Each Academy Award ceremony is listed chronologically below along with the winner of the Academy Award for Directing and the film associated with the award. In the column next to the winner of each award are the other nominees for best director. Following the Academy's practice, the films below are listed by the years of their Los Angeles qualifying run, which is usually (but not always) in the year of release; for example, the Oscar for Best Director of 1999 was announced during the award ceremony held in 2000.
source wikipedia
1920s
In the first year only, the award was separated into Dramatic Direction and Comedy Direction.
Year
Winner
film
Nominated
1927/1928
Dramatic
Frank Borzage
- Seventh Heaven
Herbert Brenon - Sorrell and Son
King Vidor - The Crowd
Comedy
Lewis Milestone
- Two Arabian Knights
Charles Chaplin - The Circus
Ted Wilde - Speedy
1928/1929
Frank Lloyd
- The Divine Lady
Lionel Barrymore - Madame X
Harry Beaumont - The Broadway Melody
Irving Cummings - In Old Arizona
Frank Lloyd - Weary River and Drag
Ernst Lubitsch - The Patriot
[edit] 1930s
Year
Winner
film
Nominated
1929/1930
Lewis Milestone
- All Quiet on the Western Front
Clarence Brown - Anna Christie
Clarence Brown - Romance
Robert Z. Leonard - The Divorcée
Ernst Lubitsch - The Love Parade
King Vidor - Hallelujah
1930/1931
Norman Taurog
- Skippy
Clarence Brown - A Free Soul
Lewis Milestone - The Front Page
Wesley Ruggles - Cimarron
Josef von Sternberg - Morocco
1931/1932
Frank Borzage
- Bad Girl
King Vidor - The Champ
Josef von Sternberg - Shanghai Express
1932/1933
Frank Lloyd
- Cavalcade
Frank Capra - Lady for a Day
George Cukor - Little Women
1934
Frank Capra
- It Happened One Night
Victor Schertzinger - One Night of Love
W. S. Van Dyke - The Thin Man
1935
John Ford
- The Informer
Henry Hathaway - The Lives of a Bengal Lancer
Frank Lloyd - Mutiny on the Bounty
1936
Frank Capra
- Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
Gregory La Cava - My Man Godfrey
Robert Z. Leonard - The Great Ziegfeld
W. S. Van Dyke - San Francisco
William Wyler - Dodsworth
1937
Leo McCarey
- The Awful Truth
William Dieterle - The Life of Emile Zola
Sidney Franklin - The Good Earth
Gregory La Cava - Stage Door
William A. Wellman - A Star Is Born
1938
Frank Capra
- You Can't Take It with You
Michael Curtiz - Angels with Dirty Faces
Michael Curtiz - Four Daughters
Norman Taurog - Boys Town
King Vidor - The Citadel
1939
Victor Fleming
- Gone with the Wind
Frank Capra - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
John Ford - Stagecoach
Sam Wood - Goodbye, Mr. Chips
William Wyler - Wuthering Heights
[edit] 1940s
Year
Winner
film
Nominated
1940
John Ford
- The Grapes of Wrath
George Cukor - The Philadelphia Story
Alfred Hitchcock - Rebecca
Sam Wood - Kitty Foyle
William Wyler - The Letter
1941
John Ford
- How Green Was My Valley
Alexander Hall - Here Comes Mr. Jordan
Howard Hawks - Sergeant York
Orson Welles - Citizen Kane
William Wyler - The Little Foxes
1942
William Wyler
- Mrs. Miniver
Michael Curtiz - Yankee Doodle Dandy
John Farrow - Wake Island
Mervyn LeRoy - Random Harvest
Sam Wood - Kings Row
1943
Michael Curtiz
- Casablanca
Clarence Brown - The Human Comedy
Henry King - The Song of Bernadette
Ernst Lubitsch - Heaven Can Wait
George Stevens - The More the Merrier
1944
Leo McCarey
- Going My Way
Alfred Hitchcock - Lifeboat
Henry King - Wilson
Otto Preminger - Laura
Billy Wilder - Double Indemnity
1945
Billy Wilder
- The Lost Weekend
Clarence Brown - National Velvet
Alfred Hitchcock - Spellbound
Leo McCarey - The Bells of St. Mary's
Jean Renoir - The Southerner
1946
William Wyler
- The Best Years of Our Lives
Clarence Brown - The Yearling
Frank Capra - It's a Wonderful Life
David Lean - Brief Encounter
Robert Siodmak - The Killers
1947
Elia Kazan
- Gentleman's Agreement
George Cukor - A Double Life
Edward Dmytryk - Crossfire
Henry Koster - The Bishop's Wife
David Lean - Great Expectations
1948
John Huston
- The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Anatole Litvak - The Snake Pit
Jean Negulesco - Johnny Belinda
Laurence Olivier - Hamlet
Fred Zinnemann - The Search
1949
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
- A Letter to Three Wives
Carol Reed - The Fallen Idol
Robert Rossen - All the King's Men
William A. Wellman - Battleground
William Wyler - The Heiress
[edit] 1950s
Year
Winner
film
Nominated
1950
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
- All About Eve
George Cukor - Born Yesterday
John Huston - The Asphalt Jungle
Carol Reed - The Third Man
Billy Wilder - Sunset Boulevard
1951
George Stevens
- A Place in the Sun
John Huston - The African Queen
Elia Kazan - A Streetcar Named Desire
Vincente Minnelli - An American in Paris
William Wyler - Detective Story
1952
John Ford
- The Quiet Man
Cecil B. DeMille - The Greatest Show on Earth
John Huston - Moulin Rouge
Joseph L. Mankiewicz - 5 Fingers
Fred Zinnemann - High Noon
1953
Fred Zinnemann
- From Here to Eternity
George Stevens - Shane
Charles Walters - Lili
Billy Wilder - Stalag 17
William Wyler - Roman Holiday
1954
Elia Kazan
- On the Waterfront
Alfred Hitchcock - Rear Window
George Seaton - The Country Girl
William A. Wellman - The High and the Mighty
Billy Wilder - Sabrina
1955
Delbert Mann
- Marty
Elia Kazan - East of Eden
David Lean - Summertime
Joshua Logan - Picnic
John Sturges - Bad Day at Black Rock
1956
George Stevens
- Giant
Michael Anderson - Around the World in Eighty Days
Walter Lang - The King and I
King Vidor - War and Peace
William Wyler - Friendly Persuasion
1957
David Lean
- The Bridge on the River Kwai
Joshua Logan - Sayonara
Sidney Lumet - 12 Angry Men
Mark Robson - Peyton Place
Billy Wilder - Witness for the Prosecution
1958
Vincente Minnelli
- Gigi
Richard Brooks - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Stanley Kramer - The Defiant Ones
Mark Robson - The Inn of the Sixth Happiness
Robert Wise - I Want to Live!
1959
William Wyler
- Ben-Hur
Jack Clayton - Room at the Top
George Stevens - The Diary of Anne Frank
Billy Wilder - Some Like It Hot
Fred Zinnemann - The Nun's Story
[edit] 1960s
Year
Winner
film
Nominated
1960
Billy Wilder
- The Apartment
Jack Cardiff - Sons and Lovers
Jules Dassin - Never on Sunday
Alfred Hitchcock - Psycho
Fred Zinnemann - The Sundowners
1961
Robert Wise, Jerome Robbins
- West Side Story
Federico Fellini - La dolce vita
Stanley Kramer - Judgment at Nuremberg
Robert Rossen - The Hustler
J. Lee Thompson - The Guns of Navarone
1962
David Lean
- Lawrence of Arabia
Pietro Germi - Divorce, Italian Style
Robert Mulligan - To Kill a Mockingbird
Arthur Penn - The Miracle Worker
Frank Perry - David and Lisa
1963
Tony Richardson
- Tom Jones
Federico Fellini - 8½
Elia Kazan - America, America
Otto Preminger - The Cardinal
Martin Ritt - Hud
1964
George Cukor
- My Fair Lady
Michael Cacoyannis - Zorba the Greek
Peter Glenville - Becket
Stanley Kubrick - Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Robert Stevenson - Mary Poppins
1965
Robert Wise
- The Sound of Music
David Lean - Doctor Zhivago
John Schlesinger - Darling
Hiroshi Teshigahara - Woman in the Dunes
William Wyler - The Collector
1966
Fred Zinnemann
- A Man for All Seasons
Michelangelo Antonioni - Blow-Up
Richard Brooks - The Professionals
Claude Lelouch - A Man and a Woman
Mike Nichols - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
1967
Mike Nichols
- The Graduate
Richard Brooks - In Cold Blood
Norman Jewison - In the Heat of the Night
Stanley Kramer - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Arthur Penn - Bonnie and Clyde
1968
Carol Reed
- Oliver!
Anthony Harvey - The Lion in Winter
Stanley Kubrick - 2001: A Space Odyssey
Gillo Pontecorvo - The Battle of Algiers
Franco Zeffirelli - Romeo and Juliet
1969
John Schlesinger
- Midnight Cowboy
Costa-Gavras - Z
George Roy Hill - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Arthur Penn - Alice's Restaurant
Sydney Pollack - They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
[edit] 1970s
Year
Winner
film
Nominated
1970
Franklin J. Schaffner
- Patton
Robert Altman - MASH
Federico Fellini - Satyricon
Arthur Hiller - Love Story
Ken Russell - Women in Love
1971
William Friedkin
- The French Connection
Peter Bogdanovich - The Last Picture Show
Norman Jewison - Fiddler on the Roof
Stanley Kubrick - A Clockwork Orange
John Schlesinger - Sunday Bloody Sunday
1972
Bob Fosse
- Cabaret
John Boorman - Deliverance
Francis Ford Coppola - The Godfather
Joseph L. Mankiewicz - Sleuth
Jan Troell - The Emigrants
1973
George Roy Hill
- The Sting
Ingmar Bergman - Cries and Whispers
Bernardo Bertolucci - Last Tango in Paris
William Friedkin - The Exorcist
George Lucas - American Graffiti
1974
Francis Ford Coppola
- The Godfather Part II
John Cassavetes - A Woman Under the Influence
Bob Fosse - Lenny
Roman Polanski - Chinatown
François Truffaut - Day for Night
1975
Miloš Forman
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Robert Altman - Nashville
Federico Fellini - Amarcord
Stanley Kubrick - Barry Lyndon
Sidney Lumet - Dog Day Afternoon
1976
John G. Avildsen
- Rocky
Ingmar Bergman - Face to Face
Sidney Lumet - Network
Alan J. Pakula - All the President's Men
Lina Wertmüller - Seven Beauties
1977
Woody Allen
- Annie Hall
George Lucas - Star Wars
Herbert Ross - The Turning Point
Steven Spielberg - Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Fred Zinnemann - Julia
1978
Michael Cimino
- The Deer Hunter
Woody Allen - Interiors
Hal Ashby - Coming Home
Warren Beatty, Buck Henry - Heaven Can Wait
Alan Parker - Midnight Express
1979
Robert Benton
- Kramer vs. Kramer
Francis Ford Coppola - Apocalypse Now
Bob Fosse - All That Jazz
Edouard Molinaro - La Cage aux Folles
Peter Yates - Breaking Away
[edit] 1980s
Year
Winner
film
Nominated
1980
Robert Redford
- Ordinary People
David Lynch - The Elephant Man
Roman Polanski - Tess
Richard Rush - The Stunt Man
Martin Scorsese - Raging Bull
1981
Warren Beatty
- Reds
Hugh Hudson - Chariots of Fire
Louis Malle - Atlantic City
Mark Rydell - On Golden Pond
Steven Spielberg - Raiders of the Lost Ark
1982
Richard Attenborough
- Gandhi
Sidney Lumet - The Verdict
Wolfgang Petersen - Das Boot
Sydney Pollack - Tootsie
Steven Spielberg - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
1983
James L. Brooks
- Terms of Endearment
Bruce Beresford - Tender Mercies
Ingmar Bergman - Fanny and Alexander
Mike Nichols - Silkwood
Peter Yates - The Dresser
1984
Miloš Forman
- Amadeus
Woody Allen - Broadway Danny Rose
Robert Benton - Places in the Heart
Roland Joffé - The Killing Fields
David Lean - A Passage to India
1985
Sydney Pollack
- Out of Africa
Hector Babenco - Kiss of the Spider Woman
John Huston - Prizzi's Honor
Akira Kurosawa - Ran
Peter Weir - Witness
1986
Oliver Stone
- Platoon
Woody Allen - Hannah and Her Sisters
James Ivory - A Room with a View
Roland Joffé - The Mission
David Lynch - Blue Velvet
1987
Bernardo Bertolucci
- The Last Emperor
John Boorman - Hope and Glory
Lasse Hallström - My Life as a Dog
Norman Jewison - Moonstruck
Adrian Lyne - Fatal Attraction
1988
Barry Levinson
- Rain Man
Charles Crichton - A Fish Called Wanda
Mike Nichols - Working Girl
Alan Parker - Mississippi Burning
Martin Scorsese - The Last Temptation of Christ
1989
Oliver Stone
- Born on the Fourth of July
Woody Allen - Crimes and Misdemeanors
Kenneth Branagh - Henry V
Jim Sheridan - My Left Foot
Peter Weir - Dead Poets Society
[edit] 1990s
Year
Winner
film
Nominated
1990
Kevin Costner
- Dances with Wolves
Francis Ford Coppola - The Godfather: Part III
Stephen Frears - The Grifters
Barbet Schroeder - Reversal of Fortune
Martin Scorsese - Goodfellas
1991
Jonathan Demme
- The Silence of the Lambs
Barry Levinson - Bugsy
Ridley Scott - Thelma and Louise
John Singleton - Boyz N the Hood
Oliver Stone - JFK
1992
Clint Eastwood
- Unforgiven
Robert Altman - The Player
Martin Brest - Scent of a Woman
James Ivory - Howards End
Neil Jordan - The Crying Game
1993
Steven Spielberg
- Schindler's List
Robert Altman - Short Cuts
Jane Campion - The Piano
James Ivory - The Remains of the Day
Jim Sheridan - In the Name of the Father
1994
Robert Zemeckis
- Forrest Gump
Woody Allen - Bullets Over Broadway
Krzysztof Kieslowski - Trois Couleurs Rouge aka Three Colors: Red
Robert Redford - Quiz Show
Quentin Tarantino - Pulp Fiction
1995
Mel Gibson
- Braveheart
Mike Figgis - Leaving Las Vegas
Chris Noonan - Babe
Michael Radford - Il Postino aka The Postman
Tim Robbins - Dead Man Walking
1996
Anthony Minghella
- The English Patient
Joel Coen - Fargo
Miloš Forman - The People vs. Larry Flynt
Scott Hicks - Shine
Mike Leigh - Secrets & Lies
1997
James Cameron
- Titanic
Peter Cattaneo - The Full Monty
Atom Egoyan - The Sweet Hereafter
Curtis Hanson - L.A. Confidential
Gus Van Sant - Good Will Hunting
1998
Steven Spielberg
- Saving Private Ryan
Roberto Benigni - La Vita è Bella aka Life Is Beautiful
John Madden - Shakespeare in Love
Terrence Malick - The Thin Red Line
Peter Weir - The Truman Show
1999
Sam Mendes
- American Beauty
Lasse Hallström - The Cider House Rules
Spike Jonze - Being John Malkovich
Michael Mann - The Insider
M. Night Shyamalan - The Sixth Sense
[edit] 2000s
Year
Winner
film
Nominated
2000
Steven Soderbergh
- Traffic
Stephen Daldry - Billy Elliot
Ang Lee - Wo hu cang long aka Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Ridley Scott - Gladiator
Steven Soderbergh - Erin Brockovich
2001
Ron Howard
- A Beautiful Mind
Robert Altman - Gosford Park
Peter Jackson - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
David Lynch - Mulholland Drive
Ridley Scott - Black Hawk Down
2002
Roman Polanski
- The Pianist
Pedro Almodóvar - Hable con ella aka Talk to Her
Stephen Daldry - The Hours
Rob Marshall - Chicago
Martin Scorsese - Gangs of New York
2003
Peter Jackson
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Sofia Coppola - Lost in Translation
Clint Eastwood - Mystic River
Fernando Meirelles - Cidade de Deus aka City of God
Peter Weir - Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
2004
Clint Eastwood
- Million Dollar Baby
Taylor Hackford - Ray
Mike Leigh - Vera Drake
Alexander Payne - Sideways
Martin Scorsese - The Aviator
2005
Ang Lee
- Brokeback Mountain
George Clooney - Good Night, and Good Luck.
Paul Haggis - Crash
Bennett Miller - Capote
Steven Spielberg - Munich
2006
Martin Scorsese
- The Departed
Clint Eastwood - Letters from Iwo Jima
Stephen Frears - The Queen
Alejandro González Iñárritu - Babel
Paul Greengrass - United 93
