BAFTA Award for Best Direction

This is a list of the winners of the BAFTA Award for Best Direction. They are presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Italian-American director Martin Scorsese has had the most nominations, eight so far.

2010s

• 2011 - Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
  • Tomas Alfredson – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
  • Lynne Ramsay – We Need to Talk About Kevin
  • Nicolas Winding Refn – Drive
  • Martin Scorsese – Hugo

• 2010 - David Fincher – The Social Network
  • Tom Hooper – The King's Speech
  • Danny Boyle – 127 Hours
  • Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan
  • Christopher Nolan – Inception

2000s

• 2009 - Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker
  • James Cameron – Avatar
  • Neill Blomkamp – District 9
  • Lone Scherfig – An Education
  • Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds

• 2008 - Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
  • Clint Eastwood – Changeling
  • David Fincher – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • Ron Howard – Frost/Nixon
  • Stephen Daldry – The Reader

• 2007 - Ethan and Joel Coen - No Country For Old Men
  • Joe Wright - Atonement
  • Paul Greengrass - The Bourne Ultimatum
  • Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck - The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen)
  • Paul Thomas Anderson - There Will Be Blood

• 2006 - Paul Greengrass - United 93
  • Martin Scorsese - The Departed
  • Stephen Frears - The Queen
  • Alejandro González Iñárritu - Babel
  • Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris - Little Miss Sunshine

• 2005 - Ang Lee - Brokeback Mountain
  • George Clooney - Good Night, and Good Luck
  • Paul Haggis - Crash
  • Fernando Meirelles - The Constant Gardener
  • Bennett Miller - Capote

• 2004 - Mike Leigh - Vera Drake
  • Martin Scorsese - The Aviator
  • Marc Forster - Finding Neverland
  • Michael Mann - Collateral
  • Michel Gondry - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

• 2003 - Peter Weir - Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
  • Peter Jackson - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
  • Sofia Coppola - Lost in Translation
  • Anthony Minghella - Cold Mountain
  • Tim Burton - Big Fish

• 2002 - Roman Polanski - The Pianist
  • Rob Marshall - Chicago
  • Stephen Daldry - The Hours
  • Peter Jackson - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
  • Martin Scorsese - Gangs of New York

• 2001 - Peter Jackson - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
  • Ron Howard - A Beautiful Mind
  • Baz Luhrmann - Moulin Rouge!
  • Robert Altman - Gosford Park
  • Jean-Pierre Jeunet - Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain

• 2000 - Ang Lee - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
  • Steven Soderbergh - Traffic
  • Steven Soderbergh - Erin Brockovich
  • Ridley Scott - Gladiator
  • Stephen Daldry - Billy Elliot

1990s

• 1999 - Pedro Almodóvar - Todo sobre mi madre
  • Sam Mendes - American Beauty
  • M. Night Shyamalan - The Sixth Sense
  • Anthony Minghella - The Talented Mr. Ripley
  • Neil Jordan - The End of the Affair

• 1998 - Peter Weir - The Truman Show
  • John Madden - Shakespeare in Love
  • Shekhar Kapur - Elizabeth
  • Steven Spielberg - Saving Private Ryan

• 1997 - Baz Luhrmann - Romeo + Juliet
  • James Cameron - Titanic
  • Curtis Hanson - L.A. Confidential
  • Peter Cattaneo - The Full Monty

• 1996 - Joel Coen - Fargo
  • Anthony Minghella - The English Patient
  • Scott Hicks - Shine
  • Mike Leigh - Secrets & Lies

• 1995 - Michael Radford - Il Postino
  • Mel Gibson - Braveheart
  • Ang Lee - Sense and Sensibility
  • Nicholas Hytner - The Madness of King George

• 1994 - Mike Newell - Four Weddings and a Funeral
  • Robert Zemeckis - Forrest Gump
  • Quentin Tarantino - Pulp Fiction
  • Krzysztof Kieslowski - Trois couleurs: Rouge

• 1993 - Steven Spielberg - Schindler's List
  • Jane Campion - The Piano
  • James Ivory - The Remains of the Day
  • Richard Attenborough - Shadowlands

• 1992 - Robert Altman - The Player
  • Clint Eastwood - Unforgiven
  • Neil Jordan - The Crying Game
  • James Ivory - Howards End

• 1991 - Alan Parker - The Commitments
  • Jonathan Demme - The Silence of the Lambs
  • Ridley Scott - Thelma & Louise
  • Kevin Costner - Dances with Wolves

• 1990 - Martin Scorsese - GoodFellas
  • Woody Allen - Crimes and Misdemeanors
  • Bruce Beresford - Driving Miss Daisy
  • Giuseppe Tornatore - Nuovo cinema Paradiso

1980s

• 1989 - Kenneth Branagh - Henry V
  • Stephen Frears - Dangerous Liaisons
  • Peter Weir - Dead Poets Society
  • Alan Parker - Mississippi Burning

• 1988 - Louis Malle - Au revoir, les enfants
  • Bernardo Bertolucci - The Last Emperor
  • Charles Crichton - A Fish Called Wanda
  • Gabriel Axel - Babettes gæstebud

• 1987 - Oliver Stone - Platoon
  • Claude Berri - Jean de Florette
  • John Boorman - Hope and Glory
  • Richard Attenborough - Cry Freedom

• 1986 - Woody Allen - Hannah and Her Sisters
  • Roland Joffé - The Mission
  • Neil Jordan - Mona Lisa
  • James Ivory - A Room with a View

• 1985 - -

• 1984 - Wim Wenders - Paris, Texas
  • Sergio Leone - Once Upon a Time in America
  • Roland Joffé - The Killing Fields
  • Peter Yates - The Dresser

• 1983 - Bill Forsyth - Local Hero
  • Sydney Pollack - Tootsie
  • Martin Scorsese - The King of Comedy
  • James Ivory - Heat and Dust

• 1982 - Richard Attenborough - Gandhi
  • Steven Spielberg - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
  • Costa-Gavras - Missing
  • Mark Rydell - On Golden Pond

• 1981 - Louis Malle - Atlantic City
  • Hugh Hudson - Chariots of Fire
  • Karel Reisz - The French Lieutenant's Woman
  • Bill Forsyth - Gregory's Girl

• 1980 - Akira Kurosawa - Kagemusha
  • David Lynch - The Elephant Man
  • Alan Parker - Fame
  • Robert Benton - Kramer vs. Kramer

1970s

• 1979 - Francis Ford Coppola - Apocalypse Now
  • Michael Cimino - The Deer Hunter
  • Woody Allen - Manhattan
  • John Schlesinger - Yanks

• 1978 - Alan Parker - Midnight Express
  • Steven Spielberg - Close Encounters of the Third Kind
  • Fred Zinnemann - Julia
  • Robert Altman - A Wedding

• 1977 - Woody Allen - Annie Hall
  • John G. Avildsen - Rocky
  • Sidney Lumet - Network
  • Richard Attenborough - A Bridge Too Far

• 1976 - Milos Forman - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
  • Alan J. Pakula - All the President's Men
  • Martin Scorsese - Taxi Driver
  • Alan Parker - Bugsy Malone

• 1975 - Stanley Kubrick - Barry Lyndon
  • Steven Spielberg - Jaws
  • Sidney Lumet - Dog Day Afternoon
  • Martin Scorsese - Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore

• 1974 - Roman Polanski - Chinatown
  • Francis Ford Coppola - The Conversation
  • Louis Malle - Lacombe Lucien
  • Sidney Lumet - Murder on the Orient Express
  • Sidney Lumet - Serpico

• 1973 - François Truffaut - Day for Night
  • Luis Buñuel - The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
  • Fred Zinnemann - The Day of the Jackal
  • Nicolas Roeg - Don't Look Now

• 1972 - Bob Fosse - Cabaret
  • Stanley Kubrick - A Clockwork Orange
  • William Friedkin - The French Connection
  • Peter Bogdanovich - The Last Picture Show

• 1971 - John Schlesinger - Sunday Bloody Sunday
  • Joseph Losey - The Go-Between
  • Luchino Visconti - Death in Venice
  • Milos Forman - Taking Off

• 1970 - George Roy Hill - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
  • Ken Loach - Kes
  • Robert Altman - MASH
  • David Lean - Ryan's Daughter

1960s

• 1969 - John Schlesinger - Midnight Cowboy
  • Peter Yates - Bullitt
  • Richard Attenborough - Oh! What a Lovely War
  • Ken Russell - Women in Love

• 1968 - Mike Nichols - The Graduate
  • Carol Reed - Oliver!
  • Lindsay Anderson - If....
  • Franco Zeffirelli - Romeo and Juliet