| New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director | |
|---|---|
| Current recipient: RaMell Ross | |
| Awarded for | Best Director |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | New York Film Critics Circle |
| First award | John Ford The Informer (1935) |
| Currently held by | RaMell Ross Nickel Boys (2024) |
| Website | nyfcc |
The New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director is an award given by the New York Film Critics Circle, honoring the finest achievements in filmmaking.
| Year | Winner | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 1935 | John Ford | The Informer |
| 1936 | Rouben Mamoulian | The Gay Desperado |
| 1937 | Gregory La Cava | Stage Door |
| 1938 | Alfred Hitchcock | The Lady Vanishes |
| 1939 | John Ford | Stagecoach |
| Year | Winner | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 1940 | John Ford | The Grapes of Wrath |
| The Long Voyage Home | ||
| 1941 | How Green Was My Valley | |
| 1942 | John Farrow | Wake Island |
| 1943 | George Stevens | The More the Merrier |
| 1944 | Leo McCarey | Going My Way |
| 1945 | Billy Wilder | The Lost Weekend |
| 1946 | William Wyler | The Best Years of Our Lives |
| 1947 | Elia Kazan | Boomerang |
| Gentleman's Agreement | ||
| 1948 | John Huston | The Treasure of the Sierra Madre |
| 1949 | Carol Reed | The Fallen Idol |
| Year | Winner | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Joseph L. Mankiewicz | All About Eve |
| 1951 | Elia Kazan | A Streetcar Named Desire |
| 1952 | Fred Zinnemann | High Noon |
| 1953 | From Here to Eternity | |
| 1954 | Elia Kazan | On the Waterfront |
| 1955 | David Lean | Summertime |
| 1956 | John Huston | Moby Dick |
| 1957 | David Lean | The Bridge on the River Kwai |
| 1958 | Stanley Kramer | The Defiant Ones |
| 1959 | Fred Zinnemann | The Nun's Story |
| Year | Winner | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Jack Cardiff | Sons and Lovers |
| Billy Wilder | The Apartment | |
| 1961 | Robert Rossen | The Hustler |
| 1962 | No award given (newspaper strike) | |
| 1963 | Tony Richardson | Tom Jones |
| 1964 | Stanley Kubrick | Dr. Strangelove |
| 1965 | John Schlesinger | Darling |
| 1966 | Fred Zinnemann | A Man for All Seasons |
| 1967 | Mike Nichols | The Graduate |
| 1968 | Paul Newman | Rachel, Rachel |
| 1969 | Costa-Gavras | Z |
| Year | Winner | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Bob Rafelson | Five Easy Pieces |
| 1971 | Stanley Kubrick | A Clockwork Orange |
| 1972 | Ingmar Bergman | Cries and Whispers |
| 1973 | François Truffaut | Day for Night |
| 1974 | Federico Fellini | Amarcord |
| 1975 | Robert Altman | Nashville |
| 1976 | Alan J. Pakula | All the President's Men |
| 1977 | Woody Allen | Annie Hall |
| 1978 | Terrence Malick | Days of Heaven |
| 1979 | Woody Allen | Manhattan |
| Year | Winner | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Jonathan Demme | Melvin and Howard |
| 1981 | Sidney Lumet | Prince of the City |
| 1982 | Sydney Pollack | Tootsie |
| 1983 | Ingmar Bergman | Fanny and Alexander |
| 1984 | David Lean | A Passage to India |
| 1985 | John Huston | Prizzi's Honor |
| 1986 | Woody Allen | Hannah and Her Sisters |
| 1987 | James L. Brooks | Broadcast News |
| 1988 | Chris Menges | A World Apart |
| 1989 | Paul Mazursky | Enemies, A Love Story |
| Year | Winner | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Martin Scorsese | Goodfellas |
| 1991 | Jonathan Demme | The Silence of the Lambs |
| 1992 | Robert Altman | The Player |
| 1993 | Jane Campion | The Piano |
| 1994 | Quentin Tarantino | Pulp Fiction |
| 1995 | Ang Lee | Sense and Sensibility |
| 1996 | Lars von Trier | Breaking the Waves |
| 1997 | Curtis Hanson | L.A. Confidential |
| 1998 | Terrence Malick | The Thin Red Line |
| 1999 | Mike Leigh | Topsy-Turvy |
| Year | Winner | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Steven Soderbergh [1] | Erin Brockovich |
| Traffic | ||
| 2001 | Robert Altman | Gosford Park |
| 2002 | Todd Haynes | Far from Heaven |
| 2003 | Sofia Coppola | Lost in Translation |
| 2004 | Clint Eastwood | Million Dollar Baby |
| 2005 | Ang Lee | Brokeback Mountain |
| 2006 | Martin Scorsese | The Departed |
| 2007 | Joel Coen and Ethan Coen | No Country for Old Men |
| 2008 | Mike Leigh | Happy-Go-Lucky |
| 2009 | Kathryn Bigelow | The Hurt Locker [2] |
| Year | Winner | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | David Fincher | The Social Network [3] |
| 2011 | Michel Hazanavicius | The Artist [4] |
| 2012 | Kathryn Bigelow | Zero Dark Thirty [5] |
| 2013 | Steve McQueen | 12 Years a Slave [6] |
| 2014 | Richard Linklater | Boyhood [7] |
| 2015 | Todd Haynes | Carol [8] |
| 2016 | Barry Jenkins | Moonlight [9] |
| 2017 | Sean Baker | The Florida Project [10] |
| 2018 | Alfonso Cuarón | Roma [11] |
| 2019 | Josh Safdie and Benny Safdie | Uncut Gems [12] |
| Year | Winner | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Chloé Zhao | Nomadland [13] |
| 2021 | Jane Campion | The Power of the Dog [14] |
| 2022 | S. S. Rajamouli | RRR [15] |
| 2023 | Christopher Nolan | Oppenheimer [16] |
| 2024 | RaMell Ross | Nickel Boys [17] |
18 directors have won the award multiple times.