The Directors Guild of America has announced the five nominees for their Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2015.
The five directors in competition for the Guild’s top prize are Alejandro G. Inarritu for The Revenant, Tom McCarthy for Spotlight, Adam McKay for The Big Short, George Miller for Mad Max: Fury Road and Ridley Scott for The Martian.
In a press release, Guild president Paris Barclay stated –
What makes this year different is the unbridled ambition of the five nominated films – in theme, in production, in visual imagination. What makes this year the same is that the films were all chosen by the directors’ peers, and it’s clear our members love when people use their vision and skill to push the media to new heights. Congratulations to all of the nominees for their incredible work.
At first blush, all five nominees are strong films and it is nice to see that three of the directors – McCarthy, McKay and Miller – are first time nominees.
Personally, I am excited to see McKay in the mix as I think he does an incredible job in The Big Short of taking something as incredibly complex as the arcane financial instruments that led to the housing market collapse in 2007 and make it not just understandable but entertaining.
The DGAs have often been seen as an early indicator as to how Academy Award nominations may play out. Winners of the Directors Guild Award have often gone to win the Oscar for Best Director, and the Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture often have a habit of going hand-in-hand.
Winners will be announced at the 68th Annual DGA Awards on February 6, 2016.
