Every Oscars Best Director winner

26 ceremonies, 2000–2025. 23 different winners. The longest run was Alejandro G. Iñárritu, 2 years straight (2015–2016).

Alejandro G. Iñárritu ×2Alfonso Cuarón ×2Ang Lee ×2

Each band is one winner’s reign. Wider means a longer run. Colored by distributor; hover for details.

Sam Mendes'00

Steven Soderbergh'01

Ron Howard'02

Roman Polanski'03

Peter Jackson'04

Clint Eastwood'05

Ang Lee'06

Martin Scorsese'07

Joel Coen & Ethan Coen'08

Danny Boyle'09

Kathryn Bigelow'10

Tom Hooper'11

Michel Hazanavicius'12

Ang Lee'13

Alfonso Cuarón'14

Alejandro G. Iñárritu'15–'16×2

Damien Chazelle'17

Guillermo del Toro'18

Alfonso Cuarón'19

Bong Joon-ho'20

Chloé Zhao'21

Jane Campion'22

Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert'23

Christopher Nolan'24

Sean Baker'25

Wins by distributor

Universal5Searchlight4Warner Bros.420th Century2Neon2Netflix2Other7

Who kept losing

Counting nominations in this category only, 2000–2025.

Most nominated, never won

Steven Spielberg4 noms
Alexander Payne3 noms
David Fincher3 noms
David O. Russell3 noms
Paul Thomas Anderson3 noms
Stephen Daldry3 noms

Most losses

Martin Scorsese6L · 1W
Steven Spielberg4L · 0W
Alexander Payne3L · 0W
David Fincher3L · 0W
David O. Russell3L · 0W
Paul Thomas Anderson3L · 0W

The full list

Year	Winner	Distributor
2025	Sean Baker (Anora) beat 4 others Jacques Audiard (Emilia Pérez) Brady Corbet (The Brutalist) Coralie Fargeat (The Substance) James Mangold (A Complete Unknown)	Neon
2024	Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer) beat 4 others Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest) Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things) Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon) Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall)	Universal Pictures
2023	Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All at Once) beat 4 others Todd Field (Tár) Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin) Ruben Östlund (Triangle of Sadness) Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans)	A24
2022	Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog) beat 4 others Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza) Kenneth Branagh (Belfast) Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car) Steven Spielberg (West Side Story)	Netflix
2021	Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) beat 4 others Lee Isaac Chung (Minari) Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) David Fincher (Mank) Thomas Vinterberg (Another Round)	Searchlight Pictures
2020	Bong Joon-ho (Parasite) beat 4 others Sam Mendes (1917) Todd Phillips (Joker) Martin Scorsese (The Irishman) Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)	Neon
2019	Alfonso Cuarón (Roma) beat 4 others Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite) Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman) Adam McKay (Vice) Paweł Pawlikowski (Cold War)	Netflix
2018	Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water) beat 4 others Paul Thomas Anderson (Phantom Thread) Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird) Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk) Jordan Peele (Get Out)	Fox Searchlight Pictures
2017	Damien Chazelle (La La Land) beat 4 others Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge) Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea) Denis Villeneuve (Arrival)	Lionsgate
2016	Alejandro G. Iñárritu (The Revenant)repeat beat 4 others Lenny Abrahamson (Room) Tom McCarthy (Spotlight) Adam McKay (The Big Short) George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)	20th Century Fox
2015	Alejandro G. Iñárritu (Birdman) beat 4 others Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel) Richard Linklater (Boyhood) Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher) Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game)	Fox Searchlight Pictures
2014	Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity) beat 4 others Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave) Alexander Payne (Nebraska) David O. Russell (American Hustle) Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street)	Warner Bros.
2013	Ang Lee (Life of Pi) beat 4 others Michael Haneke (Amour) David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook) Steven Spielberg (Lincoln) Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild)	20th Century Fox
2012	Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) beat 4 others Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris) Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life) Alexander Payne (The Descendants) Martin Scorsese (Hugo)	The Weinstein Company
2011	Tom Hooper (The King's Speech) beat 4 others Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan) Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (True Grit) David Fincher (The Social Network) David O. Russell (The Fighter)	The Weinstein Company
2010	Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) beat 4 others James Cameron (Avatar) Lee Daniels (Precious) Jason Reitman (Up in the Air) Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)	Summit Entertainment
2009	Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) beat 4 others Stephen Daldry (The Reader) David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon) Gus Van Sant (Milk)	Fox Searchlight Pictures
2008	Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men) beat 4 others Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood) Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton) Jason Reitman (Juno) Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)	Miramax
2007	Martin Scorsese (The Departed) beat 4 others Clint Eastwood (Letters from Iwo Jima) Stephen Frears (The Queen) Paul Greengrass (United 93) Alejandro González Iñárritu (Babel)	Warner Bros.
2006	Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain) beat 4 others George Clooney (Good Night, and Good Luck) Paul Haggis (Crash) Bennett Miller (Capote) Steven Spielberg (Munich)	Focus Features
2005	Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby) beat 4 others Taylor Hackford (Ray) Mike Leigh (Vera Drake) Alexander Payne (Sideways) Martin Scorsese (The Aviator)	Warner Bros.
2004	Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) beat 4 others Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation) Clint Eastwood (Mystic River) Fernando Meirelles (City of God) Peter Weir (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World)	New Line Cinema
2003	Roman Polanski (The Pianist) beat 4 others Pedro Almodóvar (Talk to Her) Stephen Daldry (The Hours) Rob Marshall (Chicago) Martin Scorsese (Gangs of New York)	Focus Features
2002	Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind) beat 4 others 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)	Universal Pictures
2001	Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) beat 4 others Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot) Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) Ridley Scott (Gladiator) Steven Soderbergh (Erin Brockovich)	USA Films
2000	Sam Mendes (American Beauty) beat 4 others Lasse Hallström (The Cider House Rules) Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich) Michael Mann (The Insider) M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense)	DreamWorks Pictures

More Oscars categories

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