Precursor: 72nd Directors Guild Nominations (2019)

Three major shocking omissions and a shocking inclusion make this year’s DGA nominations both indicative and unrepresentative. First, the omissions. Neither Greta Gerwig nor Todd Phillips made the DGA main line-up, which is both disheartening (Gerwig) and surprising (Phillips). In their place is Taika Waitit who no one thought would be a major player in the Best Director race. This could spell trouble for both Gerwig and Phillips films, but these five nominees are pretty much assured Best Picture citations and among them, only Waititi is vulnerable to being dropped for Gerwig or Phillips. On the First Feature side, there are no shocks as all of these directors have been mentioned regularly, but what’s shocking is that Olivia Wilde missed the boat with her debut Booksmart, the single most acclaimed debut of the year. While this list still features plenty of women, it leans heavily on dramas, suggesting that because Booksmart was a comedy, the DGA didn’t want to consider it.

The Awards

Best Director

Bong Joon-ho – Parasite
Sam Mendes – 1917
Martin Scorsese – The Irishman
Quentin Tarantino – One Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Taika Waititi – Jojo Rabbit

Best First Feature

Mati Diop – Atlantics
Alma Har’el – Honey Boy
Melina Matsoukas – Queen and Slim
Tyler Nilson, Michael Schwartz – The Peanut Butter Falcon
Joe Talbot – The Last Black Man in San Franicsco