Best Director - Motion Picture — Every Winner and Nominee

Every film recognised in the Golden Globes Best Director - Motion Picture category in CineRoll's records: 389 films across 83 years, 82 of them winners.

The most recent winner is One Battle After Another (2026); the earliest on record is The Song of Bernadette (1944).

The last three winners were One Battle After Another (2026), The Brutalist (2025) and Oppenheimer (2024).

The list is newest first. Each year shows the winner at the top, then the other nominees; a year with enough nominees links to its own page.

Last updated August 12, 2026

2026

One Battle After Another(2025)
Paul Thomas Anderson
Winner
Frankenstein(2025)
Guillermo del Toro
Hamnet(2025)
Chloé Zhao
It Was Just an Accident(2025)
Jafar Panahi
Sentimental Value(2025)
Joachim Trier
Sinners(2025)
Ryan Coogler

2025

The Brutalist(2024)
Brady Corbet
Winner
All We Imagine as Light(2024)
Payal Kapadia
Anora(2024)
Sean Baker
Conclave(2024)
Edward Berger
Emilia Pérez(2024)
Jacques Audiard
The Substance(2024)
Coralie Fargeat

2024

Oppenheimer(2023)
Christopher Nolan
Winner
Barbie(2023)
Greta Gerwig
Killers of the Flower Moon(2023)
Martin Scorsese
Maestro(2023)
Bradley Cooper
Past Lives(2023)
Celine Song
Poor Things(2023)
Yorgos Lanthimos

2023

The Fabelmans(2022)
Winner
Avatar: The Way of Water(2022)
James Cameron
Elvis(2022)
Baz Luhrmann
Everything Everywhere All at Once(2022)
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert
The Banshees of Inisherin(2022)

2022

The Power of the Dog(2021)
Winner
Belfast(2021)
Kenneth Branagh
Dune(2021)
Denis Villeneuve
The Lost Daughter(2021)
West Side Story(2021)

2021

Nomadland(2021)
Chloé Zhao
Winner
Mank(2020)
David Fincher
One Night in Miami...(2020)
Regina King
Promising Young Woman(2020)
Emerald Fennell
The Trial of the Chicago 7(2020)

2020

1917(2019)
Sam Mendes
Winner
Joker(2019)
Todd Phillips
Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood(2019)
Quentin Tarantino
Parasite(2019)
Bong Joon Ho
The Irishman(2019)

2019

Roma(2018)
Alfonso Cuarón
Winner
A Star Is Born(2018)
BlacKkKlansman(2018)
Spike Lee
Green Book(2018)
Peter Farrelly
Vice(2018)
Adam McKay

2018

The Shape of Water(2017)
Guillermo del Toro
Winner
All the Money in the World(2017)
Ridley Scott
Dunkirk(2017)
Christopher Nolan
The Post(2017)
Steven Spielberg
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri(2017)
Martin McDonagh

2017

La La Land(2016)
Damien Chazelle
Winner
Hacksaw Ridge(2016)
Mel Gibson
Manchester by the Sea(2016)
Kenneth Lonergan
Moonlight(2016)
Barry Jenkins
Nocturnal Animals(2016)
Tom Ford

2016

The Revenant(2015)
Alejandro González Iñárritu
Winner
Carol(2015)
Todd Haynes
Mad Max: Fury Road(2015)
George Miller
Spotlight(2015)
Tom McCarthy
The Martian(2015)
Ridley Scott

2015

Boyhood(2014)
Richard Linklater
Winner
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)(2014)
Alejandro González Iñárritu
Gone Girl(2014)
David Fincher
Selma(2014)
Ava DuVernay
The Grand Budapest Hotel(2014)

2014

Gravity(2013)
Alfonso Cuarón
Winner
12 Years a Slave(2013)
Steve McQueen
American Hustle(2013)
David O. Russell
Captain Phillips(2013)
Paul Greengrass
Nebraska(2013)
Alexander Payne

2013

Argo(2012)
Ben Affleck
Winner
Django Unchained(2012)
Quentin Tarantino
Life of Pi(2012)
Ang Lee
Lincoln(2012)
Steven Spielberg
Zero Dark Thirty(2012)
Kathryn Bigelow

2012

Hugo(2011)
Martin Scorsese
Winner
Midnight in Paris(2011)
Woody Allen
The Artist(2011)
Michel Hazanavicius
The Descendants(2011)
The Ides of March(2011)

2011

The Social Network(2010)
David Fincher
Winner
Black Swan(2010)
Darren Aronofsky
Inception(2010)
Christopher Nolan
The Fighter(2010)
The King's Speech(2010)
Tom Hooper

2010

Avatar(2009)
James Cameron
Winner
Inglourious Basterds(2009)
Quentin Tarantino
Invictus(2009)
Clint Eastwood
The Hurt Locker(2008)
Up in the Air(2009)
Jason Reitman

2009

Slumdog Millionaire(2008)
Danny Boyle
Winner
Frost/Nixon(2008)
Ron Howard
Revolutionary Road(2008)
Sam Mendes
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button(2008)
David Fincher
The Reader(2008)

2008

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly(2007)
Julian Schnabel
Winner
American Gangster(2007)
Ridley Scott
Atonement(2007)
Joe Wright
No Country for Old Men(2007)
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street(2007)
Tim Burton

2007

The Departed(2006)
Winner
Babel(2006)
Alejandro González Iñárritu
Flags of Our Fathers(2006)
Clint Eastwood
Letters from Iwo Jima(2006)
Clint Eastwood
The Queen(2006)

2006

Brokeback Mountain(2005)
Ang Lee
Winner
Good Night, and Good Luck.(2005)
George Clooney
King Kong(2005)
Match Point(2005)
Woody Allen
Munich(2005)
Steven Spielberg
The Constant Gardener(2005)

2005

Million Dollar Baby(2004)
Clint Eastwood
Winner
Closer(2004)
Mike Nichols
Finding Neverland(2004)
Marc Forster
Sideways(2004)
Alexander Payne
The Aviator(2004)
Martin Scorsese

2004

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King(2003)
Peter Jackson
Winner
Cold Mountain(2003)
Anthony Minghella
Lost in Translation(2003)
Sofia Coppola
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World(2003)
Peter Weir
Mystic River(2003)
Clint Eastwood

2003

Gangs of New York(2002)
Martin Scorsese
Winner
About Schmidt(2002)
Alexander Payne
Adaptation.(2002)
Spike Jonze
Chicago(2002)
Rob Marshall
The Hours(2002)
Stephen Daldry
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers(2002)
Peter Jackson

2002

Gosford Park(2001)
Robert Altman
Winner
A Beautiful Mind(2001)
Ron Howard
A.I. Artificial Intelligence(2001)
Steven Spielberg
Moulin Rouge!(2001)
Baz Luhrmann
Mulholland Drive(2001)
David Lynch
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring(2001)
Peter Jackson

2001

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon(2000)
Ang Lee
Winner
Erin Brockovich(2000)
Steven Soderbergh
Gladiator(2000)
Ridley Scott
Sunshine(1999)
István Szabó
Traffic(2000)
Steven Soderbergh

2000

American Beauty(1999)
Sam Mendes
Winner
The End of the Affair(1999)
Neil Jordan
The Hurricane(1999)
Norman Jewison
The Insider(1999)
Michael Mann
The Talented Mr. Ripley(1999)
Anthony Minghella

1999

Saving Private Ryan(1998)
Steven Spielberg
Winner
Elizabeth(1998)
Shekhar Kapur
Shakespeare in Love(1998)
John Madden
The Horse Whisperer(1998)
Robert Redford
The Truman Show(1998)
Peter Weir

1998

Titanic(1997)
James Cameron
Winner
Amistad(1997)
Steven Spielberg
As Good as It Gets(1997)
James L. Brooks
L.A. Confidential(1997)
Curtis Hanson
The Boxer(1997)
Jim Sheridan

1997

The People vs. Larry Flynt(1996)
Milos Forman
Winner
Evita(1996)
Alan Parker
Fargo(1996)
Joel Coen
Shine(1996)
Scott Hicks
The English Patient(1996)
Anthony Minghella

1996

Braveheart(1995)
Mel Gibson
Winner
Apollo 13(1995)
Ron Howard
Casino(1995)
Martin Scorsese
Leaving Las Vegas(1995)
Mike Figgis
Sense and Sensibility(1995)
Ang Lee
The American President(1995)
Rob Reiner

1995

Forrest Gump(1994)
Robert Zemeckis
Winner
Legends of the Fall(1994)
Edward Zwick
Natural Born Killers(1994)
Oliver Stone
Pulp Fiction(1994)
Quentin Tarantino
Quiz Show(1994)
Robert Redford

1994

Schindler's List(1993)
Steven Spielberg
Winner
The Age of Innocence(1993)
Martin Scorsese
The Fugitive(1993)
Andrew Davis
The Piano(1993)
Jane Campion
The Remains of the Day(1993)
James Ivory

1993

Unforgiven(1992)
Clint Eastwood
Winner
A Few Good Men(1992)
Rob Reiner
A River Runs Through It(1992)
Robert Redford
Howards End(1992)
James Ivory
The Player(1992)
Robert Altman

1992

JFK(1991)
Oliver Stone
Winner
Bugsy(1991)
Barry Levinson
The Fisher King(1991)
Terry Gilliam
The Prince of Tides(1991)
Barbra Streisand
The Silence of the Lambs(1991)
Jonathan Demme

1991

Dances with Wolves(1990)
Kevin Costner
Winner
GoodFellas(1990)
Martin Scorsese
Reversal of Fortune(1990)
Barbet Schroeder
The Godfather Part III(1990)
Francis Ford Coppola
The Sheltering Sky(1990)
Bernardo Bertolucci

1990

Born on the Fourth of July(1989)
Oliver Stone
Winner
Dead Poets Society(1989)
Peter Weir
Do the Right Thing(1989)
Spike Lee
Glory(1989)
Edward Zwick
When Harry Met Sally...(1989)
Rob Reiner

1989

Bird(1988)
Clint Eastwood
Winner
Evil Angels(1988)
Fred Schepisi
Mississippi Burning(1988)
Alan Parker
Rain Man(1988)
Barry Levinson
Running on Empty(1988)
Sidney Lumet
Working Girl(1988)
Mike Nichols

1988

The Last Emperor(1987)
Bernardo Bertolucci
Winner
Broadcast News(1987)
James L. Brooks
Cry Freedom(1987)
Richard Attenborough
Fatal Attraction(1987)
Adrian Lyne
Hope and Glory(1987)
John Boorman

1987

Platoon(1986)
Oliver Stone
Winner
A Room with a View(1986)
James Ivory
Hannah and Her Sisters(1986)
Woody Allen
Stand by Me(1986)
Rob Reiner
The Mission(1986)
Roland Joffé

1986

Prizzi's Honor(1985)
John Huston
Winner
A Chorus Line(1985)
Richard Attenborough
Out of Africa(1985)
Sydney Pollack
The Color Purple(1985)
Steven Spielberg
Witness(1985)
Peter Weir

1985

Amadeus(1984)
Milos Forman
Winner
A Passage to India(1984)
David Lean
Once Upon a Time in America(1984)
Sergio Leone
The Cotton Club(1984)
Francis Ford Coppola
The Killing Fields(1984)
Roland Joffé

1984

Yentl(1983)
Barbra Streisand
Winner
Fanny and Alexander(1982)
Ingmar Bergman
Silkwood(1983)
Mike Nichols
Tender Mercies(1983)
Bruce Beresford
Terms of Endearment(1983)
James L. Brooks
The Dresser(1983)
Peter Yates

1983

Gandhi(1982)
Richard Attenborough
Winner
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial(1982)
Steven Spielberg
Missing(1982)
Costa-Gavras
The Verdict(1982)
Sidney Lumet
Tootsie(1982)
Sydney Pollack

1982

Reds(1981)
Warren Beatty
Winner
Atlantic City(1980)
Louis Malle
On Golden Pond(1981)
Mark Rydell
Prince of the City(1981)
Sidney Lumet
Ragtime(1981)
Milos Forman
Raiders of the Lost Ark(1981)
Steven Spielberg

1981

Ordinary People(1980)
Robert Redford
Winner
Raging Bull(1980)
Martin Scorsese
Tess(1979)
Roman Polanski
The Elephant Man(1980)
The Stunt Man(1980)
Richard Rush

1980

Apocalypse Now(1979)
Francis Ford Coppola
Winner
Being There(1979)
Hal Ashby
Breaking Away(1979)
Peter Yates
Kramer vs. Kramer(1979)
Robert Benton
The China Syndrome(1979)

1979

The Deer Hunter(1978)
Winner
An Unmarried Woman(1978)
Coming Home(1978)
Hal Ashby
Days of Heaven(1978)
Terrence Malick
Interiors(1978)
Woody Allen
Midnight Express(1978)
Alan Parker

1978

The Turning Point(1977)
Winner
Annie Hall(1977)
Woody Allen
Close Encounters of the Third Kind(1977)
Steven Spielberg
Julia(1977)
Fred Zinnemann
Star Wars(1977)

1977

Network(1976)
Sidney Lumet
Winner
All the President's Men(1976)
Alan J. Pakula
Bound for Glory(1976)
Hal Ashby
Marathon Man(1976)
John Schlesinger
Rocky(1976)
John G. Avildsen

1976

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest(1975)
Milos Forman
Winner
Barry Lyndon(1975)
Stanley Kubrick
Dog Day Afternoon(1975)
Sidney Lumet
Jaws(1975)
Steven Spielberg
Nashville(1975)
Robert Altman

1975

Chinatown(1974)
Roman Polanski
Winner
A Woman Under the Influence(1974)
John Cassavetes
Lenny(1974)
Bob Fosse
The Conversation(1974)
Francis Ford Coppola
The Godfather Part II(1974)
Francis Ford Coppola

1974

The Exorcist(1973)
Winner
American Graffiti(1973)
George Lucas
Last Tango in Paris(1972)
Bernardo Bertolucci
Paper Moon(1973)
Peter Bogdanovich
The Day of the Jackal(1973)

1973

The Godfather(1972)
Winner
Avanti!(1972)
Billy Wilder
Cabaret(1972)
Bob Fosse
Deliverance(1972)
John Boorman
Frenzy(1972)
Alfred Hitchcock

1972

The French Connection(1971)
William Friedkin
Winner
A Clockwork Orange(1971)
Stanley Kubrick
Fiddler on the Roof(1971)
Norman Jewison
Summer of '42(1971)
Robert Mulligan
The Last Picture Show(1971)
Peter Bogdanovich

1971

Love Story(1970)
Arthur Hiller
Winner
Five Easy Pieces(1970)
Bob Rafelson
M*A*S*H(1970)
Robert Altman
Patton(1970)
Franklin J. Schaffner
Women in Love(1969)
Ken Russell

1970

Anne of the Thousand Days(1969)
Charles Jarrott
Winner
Hello, Dolly!(1969)
Gene Kelly
Midnight Cowboy(1969)
John Schlesinger
The Secret of Santa Vittoria(1969)
Stanley Kramer
They Shoot Horses, Don't They?(1969)
Sydney Pollack

1969

Rachel, Rachel(1968)
Paul Newman
Winner
Funny Girl(1968)
William Wyler
Oliver!(1968)
Carol Reed
Romeo and Juliet(1968)
Franco Zeffirelli
The Lion in Winter(1968)
Anthony Harvey

1968

The Graduate(1967)
Mike Nichols
Winner
Bonnie and Clyde(1967)
Arthur Penn
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner(1967)
Stanley Kramer
In the Heat of the Night(1967)
Norman Jewison
The Fox(1967)
Mark Rydell

1967

A Man for All Seasons(1966)
Fred Zinnemann
Winner
A Man and a Woman(1966)
Claude Lelouch
Alfie(1966)
Lewis Gilbert
The Sand Pebbles(1966)
Robert Wise
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?(1966)
Mike Nichols

1966

Doctor Zhivago(1965)
David Lean
Winner
A Patch of Blue(1965)
Guy Green
Darling(1965)
John Schlesinger
The Collector(1965)
William Wyler
The Sound of Music(1965)
Robert Wise

1965

My Fair Lady(1964)
George Cukor
Winner
Becket(1964)
Peter Glenville
Seven Days in May(1964)
John Frankenheimer
The Night of the Iguana(1964)
John Huston
Zorba the Greek(1964)
Michael Cacoyannis

1964

America America(1963)
Elia Kazan
Winner
Cleopatra(1963)
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Hud(1963)
Martin Ritt
The Cardinal(1963)
Otto Preminger
The Caretakers(1963)
Hall Bartlett
The Haunting(1963)
Robert Wise
The Ugly American(1963)
George Englund
Tom Jones(1963)
Tony Richardson

1963

Lawrence of Arabia(1962)
David Lean
Winner
Days of Wine and Roses(1962)
Blake Edwards
Freud: The Secret Passion(1962)
John Huston
Gypsy(1962)
Mervyn LeRoy
Hemingway’s Adventures of a Young Man(1962)
Martin Ritt
Lolita(1962)
Stanley Kubrick
The Chapman Report(1962)
George Cukor
The Manchurian Candidate(1962)
John Frankenheimer
The Music Man (Meredith Willson's The Music Man)(1962)
Morton DaCosta
To Kill a Mockingbird(1962)
Robert Mulligan

1962

Judgment at Nuremberg(1961)
Stanley Kramer
Winner
El Cid(1961)
Anthony Mann
The Children's Hour(1961)
William Wyler
The Guns of Navarone(1961)
J. Lee Thompson
West Side Story(1961)
Robert Wise

1961

Sons and Lovers(1960)
Jack Cardiff
Winner
Elmer Gantry(1960)
Richard Brooks
Spartacus(1960)
Stanley Kubrick
The Apartment(1960)
Billy Wilder
The Sundowners(1960)
Fred Zinnemann

1960

Ben-Hur(1959)
William Wyler
Winner
Anatomy of a Murder(1959)
Otto Preminger
On the Beach(1959)
Stanley Kramer
The Diary of Anne Frank(1959)
George Stevens
The Nun's Story(1959)
Fred Zinnemann

1959

Gigi(1958)
Vincente Minnelli
Winner
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof(1958)
Richard Brooks
I Want to Live!(1958)
Robert Wise
Separate Tables(1958)
Delbert Mann
The Defiant Ones(1958)
Stanley Kramer

1958

The Bridge on the River Kwai(1957)
David Lean
Winner
12 Angry Men(1957)
Sidney Lumet
A Hatful of Rain(1957)
Fred Zinnemann
Sayonara(1957)
Joshua Logan
Witness for the Prosecution(1957)
Billy Wilder

1957

Baby Doll(1956)
Elia Kazan
Winner
Around the World in 80 Days(1956)
Michael Anderson
Giant(1956)
George Stevens
Lust for Life(1956)
Vincente Minnelli
War and Peace(1956)
King Vidor

1956

Picnic(1955)
Joshua Logan
Winner

1955

On the Waterfront(1954)
Elia Kazan
Winner

1954

From Here to Eternity(1953)
Fred Zinnemann
Winner

1953

The Greatest Show on Earth(1952)
Cecil B. DeMille
Winner
The Happy Time(1952)
Richard Fleischer
The Quiet Man(1952)
John Ford

1952

Death of a Salesman(1951)
Laslo Benedek
Winner
A Place in the Sun(1951)
George Stevens
An American in Paris(1951)
Vincente Minnelli

1951

1950

All the King's Men(1949)
Robert Rossen
Winner
The Heiress(1949)
William Wyler

1949

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre(1948)
John Huston
Winner

1948

Gentleman's Agreement(1947)
Elia Kazan
Winner

1947

It's a Wonderful Life(1946)
Frank Capra
Winner

1946

The Lost Weekend(1945)
Billy Wilder
Winner

1945

Going My Way(1944)
Leo McCarey
Winner

1944

The Song of Bernadette(1943)
Henry King
Winner

// cookies

A couple of essential cookies keep CineRoll running. Analytics stays off until you turn it on. Privacy policy