Paul Thomas Anderson, Ryan Coogler, Guillermo del Toro, Chloé Zhao and Josh Safdie have been nominated for the Directors Guild’s top prize. The organization announced feature film and first-time director nominees Thursday for the 78th annual Directors Guild Awards.
The five films singled out for the top prize, “One Battle After Another” (directed by Anderson), “Sinners” (Coogler), “Frankenstein” (del Toro), “Hamnet” (Zhao) and “Marty Supreme” (Safdie) exactly mirrored Wednesday’s ensemble Actor Award nominees, further narrowing the field of this season’s top contenders days before the Golden Globe Awards.
Directors Guild nominees often closely align with those of the Academy Awards. Over the past two decades, the winner of the DGA award has almost always also triumphed at the Oscars, including last year when Sean Baker won for “Anora.” Oscar nominations are still a few weeks away, however, set for Jan. 22.
Both Zhao and del Toro have won the award before, for “Nomadland” and “The Shape of Water.” It’s the first time Safdie and Coogler have been nominated for the prize. Although Anderson, previously nominated for “There Will Be Blood” and “Licorice Pizza,” is seemingly the front-runner, if Coogler wins it would be a first for a Black filmmaker.
Directors nominated for first features were Eva Victor for “Sorry, Baby,” Alex Russell for “Lurker,” Charlie Pollinger for “The Plague,” Harry Lighton for “Pillion” and Hasan Hadi for “The President’s Cake.”
On Wednesday, the guild also announced documentary filmmaker nominations, including Mstyslav Chernov for “2000 Meters to Andriivka,” a co-production between The Associated Press and PBS Frontline, Geeta Gandbhir for “The Perfect Neighbor,” Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni for “Cutting Through the Rocks,” Elizabeth Lo for “Mistress Dispeller” and Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus for “Cover-Up.”
DGA President Christopher Nolan congratulated the nominees on behalf of the guild community and, in a statement, said, “We could not be prouder to recognize the incredible work of this year’s nominees for their dedication to the art of filmmaking.”
The winners will be announced at an untelevised ceremony in Los Angeles on Saturday, Feb. 7.
Here’s a rundown of the feature nominees:
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)
