Directors Guild Nominees Include Bong Joon Ho, Sam Mendes, Taika Waititi

Angelique Jackson

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The Directors Guild of America has nominated Bong Joon Ho for “Parasite,” Sam Mendes for “1917,” Martin Scorsese for “The Irishman,” Quentin Tarantino for “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” and Taika Waititi for “Jojo Rabbit.”

The DGAs are seen as a stepping stone to the Oscars, where the last six best director winners also went home with an Academy Award. Last year, “Roma” filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón scored the feature film directing award, beating out Bradley Cooper for “A Star Is Born,” Spike Lee for “BlacKkKlansman,” Adam McKay for “Vice,” and Peter Farrelly for “Green Book.”

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Three female filmmakers — Mati Diop for “Atlantics,” Alma Ha’rel for “Honey Boy” and Melina Matsoukas for “Queen & Slim” — were recognized by the Directors Guild in the first-time feature film award category differing from the Golden Globe Awards and the BAFTA Awards, which both failed to nominate female directors this year.

Some surprise omissions from the nominations include Greta Gerwig for “Little Women,” Noah Baumbach for “Marriage Story” and Todd Phillips for “Joker.”

In June, the DGA announced that in attempt to recognize the “unique cultural importance of the theatrical experience,” films that are released on other distribution platforms on the same ‘day and date’ as they premiere in theaters will no longer be eligible for the top DGA Award.

“The DGA proudly affirms that a first-run theatrical release is a distinctive element of our feature film award,” DGA president Thomas Schlamme said in a statement. “We celebrate the important role that theatrical cinema has played in bringing together audiences as they collectively experience films as the filmmakers intended them to be viewed. We also take great pride in recognizing all of the work created by our members through the many categories and formats that are part of the DGA Awards.”

The guild noted that previous DGA feature film nominees, including last year’s winner, “Roma,” would have qualified for the top award under the new rule since it debuted in theaters before it began streaming on Netflix. The new first-run theatrical release rule was not applied to the DGA First-Time Feature Film Award category.

The 72nd annual Directors Guild Award ceremony will be held Jan. 25 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles. See all the nominees below:

Theatrical Achievement in Feature Films:

Bong Joon Ho

“Parasite”

(Neon)

Mr. Bong’s Directorial Team:

·Unit Production Manager: Park Min Chul

·First Assistant Director: Kim Seong Sik

Sam Mendes

“1917”

(Universal Pictures)

Mr. Mendes’s Directorial Team:

·Unit Production Managers: Callum McDougall, Hannah Godwin

·First Assistant Director: Michael Lerman

·Second Assistant Director: Joey Coughlin

Martin Scorsese

“The Irishman”

(Netflix)

Mr. Scorsese’s Directorial Team:

·Unit Production Managers: John A. Machione, Carla Raij

·First Assistant Director: David Webb

·Second Assistant Director: Jeremy Marks

·Second Second Assistant Director: Trevor Tavares

·Additional Second Assistant Director: Ryan Robert Howard

·Location Manager: Kip Myers

Quentin Tarantino

“Once Upon A Time In… Hollywood”

(Columbia Pictures)

Mr. Tarantino’s Directorial Team:

·Unit Production Managers: Georgia Kacandes, Nathan Kelly

·First Assistant Director: William Paul Clark

·Second Assistant Director: Christopher T. Sadler

·Second Second Assistant Director: Brendan “Bear” Lee

·Additional Second Assistant Directors: Debbie Chung, Katie Pruitt

Taika Waititi

“Jojo Rabbit”

(Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Mr. Waititi’s Directorial Team:

·Unit Production Managers: Václav Mottl, Pavel Voráček

·First Assistant Director: Mark Taylor

·Second Assistant Director: Martina Götthansová

·Second Second Assistant Director: Martina Frimelová

First-Time Feature Film Directors:

Mati Diop

“Atlantics”

(Netflix)

Ms. Diop’s Directorial Team:

·First Assistant Director: Vincent Prades

Alma Har’el

“Honey Boy”

(Amazon Studios)

Ms. Har’el’s Directorial Team:

·Unit Production Manager: David Grace

·First Assistant Director: Sean Vawter

·Second Assistant Director: Colin Flaherty

·Second Second Assistant Director: Sarah Balboa

Melina Matsoukas

“Queen & Slim”

(Universal Pictures)

Ms. Matsoukas’s Directorial Team:

·Unit Production Managers: Pamela Hirsch, Max Berryhill (Los Angeles Unit)

·First Assistant Directors: HH Cooper, Joe Suarez (Los Angeles Unit)

·Second Assistant Directors: James Roque, Johnny Recher (Los Angeles Unit)

·Second Second Assistant Directors: Sumner Boissiere, Tami Kumin (Ohio Unit)

Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz

“The Peanut Butter Falcon”

(Roadside Attractions)

Directorial Team:

·Unit Production Manager: Manu Gargi

·First Assistant Director: James Grayford

·Second Assistant Director: Dee Jones

·Second Second Assistant Director: Michael McKay

Joe Talbot

“The Last Black Man in San Francisco”

(A24 Films)

Mr. Talbot’s Directorial Team:

·Unit Production Manager: Natalie Teter

·First Assistant Director: Hilton J. Day

·Second Assistant Director: Dominic Martin

·Second Second Assistant Director: Jeremiah Kelleher

·Additional Second Second Assistant Director: Alex Gilbert

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