78th Annual Directors Guild of America Awards Nominations

Yesterday, January 7, 2026 the Guild announced their nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Television, Commercials and Documentary.

Today the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film and for First-Time Theatrical Feature Fill will be announced; so, post will be in progress until after today's news. News have already been released and post is final.

Previously announced, the Special Award winners and the recipients are:
Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award to David Charles
Frank Capra Achievement Award to Gregory G. McCollum

No doubt these nominations have the more female directors I have ever seen! Unbelievable but each category has at least one female director and the documentary category has only one male out of five nominees. That's a milestone record for the cinema industry!  On less interesting news, there are no surprises and yes, the trend is going on and on and it is highly probable that #Oscars2026 nominees in this category are the same as here; perhaps the one new addition is Marty Supreme but lately, after its wide release in December 25, awareness and awards are starting to pour its way.

To read more about each honoree go official site here.

Winners will be announced at the annual gala on Saturday, February 7, 2026 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.

The Nominations

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film
Guillermo del Toro for Frankenstein, Guillermo del Toro, Mexico and USA
Chloé Zhao for Hamnet, Chloé Zhao, UK and USA
Josh Sadie for Marty Supreme, Josh Safdie, USA and Finland
Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson, USA
Ryan Coogler for Sinners, Ryan Coogler, USA

Oustanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Theatrical Feature Film
Alex Russell for Lurker, Alex Russell, USA and Italy
Hasan Hadi for مملكة القصب Mamlaket al-qasab (The President's Cake), Hasan Hadi, Iraq, Qatar and USA
Harry Lighton for Pillion, Harry Lighton, UK and Ireland
Charlie Polinger for The Plague, Charlie Polinger, Australia, UAE, USA, and Romania
Eva Victor for Sorry, Baby, Eva Victor, Spain, France and USA

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary Film
Mstyslav Chernov for 2000 метрів до Андріївки (2000 Meters to Andriivka), Mstyslav Chernov, USA and Ukraine
Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus for Cover-Up, Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus, USA
Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni for Cutting Through Rocks, Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni, Qatar, Chile, Iran, Canada, Netherlands, Germany and USA
Elizabeth Lo for Mistress Dispeller, Elizabeth Lo, China and USA
Geeta Gandbhir for The Perfect Neighbor, Geeta Gandbhir, USA

To check the nominations for theatrical feature at official site here and for other categories including documentary go here. To check winners for ALL categories go here.