The Directors Guild of America (DGA) has spoken with its own nominees amid a very busy awards season week that started with the Critics Choice Awards and will end with the Golden Globes.
The directors contending for outstanding theatrical feature film are: Paul Thomas Anderson (“One Battle After Another”), Ryan Coogler (“Sinners”), Guillermo del Toro (“Frankenstein”), Chloé Zhao (“Hamnet”), and Josh Safdie (“Marty Supreme”).
The directors in the running for first-time feature film are: Hasan Hadi (“The President’s Cake”), representing the only foreign-language film in the mix, here from Iraq; Harry Lighton (“Pillion”); Charlie Polinger (“The Plague”); Alex Russell (“Lurker”); and Eva Victor (“Sorry, Baby”).
The DGA nominations aren’t always predictive of the final Oscar five; last year, “The Substance” filmmaker Coralie Fargeat was Academy-nominated instead of DGA pick Edward Berger for “Conclave.” In both scenarios, Sean Baker won for his eventual Best Picture recipient, “Anora.”
The DGA this week already announced its television and documentary nominations; for nonfiction film, they honored Mstyslav Chernov for “2000 Meters to Andriivka,” Geeta Gandbhir for “The Perfect Neighbor,” Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni for “Cutting Through Rocks,” Elizabeth Lo for “Mistress Dispeller,” and Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus for “Cover-Up.” All are on the Oscar shortlist for Best Documentary Feature.
The 78th Directors Guild of America Awards are set to take place at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles on Saturday, February 7. See the full list of feature film DGA nominees below.
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)
