The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) presents the Academy Award for Best Director, also known as the Academy Award of Merit for Directing, once a year.
Both the "Comedy" and "Dramatic" categories were awarded at the first Academy Awards presentation in 1929. However, for every ceremony after that, these categories were combined. Winners are chosen by a plurality vote of the eligible voting members of the academy, while nominees are chosen by a single transferable vote within the AMPAS directors branch.
Best Director Oscar Winners
Given below is a list of all the directors who have won the Academy Award since the award’s inception in 1929:
| Year | Ceremony | Winners | Film |
| 1927/28 | 1st | Lewis Milestone | Two Arabian Knights (Comedy) |
| 1927/28 | 1st | Frank Borzage | 7th Heaven (Dramatic) |
| 1927/28 | 1st | Charlie Chaplin | The Circus (Special Award) |
| 1928/29 | 2nd | Frank Lloyd | The Divine Lady |
| 1929/30 | 3rd | Lewis Milestone | All Quiet on the Western Front |
| 1930/31 | 4th | Norman Taurog | Skippy |
| 1931/32 | 5th | Frank Borzage | Bad Girl |
| 1932/33 | 6th | Frank Lloyd | Cavalcade |
| 1934 | 7th | Frank Capra | It Happened One Night |
| 1935 | 8th | John Ford | The Informer |
| 1936 | 9th | Frank Capra | Mr. Deeds Goes to Town |
| 1937 | 10th | Leo McCarey | The Awful Truth |
| 1938 | 11th | Frank Capra | You Can't Take It with You |
| 1939 | 12th | Victor Fleming | Gone with the Wind |
| 1940 | 13th | John Ford | The Grapes of Wrath |
| 1941 | 14th | John Ford | How Green Was My Valley |
| 1942 | 15th | William Wyler | Mrs. Miniver |
| 1943 | 16th | Michael Curtiz | Casablanca |
| 1944 | 17th | Leo McCarey | Going My Way |
| 1945 | 18th | Billy Wilder | The Lost Weekend |
| 1946 | 19th | William Wyler | The Best Years of Our Lives |
| 1947 | 20th | Elia Kazan | Gentleman's Agreement |
| 1948 | 21st | John Huston | The Treasure of the Sierra Madre |
| 1949 | 22nd | Joseph L. Mankiewicz | A Letter to Three Wives |
| 1950 | 23rd | Joseph L. Mankiewicz | All About Eve |
| 1951 | 24th | George Stevens | A Place in the Sun |
| 1952 | 25th | John Ford | The Quiet Man |
| 1953 | 26th | Fred Zinnemann | From Here to Eternity |
| 1954 | 27th | Elia Kazan | On the Waterfront |
| 1955 | 28th | Delbert Mann | Marty |
| 1956 | 29th | George Stevens | Giant |
| 1957 | 30th | David Lean | The Bridge on the River Kwai |
| 1958 | 31st | Vincente Minnelli | Gigi |
| 1959 | 32nd | William Wyler | Ben-Hur |
| 1960 | 33rd | Billy Wilder | The Apartment |
| 1961 | 34th | Robert Wise, Jerome Robbins | West Side Story |
| 1962 | 35th | David Lean | Lawrence of Arabia |
| 1963 | 36th | Tony Richardson | Tom Jones |
| 1964 | 37th | George Cukor | My Fair Lady |
| 1965 | 38th | Robert Wise | The Sound of Music |
| 1966 | 39th | Fred Zinnemann | A Man for All Seasons |
| 1967 | 40th | Mike Nichols | The Graduate |
| 1968 | 41st | Carol Reed | Oliver! |
| 1969 | 42nd | John Schlesinger | Midnight Cowboy |
| 1970 | 43rd | Franklin J. Schaffner | Patton |
| 1971 | 44th | William Friedkin | The French Connection |
| 1972 | 45th | Bob Fosse | Cabaret |
| 1973 | 46th | George Roy Hill | The Sting |
| 1974 | 47th | Francis Ford Coppola | The Godfather Part II |
| 1975 | 48th | Milos Forman | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest |
| 1976 | 49th | John G. Avildsen | Rocky |
| 1977 | 50th | Woody Allen | Annie Hall |
| 1978 | 51st | Michael Cimino | The Deer Hunter |
| 1979 | 52nd | Robert Benton | Kramer vs. Kramer |
| 1980 | 53rd | Robert Redford | Ordinary People |
| 1981 | 54th | Warren Beatty | Reds |
| 1982 | 55th | Richard Attenborough | Gandhi |
| 1983 | 56th | James L. Brooks | Terms of Endearment |
| 1984 | 57th | Milos Forman | Amadeus |
| 1985 | 58th | Sydney Pollack | Out of Africa |
| 1986 | 59th | Oliver Stone | Platoon |
| 1987 | 60th | Bernardo Bertolucci | The Last Emperor |
| 1988 | 61st | Barry Levinson | Rain Man |
| 1989 | 62nd | Oliver Stone | Born on the Fourth of July |
| 1990 | 63rd | Kevin Costner | Dances With Wolves |
| 1991 | 64th | Jonathan Demme | The Silence of the Lambs |
| 1992 | 65th | Clint Eastwood | Unforgiven |
| 1993 | 66th | Steven Spielberg | Schindler's List |
| 1994 | 67th | Robert Zemeckis | Forrest Gump |
| 1995 | 68th | Mel Gibson | Braveheart |
| 1996 | 69th | Anthony Minghella | The English Patient |
| 1997 | 70th | James Cameron | Titanic |
| 1998 | 71st | Steven Spielberg | Saving Private Ryan |
| 1999 | 72nd | Sam Mendes | American Beauty |
| 2000 | 73rd | Steven Soderbergh | Traffic |
| 2001 | 74th | Ron Howard | A Beautiful Mind |
| 2002 | 75th | Roman Polanski | The Pianist |
| 2003 | 76th | Peter Jackson | The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King |
| 2004 | 77th | Clint Eastwood | Million Dollar Baby |
| 2005 | 78th | Ang Lee | Brokeback Mountain |
| 2006 | 79th | Martin Scorsese | The Departed |
| 2007 | 80th | Joel & Ethan Coen | No Country for Old Men |
| 2008 | 81st | Danny Boyle | Slumdog Millionaire |
| 2009 | 82nd | Kathryn Bigelow | The Hurt Locker |
| 2010 | 83rd | Tom Hooper | The King's Speech |
| 2011 | 84th | Michel Hazanavicius | The Artist |
| 2012 | 85th | Ang Lee | Life of Pi |
| 2013 | 86th | Alfonso Cuarón | Gravity |
| 2014 | 87th | Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Birdman |
| 2015 | 88th | Alejandro G. Iñárritu | The Revenant |
| 2016 | 89th | Damien Chazelle | La La Land |
| 2017 | 90th | Guillermo del Toro | The Shape of Water |
| 2018 | 91st | Alfonso Cuarón | Roma |
| 2019 | 92nd | Bong Joon Ho | Parasite |
| 2020 | 93rd | Chloé Zhao | Nomadland |
| 2021 | 94th | Jane Campion | The Power of the Dog |
| 2022 | 95th | Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert | Everything Everywhere All at Once |
| 2023 | 96th | Christopher Nolan | Oppenheimer |
| 2024 | 97th | Sean Baker | Anora |
Also Read: Best picture Oscar winners
FAQs about Oscars
John Ford has won the most Oscars for Best Director, with 4.
Christopher Nolan won the Oscar for Best Director for the epic biographical film Oppenheimer in 2024.
William Wyler has the most Oscar nominations for Best Director. He has had 12 nominations in the category throughout the years.
A. Sean Baker won the Oscar for Best Director for the romantic comedy-drama film Anora in 2025.
