Awards season is really starting to heat up now with the Oscars on the horizon. They’ll take place on February 26th and a clear frontrunner is beginning to emerge in the form of La La Land. The film has been cleaning up for a while and last night, it snagged another big prize, as director Damien Chazelle took home the top honor (Best Feature Film) at the Director’s Guild of America Awards.
Though the 32-year-old faced tough competition in the form of Denis Villeneuve for Arrival, Barry Jenkins for Moonlight, Kenneth Lonergan for Manchester by the Sea, and Garth Davis for Lion, he had no trouble winning over voters and is now a clear favorite as we inch closer to the Oscars. It’s well earned, too, as La La Land is truly an incredible film and Chazelle deserves all the praise he’s getting for it.
Meanwhile, over on the television side of things, Miguel Sapochnik walked away victorious for his work on Game of Thrones episode “The Battle of the Bastards.” Like Chazelle, he too faced some worthy competitors, as Jonathan Nolan was nominated for Westworld and the Duffer brothers for Stranger Things, among others. As for the comedy shows, it was Becky Martin who took home the award for Veep, while Steven Zaillian won Best Miniseries for The Night Of.
Circling back to La La Land though, it’s now almost a certainty that Chazelle will snag Best Director at the Oscars, with the film having a pretty good chance of taking home Best Picture, too. After all, the DGA Awards are usually a pretty good indicator of both. Not to mention that the flick already has a whopping 14 nominations and is clearly a favorite with those in the Academy. Whether or not it can indeed capitalize on all the momentum it has now and bring home Oscar gold later this month remains to be seen, but we’re certainly feeling pretty confident about its chances.
For a full list of winners from last night’s Director’s Guild of America Awards, see below.
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Feature Film
Damien Chazelle – “La La Land”
Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director for 2016
Garth Davis – “Lion”
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series
Miguel Sapochnik – “Game of Thrones,” “The Battle of the Bastards
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Miniseries
Steven Zaillian – “The Night Of,” “The Beach”
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series
Becky Martin – “Veep,” “Inauguration”
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety/Talk/News/Sports (Regularly Scheduled Programming)
Don Roy King – “Saturday Night Live,” “Host: Dave Chappelle”
Variety/Talk/News/Sports (Specials)
Glenn Weiss – The 70th Annual Tony Awards
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Reality Programs
J. Rupert Thompson – “American Grit,” “The Finale – Over the Falls”
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs
Tina Mabry – “An American Girl Story – Melody 1963: Love Has to Win”
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials
Derek Cianfrance
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary
Ezra Edelman – “O.J.: Made in America”
