Sean Baker took home the top prize at the 77th Directors Guild of America Awards on Saturday, winning the feature film director award for his film Anora. This victory has sent shockwaves through the Oscars race, making Baker a frontrunner to take home the Best Director trophy.
Baker’s win came as a surprise, particularly since he was a first-time nominee in the category. His film also received four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, original screenplay, and editing.
The DGA Feature Film category is a reliable bellwether for the Best Director Oscar, with 19 of the last 22 winners going on to take home the award at the Academy Awards. This year’s winner was a surprise choice over fellow nominees Brady Corbet (The Brutalist), Jacques Audiard (Emilia Pérez), and James Mangold (A Complete Unknown).
Corbet had been considered the prohibitive favorite for both the DGA honor and directing Oscar going into Saturday, but Baker’s win has shifted the landscape. Anora stars Mikey Madison as a young sex worker from Brooklyn who meets and impulsively marries the son of a Russian oligarch.
The film’s win is also significant because it follows in the footsteps of previous DGA winners, such as Chloé Zhao (Nomadland), Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog), Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All at Once), and Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer).
RaMell Ross earned the First-Time Director prize for Nickel Boys, while Frederick E.O. Toye won dramatic series directing for Shōgun, and Lucia Aniello took home comedy series directing for Hacks.
The 77th DGA Awards also honored special talents, including Ang Lee with a Lifetime Achievement Award, Mary Rae Thewlis with the Robert B. Aldrich Service Award, and Thomas J. Whelan with the Frank Capra Achievement Award.
Source: https://www.goldderby.com/article/2025/2025-dga-awards-winners-list-sean-baker-anora