The Directors Guild of America has announced its 2025 award nominees, shaking up an already-chaotic awards season. Emilia Pérez’s Jacques Audiard, Anora’s Sean Baker, Conclave’s Edward Berger, The Brutalist’s Brady Corbet, and A Complete Unknown’s James Mangold make up the nominees for the DGA’s top honor, outstanding directorial achievement in theatrical feature film.

A guide to Hollywood’s biggest races

After a triumphant showing in the SAG Award nominations, Wicked came up short with the DGA, with National Board of Review–winning director Jon M. Chu missing out on a nomination. He’s not the only director of a best-picture hopeful left out in the cold: The Substance’s Coralie Fargeat and Dune: Part Two’s Denis Villeneuve also did not make the DGA’s top five directors. While Nickel Boys director RaMell Ross and All We Imagine as Light filmmaker Payal Kapadia couldn’t crack the DGA’s top five with their critically lauded films, both did make the DGA’s list for outstanding directorial achievement in first-time theatrical feature film. They’re joined by Megan Park for My Old Ass, Sean Wang for Dìdi, and Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel for Armand, which is short-listed in the international-feature category at the Oscars.

In the television categories, usual awards show suspects Shōgun and The Bear lead the pack with three nominations each, along with relative newcomer The Penguin, which also picked up three nominations. Comedian, writer, and Emmy-winning actor Ayo Edebiri is proving to be a true multihyphenate, earning a nomination from the DGA for outstanding direction of a comedy series for her episode of The Bear, “Napkins.” And Golden Globe winner Ali Wong is keeping her streak alive, scoring a nod for outstanding direction of a variety/talk/news/sports special for Ali Wong: Single Lady. She’ll face off against Netflix’s Roast of Tom Brady, the 96th annual Academy Awards, the 77th annual Tony Awards, and Jon Stewart’s Daily Show election night special, Indecision 2024: Nothing We Can Do About It Now.

With Oscar voting currently underway, the DGA Awards serve as an important stop along the campaign trail. Historically, only two films—1989’s Driving Miss Daisy and 2021’s CODA—have won best picture without securing a DGA nomination. Last year Christopher Nolan cruised from a Directors Guild win to Oscar glory for Oppenheimer, taking home both best director and best picture. This year’s lucky winners will be announced at the 77th annual DGA Awards, which will take place at the Beverly Hilton on February 8.

Here are all the 2025 DGA nominees:

Theatrical Feature Film

Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez
Sean Baker, Anora
Edward Berger, Conclave
Brady Corbet, The Brutalist
James Mangold, A Complete Unknown

First-Time Theatrical Feature Film

Payal Kapadia, All We Imagine as Light
Megan Park, My Old Ass
RaMell Ross, Nickel Boys
Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel, Armand
Sean Wang, Dìdi

Documentary

Brendan Bellomo & Slava Leontyev, Porcelain War
Julian Brave Noisecat & Emily Kassie, Sugarcane
Johan Grimonprez, Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Ibrahim Nash’at, Hollywoodgate
Natalie Rae & Angela Patton, Daughters

Dramatic Series

Alex Graves, The Diplomat, “Dreadnought”
Hiromi Kamata, Shōgun, “Ladies of the Willow World”
Issa López, True Detective: Night Country, “Part 6”
Frederick E.O. Toye, Shōgun, “Crimson Sky”
Jonathan van Tulleken, Shōgun, “Anjin”

Comedy Series

Lucia Aniello, Hacks, “Bulletproof”
Ayo Edebiri, The Bear, “Napkins”
Duccio Fabbri, The Bear, “Doors”
Jeff Schaffer, Curb Your Enthusiasm, “No Lessons Learned”
Christopher Storer, The Bear, “Tomorrow”

Movies for Television and Limited Series

Kevin Bray, The Penguin, “Top Hat”
Alfonso Cuarón, Disclaimer
Jennifer Getzinger, The Penguin, “A Great or Little Thing”
Helen Shaver, The Penguin, “Cent’anni”
Steve Zaillian, Ripley

Variety/Talk/News/Sports—Regularly Scheduled Programming

Paul Casey, Real Time With Bill Maher, “Jiminy Glick, Andrew Cuomo, Adam Kinzinger”
Jim Hoskinson, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, “Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez & Mavis Staples w/ Jeff Tweedy”
David Paul Meyer, The Daily Show, “Indecision 2024: The Democratic National Convention Plot Twist!”
Liz Patrick, Saturday Night Live, “John Mulaney/Chappell Roan”
Paul Pennolino, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, “India Elections”

Variety/Talk/News/Sports—Specials

Hamish Hamilton, The 96th Annual Academy Awards
Beth McCarthy-Miller, The Roast of Tom Brady
David Paul Meyer, The Daily Show Presents a Live Election Night Special With Jon Stewart: Indecision 2024: Nothing We Can Do About It Now
Glenn Weiss, The 77th Annual Tony Awards
Ali Wong, Ali Wong: Single Lady

Reality Programs

Neil DeGroot, Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted, “The Cliffs of Ireland”
Joseph Guidry, Deal or No Deal Island, “Are You Decisive?”
Ari Katcher, Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show, “Road Trip”
Patrick McManus, American Ninja Warrior, “Las Vegas Finals 4”
Mike Sweeney, Conan O’Brien Must Go, “Ireland”

Children’s Programs

Kat Coiro, The Spiderwick Chronicles, “Welcome to Spiderwick”
Michael Goi, Avatar: The Last Airbender, “Aang”
Jim Mickle, Sweet Tooth, “This Is a Story”
Jennifer Phang, Descendants: The Rise of Red
Amber Sealey, Out of My Mind