Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
First awarded
1929
Most recent winner
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer (2024)
Most awards
John Ford (4)
Most nominations
William Wyler (12)
Website
oscars.org
The Academy Award for Best Director (officially known as the Academy Award of Merit for Directing) is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given in honor of a film director who has exhibited outstanding directing while working in the film industry.
The 1st Academy Awards ceremony was held in 1929 with the award being split into "Dramatic" and "Comedy" categories; Frank Borzage and Lewis Milestone won for 7th Heaven and Two Arabian Knights, respectively.[1] However, these categories were merged for all subsequent ceremonies.[2] Nominees are determined by single transferable vote within the directors branch of AMPAS; winners are selected by a plurality vote from the entire eligible voting members of the academy.[3][4][5]
For the first eleven years of the Academy Awards, directors were allowed to be nominated for multiple films in the same year. However, after the nomination of Michael Curtiz for two films, Angels with Dirty Faces and Four Daughters, at the 11th Academy Awards, the rules were revised so that an individual could only be nominated for one film at each ceremony.[6] That rule has since been amended, although the only director who has received multiple nominations in the same year was Steven Soderbergh for Erin Brockovich and Traffic in 2000, winning the award for the latter. The Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture have been very closely linked throughout their history. Of the 89 films that won Best Picture and were also nominated for Best Director, 68 won the award.[7][8]
Since its inception, the award has been given to 75 directors or directing teams. As of the 96th Academy Awards ceremony, British-American filmmaker Christopher Nolan is the most recent winner in this category for his work on Oppenheimer.
^Dirks, Tim. "1927–28 Academy Awards Winners". Rainbow Media. Archived from the original on July 24, 2010. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
^Dirks, Tim. "Academy Awards Winners (1927/8 – 1939)". Rainbow Media. Archived from the original on January 14, 2016. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
^"87th Annual Academy Awards of Merit Rules" (PDF). Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Rule 5.5 & Rule 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 21, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
^
Pond, Steve (January 7, 2006). "Eight things every voter (and fan) should know about Oscar's decidedly unique nomination process". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 17, 2006. Retrieved January 27, 2007.
^Young, John (January 27, 2011). "Oscars: The wacky way the Academy counts votes, and the results of our 'If You Were an Oscar Voter' poll". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on May 6, 2016. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
^Dirks, Tim. "1938 Academy Awards Winners and History". Rainbow Media. Archived from the original on November 21, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
^"Picture/Director Not from Same Film". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. March 11, 2011. Archived from the original on January 13, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
^"Academy Awards Best Director – Facts & Trivia". www.filmsite.org. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
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