The Directors Guild of America (DGA) announced their nominations this week for the best in film and television for 2017. Generally considered one of the most important guilds not only for Best Director but Best Picture at the Oscars, the five directors and films nominated here have a great shot of doing extremely well at the forthcoming Oscars. This year’s nominees include Guillermo del Toro for The Shape of Water, Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird, Martin McDonagh for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Christopher Nolan for Dunkirk and Jordan Peele for Get Out.
I do not expect the final Oscar nominees to be any different with their Best Director nominees as all five of their films are so far ahead of the others in the race that a snub would be truly shocking.
On the TV side there was a huge embrace of woman directors in almost every category, most notably in Comedy Series, where three of the five directors nominated are female — Melina Matsoukas (Master of None), Beth McCarthy-Miller (Veep) and Amy Sherman-Palladino (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel).
The DGA Awards will take place Feb. 3. Here is the full list of DGA nominations for 2017:
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film
Dunkirk – Christopher Nolan
Get Out – Jordan Peele
Lady Bird – Greta Gerwig
The Shape of Water – Guillermo del Toro
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – Martin McDonagh
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Feature Film
Get Out – Jordan Peele
Lady Macbeth – William Oldroyd
Molly’s Game – Aaron Sorkin
Patti Cake$ – Geremy Jasper
Wind River – Taylor Sheridan
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary
Abacus: Small Enough to Jail – Steve James
City of Ghosts – Matthew Heineman
Icarus – Bryan Fogel
The Vietnam War – Ken Burns and Lynn Novick
Wormwood – Errol Morris
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series
Game of Thrones (“The Dragon and the Wolf”) – Jeremy Podeswa
Game of Thrones (“The Spoils of War”) – Matt Shakman
Game of Thrones (“Beyond the Wall”) – Alan Taylor
The Handmaid’s Tale (“Offred”) – Reed Morano
Stranger Things (“Chapter Nine: The Gate”) – The Duffer Brothers
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) – Amy Sherman-Palladino
Master of None (“The Thief”) – Aziz Ansari
Master of None (“Thanksgiving”) – Melina Matsoukas
Silicon Valley (“Server Error”) – Mike Judge
Veep (“Chicklet”) – Beth McCarthy-Miller
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Mini-Series
Big Little Lies – Jean-Marc Vallée
Godless – Scott Frank
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks – George C. Wolfe
Story of a Girl – Kyra Sedgwick
The Wizard of Lies – Barry Levinson
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Regularly Scheduled Programming
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (“#2061”) – Andre Allen
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (“French Elections”) – Paul Pennolino
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (“Joe Biden/Elton John”) – Jim Hoskinson
Real Time with Bill Maher (“#1527”) – Paul G. Casey
Saturday Night Live (“Host: Jimmy Fallon”) – Don Roy King
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Specials
The 89th Annual Academy Awards – Glenn Weiss
Amy Schumer: The Leather Special – Amy Schumer
Dave Chappelle: The Age of Spin – Stan Lathan
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee Presents Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner – Paul Pennolino
Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize Honoring David Letterman – Linda Mendoza
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Reality Programs
Dare to Live (“Chainsmokers”) – Adam Vetri
Encore! (“Pilot”) – Hisham Abed
Live PD (“Episode 50”) – John Gonzalez
MasterChef (“Vegas Deluxe & Oyster Shucks”) – Brian Smith
Spartan: The Ultimate Team Challenge (“Season Premiere”) – Kent Weed
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs
15: A Quinceañera Story: Zoey – Matthew O’Neill and Thalia Sodi
An American Girl Story: Summer Camp, Friends for Life – Alison McDonald
Anne with an E (“Your Will Shall Decide Your Destiny”) – Niki Caro
Just Add Magic (“Just Add Meddling”) – Lily Mariye
The Magical Wand Chase: A Sesame Street Special – Benjamin Lehmann
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials
Martin de Thurah — “Festival” (StubHub), “Machines” (StubHub) and “Mad World” (WealthSimple)
Alma Har’el — “Love Without Bias” (P&G)
Hoffman/Metoyer – “Anthem” (KitchenAid) and “Go Further” (Ford)
Miles Jay – “Alive” (Bose QuietComfort 35 Headphones), “Calling JohnMalkovich.com” (Squarespace) and “Who Is JohnMalkovich.com? (Squarespace)
Isaiah Seret – “Growing Up” (Samsung Galaxy), “I Love You” (Samsung Great) and “Never Too Composed” (Kohler)