David di Donatello for Best Director

David di Donatello for Best Director
The 2025 recipient: Maura Delpero
Awarded for	Best director of an Italian film
Country	Italy
Presented by	Accademia del Cinema Italiano
First award	1956 (for direction in films released during the 1955/1956 film season)
Currently held by	Maura Delpero Vermiglio (2025)
Website	www.daviddidonatello.it

The David di Donatello for Best Director (Italian: David di Donatello per il miglior regista) is a film award presented annually by the Accademia del Cinema Italiano (ACI, Academy of Italian Cinema) to recognize the outstanding direction of a film director who has worked within the Italian film industry during the year preceding the ceremony. ^[1] The award was first given in 1956, and became competitive in 1981. ^[2]

Nominees and winners are selected via runoff voting by all the members of the Accademia. ^{[3] [4]}

Francesco Rosi is the record holder with six awards in the category, received from 1965 to 1997, followed by Marco Bellocchio, Mario Monicelli and Giuseppe Tornatore with four.

Maura Delpero became the first woman to win in 2025.

Winners and nominees

Below, winners are listed first in the colored row, followed by other nominees. ^[1]

Gianni Franciolini (right) was the first holder of the award, winning in 1956 for Roman Tales .

Federico Fellini won the award three times from 1957 to 1974, for Nights of Cabiria , La dolce vita , and Amarcord .

Michelangelo Antonioni won in 1961 for La notte .

Ermanno Olmi was nominated five times, winning three times over a span of four decades.

Vittorio De Sica won twice, in 1963 and 1965.

Pietro Germi (left) won twice for Seduced and Abandoned and The Birds, the Bees and the Italians .

Franco Zeffirelli won in 1969 for Romeo and Juliet and in 1972 for Brother Sun, Sister Moon .

Luchino Visconti won twice, for Death in Venice in 1971 and Ludwig in 1974.

Dino Risi won in 1975 for Scent of a Woman .

Mario Monicelli won four times from 1976 to 1990, every year he was nominated.

Ettore Scola won three times from 1978 to 1987, being nominated six times.

Marco Bellocchio won four times from 1980 to 2023.

Paolo and Vittorio Taviani won twice in 1983 and 2012.

Bernardo Bertolucci won in 1988 for The Last Emperor .

Giuseppe Tornatore won four times from 1996 to 2013, being nominated six times.

Roberto Benigni won in 1998 for Life is Beautiful .

Pupi Avati won in 2003 after six nominations.

Paolo Sorrentino won in 2005 for The Consequences of Love and in 2014 for The Great Beauty .

Nanni Moretti won in 2006 for The Caiman , after seven nominations.

Matteo Garrone won three times, in 2009, 2016 and 2019, for Gomorrah , Tale of Tales and Dogman .

1950s

Year	Director(s)	English Title	Original Title
1955/56	Gianni Franciolini	Roman Tales	Racconti romani
1956/57
	Federico Fellini	Nights of Cabiria	Le notti di Cabiria
1958/59
	Alberto Lattuada	Tempest	La tempesta

1960s

Year	Director(s)	Film
1959/60 (5th)	Federico Fellini	La dolce vita
1960/61 (6th)
	Michelangelo Antonioni	La notte
1961/62 (7th)
	Ermanno Olmi	Il posto
1962/63 (8th)
	Vittorio De Sica	The Condemned of Altona
1963/64 (9th)
	Pietro Germi	Seduced and Abandoned
1964/65 (10th)
	Vittorio De Sica	Marriage Italian-Style
	Francesco Rosi	The Moment of Truth
1965/66 (11th)
	Alessandro Blasetti	Me, Me, Me... and the Others
	Pietro Germi	The Birds, the Bees and the Italians
1966/67 (12th)
	Luigi Comencini	Misunderstood
1967/68 (13th)
	Carlo Lizzani	Bandits in Milan
1968/69 (14th)
	Franco Zeffirelli	Romeo and Juliet

1970s

Year	Director(s)	Film
1969/70 (15th)	Gillo Pontecorvo	Burn!
1970/71 (16th)
	Luchino Visconti	Death in Venice
1971/72 (17th)
	Sergio Leone	Duck, You Sucker!
	Franco Zeffirelli	Brother Sun, Sister Moon
1972/73 (18th)
	Luchino Visconti	Ludwig
1973/74 (19th)
	Federico Fellini	Amarcord
1974/75 (20th)
	Dino Risi	Scent of a Woman
1975/76 (21st)
	Mario Monicelli	My Friends
	Francesco Rosi	Illustrious Corpses
1976/77 (22nd)
	Mario Monicelli	An Average Little Man
	Valerio Zurlini	The Desert of the Tartars
1977/78 (23rd)
	Ettore Scola	A Special Day
1978/79 (24th)
	Francesco Rosi	Christ Stopped at Eboli

1980s

Year	Director(s)	Film
1979/80 (25th)	Marco Bellocchio	A Leap in the Dark
	Gillo Pontecorvo	Ogro
1980/81 (26th)
	Francesco Rosi	Three Brothers
	Luigi Comencini	Voltati Eugenio
	Ettore Scola	Passion of Love
1981/82 (27th)
	Marco Ferreri	Tales of Ordinary Madness
	Salvatore Piscicelli	The Opportunities of Rosa
	Carlo Verdone	Talcum Powder
1982/83 (28th)
	Paolo and Vittorio Taviani	The Night of the Shooting Stars
	Gianni Amelio	Blow to the Heart
	Ettore Scola	That Night in Varennes
1983/84 (29th)
	Ettore Scola	Le Bal
	Federico Fellini	And the Ship Sails On
	Nanni Loy	Where's Picone?
1984/85 (30th)
	Francesco Rosi	Carmen
	Pupi Avati	Bank Clerks
	Paolo and Vittorio Taviani	Kaos
1985/86 (31st)
	Mario Monicelli	Let's Hope It's a Girl
	Federico Fellini	Ginger and Fred
	Nanni Moretti	The Mass Is Ended
1986/87 (32nd)
	Ettore Scola	The Family
	Pupi Avati	Christmas Present
	Francesco Maselli	A Tale of Love
1987/88 (33rd)
	Bernardo Bertolucci	The Last Emperor
	Federico Fellini	Intervista
	Nikita Sergeevič Mikhalkov	Dark Eyes
1988/89 (34th)
	Ermanno Olmi	The Legend of the Holy Drinker
	Marco Risi	Forever Mery
	Giuseppe Tornatore	Cinema Paradiso

1990s

Year	Director(s)	Film
1989/90 (35th)	Mario Monicelli	Dark Illness
	Gianni Amelio	Open Doors
	Pupi Avati	The Story of Boys & Girls
	Federico Fellini	The Voice of the Moon
	Nanni Loy	Scugnizzi
	Nanni Moretti	Red Wood Pigeon
1990/91 (36th)
	Marco Risi	Boys on the Outside
	Ricky Tognazzi	Ultrà
	Francesca Archibugi	Towards Evening
	Daniele Luchetti	The Yes Man
	Gabriele Salvatores	Mediterraneo
1991/92 (37th)
	Gianni Amelio	The Stolen Children
	Marco Risi	The Invisible Wall
	Carlo Verdone	Damned the Day I Met You
1992/93 (38th)
	Roberto Faenza	Jonah Who Lived in the Whale
	Ricky Tognazzi	The Escort
	Francesca Archibugi	The Great Pumpkin
1993/94 (39th)
	Carlo Verdone	Let's Not Keep in Touch
	Nanni Moretti	Caro diario
	Pasquale Pozzessere	Father and Son
1994/95 (40th)
	Mario Martone	Nasty Love
	Gianni Amelio	Lamerica
	Alessandro D'Alatri	No Skin
1995/96 (41st)
	Giuseppe Tornatore	The Star Maker
	Bernardo Bertolucci	Stealing Beauty
	Carlo Lizzani	Celluloide
	Paolo Virzì	August Vacation
1996/97 (42nd)
	Francesco Rosi	The Truce
	Roberto Faenza	Marianna Ucrìa
	Wilma Labate	My Generation
	Gabriele Salvatores	Nirvana
	Maurizio Zaccaro	The Game Bag
1997/98 (43rd)
	Roberto Benigni	Life Is Beautiful
	Mario Martone	Rehearsals for War
	Paolo Virzì	Ovosodo
1998/99 (44th)
	Giuseppe Tornatore	The Legend of 1900
	Bernardo Bertolucci	Besieged
	Giuseppe Piccioni	Fuori dal mondo

2000s

Year	Director(s)	Film
2000	Silvio Soldini	Bread and Tulips
	Marco Bechis	Olympic Garage
	Ricky Tognazzi	Canone inverso
2001	Gabriele Muccino	The Last Kiss
	Marco Tullio Giordana	One Hundred Steps
	Nanni Moretti	The Son's Room
2002	Ermanno Olmi	The Profession of Arms
	Giuseppe Piccioni	Light of My Eyes
	Silvio Soldini	Burning in the Wind
2003	Pupi Avati	Incantato
	Marco Bellocchio	My Mother's Smile
	Matteo Garrone	The Embalmer
	Gabriele Muccino	Remember Me, My Love
	Ferzan Özpetek	Facing Windows
2004	Marco Tullio Giordana	The Best of Youth
	Pupi Avati	Christmas Rematch
	Marco Bellocchio	Good Morning, Night
	Sergio Castellitto	Don't Move
	Matteo Garrone	First Love
2005	Paolo Sorrentino	The Consequences of Love
	Gianni Amelio	The Keys to the House
	Davide Ferrario	After Midnight
	Andrea and Antonio Frazzi	A Children's Story
	Ferzan Özpetek	Sacred Heart
2006	Nanni Moretti	The Caiman
	Antonio Capuano	Mario's War
	Michele Placido	Romanzo Criminale
	Sergio Rubini	Our Land
	Carlo Verdone	My Best Enemy
2007	Giuseppe Tornatore	The Unknown Woman
	Marco Bellocchio	The Wedding Director
	Emanuele Crialese	Nuovomondo
	Daniele Luchetti	My Brother is an Only Child
	Ermanno Olmi	One Hundred Nails
2008	Andrea Molaioli	The Girl by the Lake
	Cristina Comencini	Black and White
	Antonello Grimaldi	Quiet Chaos
	Carlo Mazzacurati	The Right Distance
	Silvio Soldini	Days and Clouds
2009	Matteo Garrone	Gomorrah
	Pupi Avati	Giovanna's Father
	Fausto Brizzi	Many Kisses Later
	Giulio Manfredonia	We Can Do That
	Paolo Sorrentino	Il Divo

2010s

Year	Director(s)	Film
2010	Marco Bellocchio	Vincere
	Giorgio Diritti	The Man Who Will Come
	Ferzan Özpetek	Loose Cannons
	Giuseppe Tornatore	Baarìa
	Paolo Virzì	The First Beautiful Thing
2011	Daniele Luchetti	La nostra vita
	Marco Bellocchio	Sorelle Mai
	Saverio Costanzo	The Solitude of Prime Numbers
	Claudio Cupellini	A Quiet Life
	Michelangelo Frammartino	Le Quattro Volte
	Paolo Genovese	The Immature
	Mario Martone	We Believed
	Luca Miniero	Benvenuti al Sud
2012	Paolo and Vittorio Taviani	Caesar Must Die
	Emanuele Crialese	Terraferma
	Marco Tullio Giordana	Piazza Fontana: The Italian Conspiracy
	Nanni Moretti	We Have a Pope
	Ferzan Özpetek	Magnificent Presence
	Paolo Sorrentino	This Must Be the Place
2013	Giuseppe Tornatore	The Best Offer
	Bernardo Bertolucci	Me and You
	Matteo Garrone	Reality
	Gabriele Salvatores	Siberian Education
	Daniele Vicari	Diaz – Don't Clean Up This Blood
2014	Paolo Sorrentino	The Great Beauty
	Carlo Mazzacurati	The Chair of Happiness
	Ferzan Özpetek	Fasten Your Seatbelt
	Ettore Scola	How Strange to Be Named Federico
	Paolo Virzì	Human Capital
2015	Francesco Munzi	Black Souls
	Saverio Costanzo	Hungry Hearts
	Mario Martone	Leopardi
	Nanni Moretti	Mia Madre
	Ermanno Olmi	Greenery Will Bloom Again
2016	Matteo Garrone	Tale of Tales
	Claudio Caligari	Don't Be Bad
	Paolo Genovese	Perfect Strangers
	Gianfranco Rosi	Fire at Sea
	Paolo Sorrentino	Youth
2017	Paolo Virzì	Like Crazy
	Marco Bellocchio	Sweet Dreams
	Edoardo De Angelis	Indivisible
	Claudio Giovannesi	Fiore
	Matteo Rovere	Italian Race
2018	Jonas Carpignano	A Ciambra
	Gianni Amelio	Tenderness
	Paolo Genovese	The Place
	Manetti Bros.	Love and Bullets
	Ferzan Özpetek	Napoli velata
2019	Matteo Garrone	Dogman
	Valeria Golino	Euphoria
	Luca Guadagnino	Call Me By Your Name
	Mario Martone	Capri-Revolution
	Alice Rohrwacher	Happy as Lazzaro

2020s

Year	Director(s)	Film	Ref.
2020	Marco Bellocchio	The Traitor
	Matteo Garrone	Pinocchio
	Claudio Giovannesi	Piranhas
	Pietro Marcello	Martin Eden
	Matteo Rovere	The First King: Birth of an Empire
2021	Giorgio Diritti	Hidden Away
	Gianni Amelio	Hammamet
	Emma Dante	The Macaluso Sisters
	Damiano and Fabio D'Innocenzo	Bad Tales
	Susanna Nicchiarelli	Miss Marx
2022	Paolo Sorrentino	The Hand of God
	Leonardo Di Costanzo	The Inner Cage
	Giuseppe Tornatore	Ennio
	Gabriele Mainetti	Freaks Out
	Mario Martone	The King of Laughter
2023	Marco Bellocchio	Exterior Night
	Gianni Amelio	Lord of the Ants
	Roberto Andò	Strangeness
	Felix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch	The Eight Mountains
	Mario Martone	Nostalgia
2024	Matteo Garrone	Io capitano
	Alice Rohrwacher	La chimera
	Marco Bellocchio	Kidnapped
	Andrea Di Stefano	Last Night of Amore
	Nanni Moretti	A Brighter Tomorrow
2025	Maura Delpero	Vermiglio	[5]
	Francesca Comencini	The Time It Takes
	Valeria Golino	The Art of Joy
	Paolo Sorrentino	Parthenope
	Andrea Segre	The Great Ambition

Multiple wins and nominations

The following individuals have won multiple Best Director awards: Wins Director 6 Francesco Rosi 4 Mario Monicelli Giuseppe Tornatore Marco Bellocchio 3 Federico Fellini Matteo Garrone Ermanno Olmi Ettore Scola 2 Vittorio De Sica Pietro Germi Gillo Pontecorvo Paolo Sorrentino Taviani brothers Ricky Tognazzi Luchino Visconti Franco Zeffirelli

Francesco Rosi won the award six times, more than everyone else, from 1965 to 1997. Ferzan Özpetek is the most nominated director without any wins, being nominated six times from 2003 to 2017. The following directors have received three or more Best Director nominations (* indicates no wins): Nominations Director 10 Marco Bellocchio 7 Gianni Amelio Federico Fellini Nanni Moretti 6 Pupi Avati Matteo Garrone Ferzan Özpetek* Francesco Rosi Ettore Scola Giuseppe Tornatore 5 Mario Martone Ermanno Olmi Paolo Sorrentino Paolo Virzì 4 Bernardo Bertolucci Mario Monicelli Carlo Verdone 3 Paolo Genovese* Marco Tullio Giordana Daniele Luchetti Marco Risi Gabriele Salvatores* Silvio Soldini Taviani brothers Ricky Tognazzi

See also

• Nastro d'Argento for Best Director
• Academy Award for Best Director
• BAFTA Award for Best Direction
• César Award for Best Director
• European Film Award for Best Director
• Goya Award for Best Director

References

1. "Chronology". daviddidonatello.it (in Italian). Accademia del Cinema Italiano. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
2. Lancia, Enrico (1998). I premi del cinema[The awards of cinema] (in Italian). Rome, Italy: Gremese Editore. pp. 251–252. ISBN   8877422211.
3. "Regolamento". daviddidonatello.it (in Italian). Accademia del Cinema Italiano. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
4. Niola, Gabriele (12 December 2018). "Ecco i nuovi David di Donatello: nuova giuria, nuovo sistema di votazione, nuovi possibili candidati. Fuori lo streaming". Badtaste.it (in Italian). Retrieved 12 December 2018.
5. Roxborough, Scott (May 7, 2025). "David di Donatello Awards: Maura Delpero's War Drama 'Vermiglio' Wins Best Film". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved May 8, 2025.

External links

• David di Donatello Awards at IMDb
• Daviddidonatello.it (official website)