Production Manager: Anthony Katagas, Joe Guest
- First Assistant Director: Jeremy Marks
- Second Assistant Director: Zach Citarella
- Second Second Assistant Director: Kailyn Dabkowski
- Assistant Unit Production Manager: Max Samu, Suk Yi Mar, Samson Jacobson
- Location Manager: Matthew Kania, Ross Brodar
CHLOÉ ZHAO
Hamnet
(Focus Features)
MICHAEL APTED FIRST-TIME THEATRICAL FEATURE FILM
The nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Theatrical Feature Film for 2025 are (in alphabetical order).
HASAN HADI
The President’s Cake
(Sony Pictures Classics)
HARRY LIGHTON
Pillion
(A24)
CHARLIE POLINGER
The Plague
(Independent Film Company)
ALEX RUSSELL
Lurker
(MUBI)
EVA VICTOR
Sorry, Baby
(A24)
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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- American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Nominations: ‘Frankenstein,’ Marty Supreme’ Make the Cut, ‘Hamnet’ Misses - January 8, 2026
- Oscars: 317 Films Eligible for 98th Academy Awards, 201 for Best Picture - January 8, 2026
Golden Globe Awards Predictions – Motion Picture: Will it be One Award After Another or Will Voters be Sentimental? 
American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Nominations: ‘Frankenstein,’ Marty Supreme’ Make the Cut, ‘Hamnet’ Misses 
Oscars: 317 Films Eligible for 98th Academy Awards, 201 for Best Picture 
DGA Awards: Directors Guild Nominates Paul Thomas Anderson, Ryan Coogler, Guillermo del Toro, Josh Safdie, Chloé Zhao