The Golden Globe Award for Best Director – Motion Picture is a Golden Globe Award that was first presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, an organization composed of journalists who cover the United States film industry for publications based outside North America, since 1943 until 2023.
Having won all four of his nominations, Elia Kazan has been honored most often in this category. Clint Eastwood, Miloš Forman, David Lean, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and Oliver Stone tie for second place with three wins each. Steven Spielberg has had the most nominations (fourteen). Barbra Streisand, Chloé Zhao and Jane Campion are the only women to have won the award.
Receiving the award in 1984 for Yentl, Barbra Streisand became the first woman to win the Golden Globe for Best Director.
She remained the only woman to win a Golden Globe for directing for 37 years until Chloé Zhao won the award for Nomadland in 2021 and became the second woman and the first Asian woman to do so.
In the following lists, the first names, listed in bold type against a blue background, are the winners, and the following names are the remaining nominees. The years given are those in which the films under consideration were released, not the year of the ceremony, which takes place in January of the following year.
Winners and nominees
1940s Year Name Film 1943 Henry King The Song of Bernadette Nominations for 1943 are not available. 1944 Leo McCarey Going My Way Nominations for 1944 are not available. 1945 Billy Wilder The Lost Weekend Nominations for 1945 are not available. 1946 Frank Capra It's a Wonderful Life Nominations for 1946 are not available. 1947 Elia Kazan Gentleman's Agreement Nominations for 1947 are not available. 1948 John Huston The Treasure of the Sierra Madre Nominations for 1948 are not available. 1949 Robert Rossen All the King's Men
1950s Year Name Film 1950 Billy Wilder Sunset Boulevard Joseph L. Mankiewicz All About Eve John Huston The Asphalt Jungle George Cukor Born Yesterday 1951 László Benedek Death of a Salesman Vincente Minnelli An American in Paris George Stevens A Place in the Sun 1952 Cecil B. DeMille The Greatest Show on Earth Richard Fleischer The Happy Time John Ford The Quiet Man 1953 Fred Zinnemann From Here to Eternity Nominations for 1953 are not available. 1954 Elia Kazan On the Waterfront Nominations for 1954 are not available. 1955 Joshua Logan Picnic Nominations for 1955 are not available. 1956 Elia Kazan Baby Doll Michael Anderson Around the World in 80 Days George Stevens Giant Vincente Minnelli Lust for Life King Vidor War and Peace 1957 David Lean The Bridge on the River Kwai Sidney Lumet 12 Angry Men Fred Zinnemann A Hatful of Rain Joshua Logan Sayonara Billy Wilder Witness for the Prosecution 1958 Vincente Minnelli Gigi Richard Brooks Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Stanley Kramer The Defiant Ones Robert Wise I Want to Live! Delbert Mann Separate Tables 1959 William Wyler Ben-Hur Otto Preminger Anatomy of a Murder George Stevens The Diary of Anne Frank Fred Zinnemann The Nun's Story Stanley Kramer On the Beach
1960s Year Name Film 1960 Jack Cardiff Sons and Lovers Billy Wilder The Apartment Richard Brooks Elmer Gantry Stanley Kubrick Spartacus Fred Zinnemann The Sundowners 1961 Stanley Kramer Judgment at Nuremberg William Wyler The Children's Hour Anthony Mann El Cid J. Lee Thompson The Guns of Navarone Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise West Side Story 1962 David Lean Lawrence of Arabia George Cukor The Chapman Report Blake Edwards Days of Wine and Roses John Huston Freud: The Secret Passion Mervyn LeRoy Gypsy Martin Ritt Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man Stanley Kubrick Lolita John Frankenheimer The Manchurian Candidate Morton DaCosta The Music Man Ismael Rodríguez My Son, the Hero (Los Hermanos Del Hierro) Robert Mulligan To Kill a Mockingbird 1963 Elia Kazan America America Otto Preminger The Cardinal Hall Bartlett The Caretakers Joseph L. Mankiewicz Cleopatra Robert Wise The Haunting Martin Ritt Hud Tony Richardson Tom Jones George Englund The Ugly American 1964 George Cukor My Fair Lady Peter Glenville Becket John Huston The Night of the Iguana John Frankenheimer Seven Days in May Michael Cacoyannis Zorba the Greek 1965 David Lean Doctor Zhivago William Wyler The Collector John Schlesinger Darling Guy Green A Patch of Blue Robert Wise The Sound of Music 1966 Fred Zinnemann A Man for All Seasons Lewis Gilbert Alfie Claude Lelouch A Man and a Woman Robert Wise The Sand Pebbles Mike Nichols Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 1967 Mike Nichols The Graduate Arthur Penn Bonnie and Clyde Mark Rydell The Fox Stanley Kramer Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Norman Jewison In the Heat of the Night 1968 Paul Newman Rachel, Rachel William Wyler Funny Girl Anthony Harvey The Lion in Winter Carol Reed Oliver! Franco Zeffirelli Romeo and Juliet 1969 Charles Jarrott Anne of the Thousand Days Gene Kelly Hello, Dolly! John Schlesinger Midnight Cowboy Stanley Kramer The Secret of Santa Vittoria Sydney Pollack They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
1970s Year Name Film 1970 Arthur Hiller Love Story Bob Rafelson Five Easy Pieces Robert Altman M*A*S*H Franklin J. Schaffner Patton Ken Russell Women in Love 1971 William Friedkin The French Connection Stanley Kubrick A Clockwork Orange Norman Jewison Fiddler on the Roof Peter Bogdanovich The Last Picture Show Robert Mulligan Summer of '42 1972 Francis Ford Coppola The Godfather Billy Wilder Avanti! Bob Fosse Cabaret John Boorman Deliverance Alfred Hitchcock Frenzy 1973 William Friedkin The Exorcist George Lucas American Graffiti Fred Zinnemann The Day of the Jackal Bernardo Bertolucci Last Tango in Paris Peter Bogdanovich Paper Moon 1974 Roman Polanski Chinatown Francis Ford Coppola The Conversation The Godfather Part II Bob Fosse Lenny John Cassavetes A Woman Under the Influence 1975 Miloš Forman One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Stanley Kubrick Barry Lyndon Sidney Lumet Dog Day Afternoon Steven Spielberg Jaws Robert Altman Nashville 1976 Sidney Lumet Network Alan J. Pakula All the President's Men Hal Ashby Bound for Glory John Schlesinger Marathon Man John G. Avildsen Rocky 1977 Herbert Ross The Turning Point Woody Allen Annie Hall Steven Spielberg Close Encounters of the Third Kind Fred Zinnemann Julia George Lucas Star Wars 1978 Michael Cimino The Deer Hunter Hal Ashby Coming Home Terrence Malick Days of Heaven Woody Allen Interiors Alan Parker Midnight Express Paul Mazursky An Unmarried Woman 1979 Francis Ford Coppola Apocalypse Now Hal Ashby Being There Peter Yates Breaking Away James Bridges The China Syndrome Robert Benton Kramer vs. Kramer
1980s Year Name Film 1980 Robert Redford Ordinary People David Lynch The Elephant Man Martin Scorsese Raging Bull Richard Rush The Stunt Man Roman Polanski Tess 1981 Warren Beatty Reds Louis Malle Atlantic City Mark Rydell On Golden Pond Sidney Lumet Prince of the City Miloš Forman Ragtime Steven Spielberg Raiders of the Lost Ark 1982 Richard Attenborough Gandhi Steven Spielberg E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Constantin Costa-Gavras Missing Sydney Pollack Tootsie Sidney Lumet The Verdict 1983 Barbra Streisand Yentl Peter Yates The Dresser Ingmar Bergman Fanny and Alexander Mike Nichols Silkwood Bruce Beresford Tender Mercies James L. Brooks Terms of Endearment 1984 Miloš Forman Amadeus Francis Ford Coppola The Cotton Club Roland Joffé The Killing Fields Sergio Leone Once Upon a Time in America David Lean A Passage to India 1985 John Huston Prizzi's Honor Richard Attenborough A Chorus Line Steven Spielberg The Color Purple Sydney Pollack Out of Africa Peter Weir Witness 1986 Oliver Stone Platoon Woody Allen Hannah and Her Sisters Roland Joffé The Mission James Ivory A Room with a View Rob Reiner Stand by Me 1987 Bernardo Bertolucci The Last Emperor James L. Brooks Broadcast News Richard Attenborough Cry Freedom Adrian Lyne Fatal Attraction John Boorman Hope and Glory 1988 Clint Eastwood Bird Fred Schepisi A Cry in the Dark Alan Parker Mississippi Burning Barry Levinson Rain Man Sidney Lumet Running on Empty Mike Nichols Working Girl 1989 Oliver Stone Born on the Fourth of July Peter Weir Dead Poets Society Spike Lee Do the Right Thing Edward Zwick Glory Rob Reiner When Harry Met Sally...
1990s Year Name Film 1990 Kevin Costner Dances with Wolves Francis Ford Coppola The Godfather Part III Martin Scorsese Goodfellas Barbet Schroeder Reversal of Fortune Bernardo Bertolucci The Sheltering Sky 1991 Oliver Stone JFK Barry Levinson Bugsy Terry Gilliam The Fisher King Barbra Streisand The Prince of Tides Jonathan Demme The Silence of the Lambs 1992 Clint Eastwood Unforgiven Rob Reiner A Few Good Men James Ivory Howards End Robert Altman The Player Robert Redford A River Runs Through It 1993 Steven Spielberg Schindler's List Martin Scorsese The Age of Innocence Andrew Davis The Fugitive Jane Campion The Piano James Ivory The Remains of the Day 1994 Robert Zemeckis Forrest Gump Edward Zwick Legends of the Fall Oliver Stone Natural Born Killers Quentin Tarantino Pulp Fiction Robert Redford Quiz Show 1995 Mel Gibson Braveheart Rob Reiner The American President Ron Howard Apollo 13 Martin Scorsese Casino Mike Figgis Leaving Las Vegas Ang Lee Sense and Sensibility 1996 Miloš Forman The People vs. Larry Flynt Anthony Minghella The English Patient Alan Parker Evita Joel Coen Fargo Scott Hicks Shine 1997 James Cameron Titanic Steven Spielberg Amistad James L. Brooks As Good as It Gets Jim Sheridan The Boxer Curtis Hanson L.A. Confidential 1998 Steven Spielberg Saving Private Ryan Shekhar Kapur Elizabeth Robert Redford The Horse Whisperer John Madden Shakespeare in Love Peter Weir The Truman Show 1999 Sam Mendes American Beauty Neil Jordan The End of the Affair Norman Jewison The Hurricane Michael Mann The Insider Anthony Minghella The Talented Mr. Ripley
2000s Year Name Film 2000 Ang Lee Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Steven Soderbergh Erin Brockovich Ridley Scott Gladiator István Szabó Sunshine Steven Soderbergh Traffic 2001 Robert Altman Gosford Park Steven Spielberg A.I. Artificial Intelligence Ron Howard A Beautiful Mind Peter Jackson The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Baz Luhrmann Moulin Rouge! David Lynch Mulholland Drive 2002 Martin Scorsese Gangs of New York Alexander Payne About Schmidt Spike Jonze Adaptation. Rob Marshall Chicago Stephen Daldry The Hours Peter Jackson The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 2003 Peter Jackson The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Anthony Minghella Cold Mountain Sofia Coppola Lost in Translation Peter Weir Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Clint Eastwood Mystic River 2004 Clint Eastwood Million Dollar Baby Martin Scorsese The Aviator Mike Nichols Closer Marc Forster Finding Neverland Alexander Payne Sideways 2005 Ang Lee Brokeback Mountain Fernando Meirelles The Constant Gardener George Clooney Good Night, and Good Luck. Peter Jackson King Kong Woody Allen Match Point Steven Spielberg Munich 2006 Martin Scorsese The Departed Alejandro González Iñárritu Babel Clint Eastwood Flags of Our Fathers Letters from Iwo Jima Stephen Frears The Queen 2007 Julian Schnabel The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Ridley Scott American Gangster Joe Wright Atonement Joel Coen and Ethan Coen No Country for Old Men Tim Burton Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street 2008 Danny Boyle Slumdog Millionaire David Fincher The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Ron Howard Frost/Nixon Stephen Daldry The Reader Sam Mendes Revolutionary Road 2009 James Cameron Avatar Kathryn Bigelow The Hurt Locker Quentin Tarantino Inglourious Basterds Clint Eastwood Invictus Jason Reitman Up in the Air
2010s