Sean Baker, James Mangold, Brady Corbet, Edward Berger, and Jacques Audiard Among DGA Awards Nominees

Sean Baker for “Anora,” Brady Corbet for “The Brutalist,” James Mangold for “A Complete Unknown,” Jacques Audiard for “Emilia Pérez,” and Edward Berger for “Conclave” have been nominated for the Feature Film directing prize from the DGA Awards on behalf of the Directors Guild of America.

The winner for the top prize will be announced at the 77th Annual DGA Awards ceremony held on February 8.

Also announced on Wednesday are the five nominees for the Michael Apted Award for First-Time Theatrical Feature Film. Those nominees are: Payal Kapadia for “All We Imagine As Light,” Megan Park for “My Old Ass,” RaMell Ross for “Nickel Boys,” Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel for “Armand,” and Sean Wang for “Didi.”

DGA Awards nominees in the TV, reality, commercial, and documentary categories were unveiled on Tuesday, with “Shōgun,” “The Bear,” and “The Penguin” leading the way with three directing nominations each. In the documentary category, the nominees were the directors behind “Porcelain War,” “Sugarcane,” “Daughters,” “Hollywoodgate,” and “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat.”

Christopher Nolan won last year’s Feature Film directing prize for “Oppenheimer,” beating out a field that included Greta Gerwig, Yorgos Lanthimos, Alexander Payne, and Martin Scorsese. While the winner of the DGA Award tends to go on to win the Oscar, the more international voting block of the Academy has opted for a wider group of directors than the DGA in recent years. Celine Song for “Past Lives” won last year’s Michael Apted prize, and Mstyslav Chernov won the Documentary award for “20 Days in Mariupol,” which also won the Oscar.

As IndieWire wrote on Tuesday after the release of the documentary nominees, all five of the DGA’s nominees also landed on the Oscars shortlist for the Best Documentary Feature race, with “Sugarcane” and “Porcelain War” among the most likely nominees to carry over to the Oscars. It suggests a tight race that should provide some clarity once the DGA Awards winners are unveiled.

See the full list of nominees below:

THEATRICAL FEATURE FILM

The nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film for 2024 are (in alphabetical order):

JACQUES AUDIARD – “Emilia Pérez” (Netflix)

SEAN BAKER – “Anora” (Neon)
Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Olivia Kavanaugh
First Assistant Director: Liza Mann
Second Assistant Director: Sofía Blanco
Second Second Assistant Director: Steve Coleman
Location Manager: Ross Brodar

EDWARD BERGER – “Conclave” (Focus Features)

BRADY CORBET – “The Brutalist” (A24)

JAMES MANGOLD – “A Complete Unknown” (Searchlight Pictures)
Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Michael Bederman
First Assistant Director: Douglas Torres
Second Assistant Director: Brad Robinson
Second Second Assistant Directors: Billy Brennan, Veronica Grant
Location Manager: Anthony Pisani

MICHAEL APTED FIRST-TIME THEATRICAL FEATURE FILM

In addition, Glatter also announced five nominees for the Michael Apted Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Theatrical Feature Film.

PAYAL KAPADIA – “All We Imagine as Light” (Sideshow & Janus Films)

MEGAN PARK – “My Old Ass” (Amazon MGM Studios)

RAMELL ROSS – “Nickel Boys” (Amazon MGM Studios)
Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Kenneth Yu
First Assistant Director: James Roque
Second Assistant Director: Jonathan M. Warren
Second Second Assistant Director: Thalia Skaleris
Additional Second Assistant Director: Zachery Scherer
Location Manager: Batou Chandler

HALFDAN ULLMANN TØNDEL – “Armand” (IFC Films)

SEAN WANG – “Dìdi” (Focus Features)