Explore This Year’s DGA Awards Movie Nominees: Anderson, Coogler, Del Toro, Safdie, and Zhao
The Directors Guild of America (DGA) has announced its nominees for the 78th DGA Awards, spotlighting directors of several prominent films in the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film category. Among those recognized are the creators behind One Battle After Another, Sinners, Frankenstein, Marty Supreme, and Hamnet.
This year marks a significant milestone for Sinners director Ryan Coogler and Marty Supreme director Josh Safdie, both receiving their first full DGA nominations. Chloé Zhao, director of Hamnet, earns her second nomination, having previously won in 2021 for Nomadland, which also took home the Oscar for Best Picture. Guillermo del Toro, who received a nomination for Frankenstein, has been recognized by the DGA for the second time after winning in 2018 for The Shape of Water. Paul Thomas Anderson, nominated for One Battle After Another, has a history of nominations, previously recognized for There Will Be Blood and Licorice Pizza. He also recently won Best Director at the Critics Choice Awards.
In addition to the feature film nominations, the DGA also announced contenders for the First Time Theatrical Feature award. Nominees in this category include Ava Victor for Sorry, Baby, Hasan Hadi for Iraq’s Oscar submission The President’s Cake, Harry Lighton for Pillion, Charlie Polinger for The Plague, and Alex Russell for Lurker.
Last year’s DGA Theatrical Feature Film prize went to Sean Baker for his film Anora, a victory that helped pave the way for his Oscar wins. In the First-Time category, RaMell Ross won for his film Nickel Boys.
This year’s DGA Awards ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, February 7, at the Beverly Hilton, with member voting taking place until February 6.
Below are the nominees for the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film and First-Time Theatrical Feature Film categories.
Theatrical Feature Film
PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON
One Battle After Another
Warner Bros
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 Directors: Nuekellar Hardy, Chunning Chang, Kit Conners, Kasia Trojak, Tyler Young
RYAN COOGLER
Sinners
Warner Bros
Directorial Team:
- Unit Production Manager: Will Greenfield, Kenneth Yu
- First Assistant Director: Marvin Williams
- Second Assistant Director: Amir R. Khan
- Additional Second Assistant Directors: 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 Managers: Max Samu, Suk Yi Mar, Samson Jacobson
- Location Managers: Matthew Kania, Ross Brodar
CHLOÉ ZHAO
Hamnet
Focus Features
First-Time Theatrical Feature Film
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
