Greta Gerwig

Source: Paul Hebert/A.M.P.A.S.

Greta Gerwig

‘Barbenheimer’ filmmakers Christopher Nolan and Greta Gerwig are among the Directors Guild of America’s (DGA) Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film nominees for 2023.

Gerwig is the sole female nominee in the main category for Barbie (Warner Bros) alongside last weekend’s Golden Globe winner Nolan for Oppenheimer (Universal), Martin Scorsese for Killers Of The Flower Moon (Apple Original Films/Paramount), Alexander Payne for The Holdovers (Focus Features), and Yorgos Lanthimos for Poor Things (Searchlight Pictures).

The DGA nominations are a reliable guide to best director Oscar nominees, with a match of four nominees going back over the last decade at least. And in the last 10 years there has only been one discrepancy between the winners when Sam Mendes won the DGA for 1917 but Bong Joon Ho took the Oscar for Parasite

Directors who were omitted from the DGA’s largesse on Wednesday will be hoping to make the cut when the Academy announces its Oscar nominees on January 23. They include Jonathan Glazer for The Zone Of Interest, Bradley Cooper for Maestro, and Jutsine Triet for Anatomy Of A Fall.

Past Lives (A24) filmmaker Celine Song is in contention but as a nominee for the Michael Apted Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Theatrical Feature Film, renamed in honour of former DGA president Apted, who died in 2021.

A female-dominated category also sees Chile’s Manuela Martelli for Chile ’76 (Kino Lober), Noora Niasari for Shayda (Sony Pictures Classics/ORIGMA 45), and A.V. Rockwell for A Thousand And One (Focus Features) vie for glory, while Cord Jefferson is the sole male nominee for American Fiction (Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios).

“In a year full of so many extraordinary films, DGA members have nominated an incredible group of gifted storytellers,” said DGA president Lesli Linka Glatter. “Their films fused technical prowess with unique artistic visions that captured the depth of the human experience and left an indelible impact on audiences around the world. Congratulations to these superb directors on their well-deserved nominations.”

The winners will be announced at the 76th Annual DGA Awards on February 10.