“Nomadland” director Chloé Zhao will look to pad her Oscar credentials Saturday evening with the presentation of the Directors Guild of America Awards, which are a powerful indicator of who will take home the Academy Award.
Zhao has already won Golden Globe and Critics Choice awards for her work on “Nomadland,” and winning the DGA Award would be a major boost toward Oscar glory.
Since 1948, there have only been eight times that the winner of the DGA award for feature film directing has not gone on to win the Oscar for best director. The most recent time was last year, when Sam Mendes won the DGA Award for “1917,” but the Oscar went to Bong Joon Ho for “Parasite.”
Zhao will compete for the DGA Award with Lee Isaac Chung for “Minari,” Emerald Fennell for “Promising Young Woman,” David Fincher for “Mank” and Aaron Sorkin for “The Trial of the Chicago 7.”
Fincher has been nominated for the DGA Award for film twice previously, for “The Social Network” and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.”
Regina King, who has earned accolades for her work on “One Night in Miami,” was not nominated in the feature film category, however, the DGA did nominate her in the category of first-time feature film director. Also nominated in that category were Radha Blank for “The Forty-Year-Old Version,” Fernando Frías de la Parra for “I’m No Longer Here,” Darius Marder for “Sound of Metal” and Florian Zeller for “The Father.”
On the small screen, DGA nominees for directing in a drama series are Jason Bateman for “Ozark,” Jon Favreau for “The Mandalorian,” Vince Gilligan for “Better Call Saul,” Lesli Linka Glatter for “Homeland” and Julie Anne Robinson for “Bridgerton.”
For comedy series, nominees are Zach Braff and MJ Delaney for “Ted Lasso,” Susanna Fogel for “The Flight Attendant” and Erin O’Malley and Jeff Schaffer for “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
The DGA Awards will be presented in a virtual ceremony.
Here is a complete list of nominations:
Feature Film
— Chloé Zhao, “Nomadland”
— Lee Isaac Chung, “Minari”
— Emerald Fennell, “Promising Young Woman”
— David Fincher, “Mank”
— Aaron Sorkin, “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
First-Time Feature Film
— Regina King, “One Night in Miami”
— Radha Blank, “The Forty-Year-Old Version”
— Fernando Frías de la Parra, “I’m No Longer Here”
— Darius Marder, “Sound of Metal”
— Florian Zeller, “The Father”
Documentary
— Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw, “The Truffle Hunters”
— Pippa Ehrlich and James Redd, “My Octopus Teacher”
— David France, “Welcome to Chechnya”
— Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, “Boys State”
— Benjamin Ree, “The Painter and the Thief”
Dramatic Series
— Jason Bateman, “Ozark”
— Jon Favreau, “The Mandalorian”
— Vince Gilligan, “Better Call Saul”
— Lesli Linka Glatter, “Homeland”
— Julie Anne Robinson, “Bridgerton”
Comedy Series
— Zach Braff, “Ted Lasso”
— MJ Delaney, “Ted Lasso”:
— Susanna Fogel, “The Flight Attendant”
— Erin O’Malley, “Curb Your Enthusiasm”
— Jeff Schaffer, “Curb Your Enthusiasm”
Movies for Television and Limited Series
— Susanne Bier, “The Undoing”
— Scott Frank, “The Queen’s Gambit”
— Thomas Kail, “Hamilton”
— Matt Shakman, “WandaVision”
— Lynn Shelton, “Little Fires Everywhere”
Vartiety/Talk/News/Sports – Regularly Scheduled Programming
— Paul G. Casey, “Real Time with Bill Maher”
— Jim Hoskinson, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”
— Don Roy King, “Saturday Night Live”
— David Paul Meyer, “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah”
— Christopher Werner, “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”
Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Specials
— Stacey Angeles, “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Presents `Remembering RBG: A Nation Ugly Cried with Desi Lydic”
— Marielle Heller, “What the Constitution Means to Me”
— Jim Hoskinson, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, `Stephen Colbert’s Election Night: 2020: Democracy’s Last Stand: Building Back America Great Again Better 2020”
— Spike Lee, “American Utopia”
— Thomas Schlamme, “A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote”
Reality Programs
— David Charles, “Eco Challenge”
— Jon Favreau, “The Chef Show”
— Ken Fuchs, “Shark Tank”
— Joseph Guidry, “Full Bloom”
— Rich Kim, “Lego Masters”
Children’s Programs
— Kabir Akhtar, “High School Musical: The Musical – The Series”
— Larissa Bills, “On Pointe”
— Dean Israelite, “The Astronauts”
— Richie Keen, “The Healing Powers of Dude”
— Amy Schatz, “We Are the Dream: The Kids of the Oakland MLK Oratorical Fest”
Commercials
— Steve Ayson: The Great Chase, Nike – Wieden + Kennedy Shanghai
— Nisha Ganatra: #wombstories, Bodyform/Libresse – AMVBBDO
— Niclas Larsson: See the Unseen, VW Touareg – ada&eveDDB; The Parents, Volvo SC60 – Forsman & Bodenfors
— Melina Matsoukas: You Love Me, Beats by Dr. Dre
— Taika Waititi: The Letter, Coca-Cola – Widen & Kennedy London