David Farnor | On 11, Apr 2021

The Directors Guild Awards took place last night with Nomadland’s Chloé Zhao taking home the top prize.

The virtual ceremony named the Oscar frontrunner the winner of Outstanding Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film for 2020, marking the first time a woman of colour won the main DGA prize. Zhao responded by paying personal tribute to each of her fellow nominees, Minari’s Lee Isaac Chung, Promising Young Woman’s Emerald Fennell, Mank’s David Fincher and The Trial of the Chicago 7’s Aaron Sorkin.

Sound of Metal’s Darius Marder won feature debut prize, while The Truffle Hunters helmer Michael Dweck took home the documentary prize, beating competition from Netflix’s My Octopus Teacher, The Painter and the Thief and Apple TV+’s Boys State.

On the TV side of things, The Flight Attendant’s Susanne Fogel won the prize for comedy series, beating competition from awards season favourite Ted Lasso, while Scott Frank took home the limited series and TV movie prize for Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit, beating Susanne Bier for The Undoing, Thomas Kail for Hamilton, Matt Shakman for WandaVision and the late Lynn Shelton for Little Fires Everywhere.

Here’s the full list of winners:

Outstanding Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film for 2020

CHLOÉ ZHAO | Nomadland

LEE ISAAC CHUNG | Minari

EMERALD FENNELL | Promising Young Woman

DAVID FINCHER | Mank

AARON SORKIN | The Trial of the Chicago 7

Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director

DARIUS MARDER | Sound of Metal

RADHA BLANK | The Forty-Year-Old Version

FERNANDO FRÍAS DE LA PARRA | I’m No Longer Here

REGINA KING | One Night in Miami

FLORIAN ZELLER | The Father

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series

LESLI LINKA GLATTER | Homeland, “Prisoners of War”

JASON BATEMAN | Ozark, “Wartime”

JON FAVREAU | The Mandalorian, “Chapter 9: The Marshal”

VINCE GILLIGAN | Better Call Saul, “Bagman”

JULIE ANNE ROBINSON | Bridgerton, “Diamond of the First Water”

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series

SUSANNA FOGEL | The Flight Attendant, “In Case of Emergency”

ZACH BRAFF | Ted Lasso, “Biscuits”

MJ DELANEY | Ted Lasso, “The Hope that Kills You”

ERIN O’MALLEY | Curb Your Enthusiasm, “The Surprise Party”

JEFF SCHAFFER | Curb Your Enthusiasm, “The Spite Store”

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Limited Series

SCOTT FRANK | The Queen’s Gambit

SUSANNE BIER | The Undoing

THOMAS KAIL | Hamilton

MATT SHAKMAN | WandaVision

LYNN SHELTON | Little Fires Everywhere, “Find a Way”

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Regularly Scheduled Programming

DON ROY KING | Saturday Night Live, “Dave Chappelle; Foo Fighters”

PAUL G. CASEY | Real Time With Bill Maher, “Episode 1835”

JIM HOSKINSON | The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, “#1025 Live Show Following Capitol Insurrection”

DAVID PAUL MEYER | The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, “President Obama: Inspiring Future Leaders” & “A Promised Land”

CHRISTOPHER WERNER | Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “Trump & Election Results”

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Specials

THOMAS SCHLAMME | A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote

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

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Reality Programs

JOSEPH GUIDRY | Full Bloom, “Petal to the Metal”

DAVID CHARLES | Eco Challenge, “3,2,1…Go!”

JON FAVREAU | The Chef Show, “Tartine”

KEN FUCHS | Shark Tank, “1211”

RICH KIM | Lego Masters, “Mega City Block”

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs

AMY SCHATZ | We Are the Dream: The Kids of the Oakland MLK Oratorical Fest

KABIR AKHTAR | High School Musical: The Musical ‑ The Series, “Opening Night”

LARISSA BILLS | On Pointe, “Showtime!”

DEAN ISRAELITE | The Astronauts, “Countdown”

RICHIE KEEN | The Healing Powers of Dude, “Second Step: Homeroom”

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials

MELINA MATSOUKAS (Prettybird) | You Love Me, Beats by Dr. Dre

STEVE AYSON (MJZ) | The Great Chase, Nike

NISHA GANATRA (Chelsea Pictures) | #wombstories

NICLAS LARSSON (MJZ) | See the Unseen, VW Touareg

TAIKA WAITITI (Hungry Man) | The Letter, Coca‑Cola

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary

MICHAEL DWECK & GREGORY KERSHAW | The Truffle Hunters

PIPPA EHRLICH & JAMES REED | My Octopus Teacher

DAVID FRANCE | Welcome to Chechnya

AMANDA McBAINE & JESSE MOSS | Boys State

BENJAMIN REE | The Painter and the Thief

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