The Directors Guild of America has announced its nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2014. They are Wes Anderson for The Grand Budapest Hotel, Clint Eastwood for American Sniper, Alejandro G. Iñárritu for Birdman, Richard Linklater for Boyhood, and Morton Tyldum for The Imitation Game.
Tyldum and Eastwood are something of a surprise, as they failed to earn nominations at the Golden Globes or the BAFTAs. Of course, Eastwood is also a DGA favorite; this is his fourth nomination and he’s already won the award twice. This is Iñárritu’s third nomination, while Anderson, Linklater, and Tyldum are all first-time nominees.
Notable absences include James Marsh for The Theory Of Everything, David Fincher for Gone Girl, Angelina Jolie for Unbroken, Damian Chazelle for Whiplash, Mike Leigh for Mr. Turner, and Bennett Miller for Foxcatcher. Also absent is Ava DuVernay, who was snubbed despite Selma’s near-universal critical praise. (The A.V. Club’s A.A. Dowd gave it a B.) DuVernay would have been the first black woman ever nominated for the award. Instead, as is often the case, the pool of DGA feature film nominees is exclusively male.
The DGA’s nominees for documentary, television, and commercial awards will be announced January 14. Winners will be announced on February 7 in a ceremony hosted by Jane Lynch, who will bring some much-needed estrogen to the DGA boys club.