NBR – Best Director

List of winners and nominees for the National Board of Review - Best Director!

Click through each award to see the full list of nominees and winners!

2019 National Board of Review – Best Director

Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood

Quentin Tarantino

2018 National Board of Review – Best Director

A Star Is Born

Bradley Cooper

2017 National Board of Review – Best Director

Lady Bird

Greta Gerwig

2016 National Board of Review – Best Director

Moonlight

Barry Jenkins

2015 National Board of Review – Best Director

The Martian

Ridley Scott

2014 National Board of Review – Best Director

American Sniper

Clint Eastwood

2013 National Board of Review – Best Director

Her

Spike Jonze

2012 National Board of Review – Best Director

Zero Dark Thirty

Kathryn Bigelow

2011 National Board of Review – Best Director

Hugo

Martin Scorsese

2010 National Board of Review – Best Director

The Social Network

David Fincher

2009 National Board of Review – Best Director

Invictus

Clint Eastwood

2008 National Board of Review – Best Director

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

David Fincher

2007 National Board of Review – Best Director

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Tim Burton

2006 National Board of Review – Best Director

The Departed

Martin Scorsese

2005 National Board of Review – Best Director

Brokeback Mountain

Ang Lee

2004 National Board of Review – Best Director

Collateral

Michael Mann

2003 National Board of Review – Best Director

The Last Samurai

Edward Zwick

2002 National Board of Review – Best Director

The Quiet American

Phillip Noyce

2001 National Board of Review – Best Director

In the Bedroom

Todd Field

2000 National Board of Review – Best Director

Erin Brockovich

Steven Soderbergh

1999 National Board of Review – Best Director

The Talented Mr. Ripley

Anthony Minghella

1998 National Board of Review – Best Director

Elizabeth

Shekhar Kapur

1997 National Board of Review – Best Director

L.A. Confidential

Curtis Hanson

1996 National Board of Review – Best Director

Fargo

Joel Coen

1995 National Board of Review – Best Director

Sense and Sensibility

Ang Lee

1994 National Board of Review – Best Director

Pulp Fiction

Quentin Tarantino

1993 National Board of Review – Best Director

The Age of Innocence

Martin Scorsese

1992 National Board of Review – Best Director

Howards End

James Ivory

1991 National Board of Review – Best Director

The Silence of the Lambs

Jonathan Demme

1990 National Board of Review – Best Director

Dances with Wolves

Kevin Costner

1989 National Board of Review – Best Director

Henry V

Kenneth Branagh

1988 National Board of Review – Best Director

Mississippi Burning

Alan Parker

1987 National Board of Review – Best Director

Empire of the Sun

Steven Spielberg

1986 National Board of Review – Best Director

Hannah and Her Sisters

Woody Allen

1985 National Board of Review – Best Director

Ran

Akira Kurosawa

1984 National Board of Review – Best Director

A Passage to India

David Lean

1983 National Board of Review – Best Director

Terms of Endearment

James L. Brooks

1982 National Board of Review – Best Director

The Verdict

Sidney Lumet

1981 National Board of Review – Best Director

Reds

Warren Beatty

1980 National Board of Review – Best Director

Ordinary People

Robert Redford

1979 National Board of Review – Best Director

Yanks

John Schlesinger

1978 National Board of Review – Best Director

Autumn Sonata

Ingmar Bergman

1977 National Board of Review – Best Director

That Obscure Object of Desire

Luis Buñuel

1976 National Board of Review – Best Director

All the President’s Men

Alan J. Pakula

1975 National Board of Review – Best Director

Barry Lyndon

Stanley Kubrick

1975 National Board of Review – Best Director

Nashville

Robert Altman

1974 National Board of Review – Best Director

The Conversation

Francis Ford Coppola

1973 National Board of Review – Best Director

Cries & Whispers

Ingmar Bergman

1972 National Board of Review – Best Director

Cabaret

Bob Fosse

1972 National Board of Review – Best Director

The Devils

Ken Russell

1971 National Board of Review – Best Director

The Wild Child

François Truffaut

1970 National Board of Review – Best Director

Topaz

Alfred Hitchcock

1969 National Board of Review – Best Director

Romeo and Juliet

Franco Zeffirelli

1968 National Board of Review – Best Director

In Cold Blood

Richard Brooks

1967 National Board of Review – Best Director

A Man for All Seasons

Fred Zinnemann

1966 National Board of Review – Best Director

Darling

John Schlesinger

1964 National Board of Review – Best Director

Girl with Green Eyes

Desmond Davis

1963 National Board of Review – Best Director

Tom Jones

Tony Richardson

1962 National Board of Review – Best Director

Lawrence of Arabia

David Lean

1961 National Board of Review – Best Director

The Innocents

Jack Clayton

1960 National Board of Review – Best Director

Sons and Lovers

Jack Cardiff

1959 National Board of Review – Best Director

The Nun’s Story

Fred Zinnemann

1958 National Board of Review – Best Director

The Last Hurrah

John Ford

1957 National Board of Review – Best Director

The Bridge on the River Kwai

David Lean

1956 National Board of Review – Best Director

Moby Dick

John Huston

1955 National Board of Review – Best Director

The Desperate Hours

William Wyler

1954 National Board of Review – Best Director

Romeo and Juliet

Renato Castellani

1953 National Board of Review – Best Director

Shane

George Stevens

1952 National Board of Review – Best Director

The Sound Barrier

David Lean

1951 National Board of Review – Best Director

Rashomon

Akira Kurosawa

1950 National Board of Review – Best Director

The Asphalt Jungle

John Huston

1949 National Board of Review – Best Director

Bicycle Thieves

Vittorio De Sica

1948 National Board of Review – Best Director

Paisan

Roberto Rossellini

1947 National Board of Review – Best Director

Boomerang!

Elia Kazan

1946 National Board of Review – Best Director

The Best Years of Our Lives

William Wyler

1945 National Board of Review – Best Director

The Southerner

Jean Renoir

1943 National Board of Review – Best Director

Bataan

Tay Garnett

1943 National Board of Review – Best Director

Casablanca

Michael Curtiz

1943 National Board of Review – Best Director

The Ox-Bow Incident

William A. Wellman