This tumultuous Oscar season has a certified front-runner.
On Saturday night in Los Angeles, more than a month after “Anora” lost every award it was nominated for at the Golden Globes, the Sean Baker-directed comedy took top honors at awards shows held by the Directors Guild of America and the Producers Guild of America. The later victory is especially telling: Since 2009, when both the PGA and the academy expanded their number of best-film nominees from five, the PGA winner has gone on to claim the best-picture Oscar all but three times.
The ceremonies were held opposite each other in Beverly Hills and Baker had to race from the DGAs, which wrapped first, to the PGAs. While accepting his award at the earlier ceremony, he appeared gobsmacked.
“My impostor syndrome is skyrocketing right now,” Baker said, “as well as my cortisol levels.”
The victories capped a good weekend for “Anora,” which also won the top prize at the Critics Choice Awards on Friday night. And though Baker may be battling impostor syndrome, 18 of the last 20 DGA winners also went on to take the best-director Oscar, which puts him in good company.
Other winners at both shows included “Shogun,” and “Hacks,” which won drama-series and comedy-series awards, respectively. “Nickel Boys” director RaMell Ross took the DGA award for first-time theatrical filmmaker.
“Emilia Pérez,” which led the Oscar field with 13 nominations but has been battered by controversy involving old tweets made by its star Karla Sofía Gascón, failed to take a prize at either ceremony.
Here is the list of PGA winners:
Film
Feature Film
“Anora”
Animated Feature
“The Wild Robot”
Documentary
“Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story”
Television
Episodic Drama
“Shogun”
Episodic Comedy
“Hacks”
Limited or Anthology Series
“Baby Reindeer”
Television Movie or Streamed Movie
“The Greatest Night in Pop”
Nonfiction Television
“STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces”
Live, Variety, Sketch, Stand-up or Talk Show
“Saturday Night Live”
Game or Competition Show
“The Traitors”
Sports Program
“Simone Biles Rising”
Children’s Program
“Sesame Street”
Short-Form Program
“Succession: Controlling the Narrative”
And here is the list of DGA winners. For the complete list, go to dga.org.
Film
Feature
Sean Baker, “Anora”
First-Time Feature
RaMell Ross, “Nickel Boys”
Documentary
Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev, “Porcelain War”
Television
Drama Series
“Shogun,” Frederick E.O. Toye
Comedy Series
“Hacks,” Lucia Aniello
Television Movies and Limited Series
“Ripley,” Steven Zaillian
