El Premio Oscar al Mejor Director es uno de los premios otorgados por la Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas (Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences – AMPAS) para honrar la excelencia en la dirección de un largometraje.
Durante los primeros años de los Premios de la Academia, a los directores se les permitió ser nominados por varias películas en el mismo año. Sin embargo, después de la undécima edición de los Premios de la Academia, se revisaron las reglas para que un individuo sólo pudiera ser nominado por una película en cada ceremonia. Desde entonces, esa regla ha sido modificada. El único director que recibió múltiples nominaciones en el mismo año fue Steven Soderbergh por Erin Brockovich y Traffic en 2000.
Listado de Directores con Más Premios Óscar Ganados en la Historia
| Director | Premios Oscar Ganados |
| John Ford | 4: The Informer (1935), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), How Green Was My Valley (1941), The Quiet Man (1952) |
| Frank Capra | 3: It Happened One Night (1934), Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), You Can’t Take It with You (1938) |
| William Wyler | 3: Mrs. Miniver (1942), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Ben Hur (1959) |
| Ang Lee | 2: Brokeback Mountain (2005), Life of Pi (2012) |
| Frank Borzage | 2: 7th Heaven (1927), Bad Girl (1931) |
| Alfonso Cuarón | 2: Gravity (2014), Roma (2019) |
| Clint Eastwood | 2: Unforgiven (1992), Million Dollar Baby (2004) |
| Milos Forman | 2: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), Amadeus (1984) |
| Alejandro G Iñarritu | 2: Birdman (2014), The Revenant (2015) |
| Elia Kazan | 2: Gentlemen’s Agreement (1947), On the Waterfront (1954) |
| David Lean | 2: The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Lawrence of Arabia (1962) |
| Frank Lloyd | 2: The Divine Lady (1929), Cavaclade (1932) |
| Joseph Mankiewics | 2: A Letter of Three Wives (1949), All About Eve (1950) |
| Leo McCarey | 2: The Awful Truth (1937), Going My Way (1944) |
| Lewis Milestone | 2: Two Arabian Knights (1927), All Quiet in the Western Front (1929) |
| Steven Spielberg | 2: Schindler’s List (1993), Saving Private Ryan (1998) |
| George Stevens | 2: A Place in the Sun (1951), Giant (1956) |
| Oliver Stone | 2: Platoon (1986), Born on the Fourth of July (1989) |
| Billy Wilder | 2: The Lost Weekend (1945), The Apartment (1960) |
| Robert Wise | 2: West Side Story (1961), The Sound of Music (1956) |
| Fred Zinnemann | 2: From Here to Eternity (1953), A Man for All Seasons (1966) |
Ganadores del Premio de la Academia al Mejor Director
| Año | Película |
| 2025 | TBA |
| 2024 | Sean Baker (Anora) |
| 2023 | Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer) |
| 2022 | Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All at Once) |
| 2021 | Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog) |
| 2020 | Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) |
| 2019 | Bong Joon-ho (Parasite) |
| 2018 | Alfonso Cuarón (Roma) |
| 2017 | Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water) |
| 2016 | Damien Chazelle (La La Land) |
| 2015 | Alejandro G Iñarritu (The Revenant) |
| 2014 | Alejandro G Iñarritu (Birdman) |
| 2013 | Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity) |
| 2012 | Ang Lee (Life of Pi) |
| 2011 | Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) |
| 2010 | Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) |
| 2009 | Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) |
| 2008 | Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) |
| 2007 | Joel Coen & Etan Coen (No Country for Old Men) |
| 2006 | Martin Scorsese (The Departed) |
| 2005 | Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain) |
| 2004 | Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby) |
| 2003 | Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) |
| 2002 | Roman Palanski (The Pianist) |
| 2001 | Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind) |
| 2000 | Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) |
| 1999 | Sam Mendes (American Beauty) |
| 1998 | Steven Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan) |
| 1997 | James Cameron (Titanic) |
| 1996 | Anthony Minghella (The English Patient) |
| 1995 | Mel Gibson (Braveheart) |
| 1994 | Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump) |
| 1993 | Steven Spielberg (Schindler’s List) |
| 1992 | Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven) |
| 1991 | Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lamb) |
| 1990 | Kevin Costner (Dances With Wolves) |
| 1989 | Oleviver Stone (Born of the Forth of July) |
| 1988 | Barry Levinson (Rain Man) |
| 1987 | Bernardo Bertolucci (The Last Emperor) |
| 1986 | Oliver Stone (Platoon) |
| 1985 | Sydney Pollack (Out of America) |
| 1984 | Milos Forman (Amadeus) |
| 1983 | James L Brooks (Terms of Endearment) |
| 1982 | Richard Attenborough (Gandhi) |
| 1981 | Warren Beatty (Reds) |
| 1980 | Robert Redford (Ordinar People) |
| 1979 | Robert Benton (Kramer vs Kramer) |
| 1978 | Michael Cimino (The Deer Hunter) |
| 1977 | Woody Allen (Annie Hall) |
| 1976 | John G Avildsen (Rocky) |
| 1975 | Milos Forman (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) |
| 1974 | Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather Part 2) |
| 1973 | George Roy Hill (The Sting) |
| 1972 | Bob Fosse (Cabaret) |
| 1971 | William Friedkin (The French Connection) |
| 1970 | Franklin J Schaffner (Patton) |
| 1969 | John Schlesinger (Midnight Cowboy) |
| 1968 | Carol Reed (Oliver!) |
| 1967 | Mike Nichols (The Graduate) |
| 1966 | Fred Zinnemann (A Man for All Seasons) |
| 1965 | Robert Wise (The Sound of Music) |
| 1964 | George Cukor (My Fair Lady) |
| 1963 | Tony Richardson (Tom Jones) |
| 1962 | David Lean (Lawrence of Arabia) |
| 1961 | Robert Wise & Jerome Robbins (West Side Story) |
| 1960 | Billy Wilder (The Apartment) |
| 1959 | William Wyler (Ben-Hur) |
| 1958 | Vincente Minnelli (Gigi) |
| 1957 | David Lean (The Bridge on the River Kwai) |
| 1956 | George Stevens (Giant) |
| 1955 | Delbert Mann (Marty) |
| 1954 | Elia Kazan (On the Waterfront) |
| 1953 | Fred Zinnemann (From Here to Eternity) |
| 1952 | John Ford (The Quiet Man) |
| 1951 | George Stevens (A Place in the Sun) |
| 1950 | Joseph L Mankiewicz (All About Eve) |
| 1949 | Joseph L Mankiewicz (A Letter of Three Wives) |
| 1948 | John Huston (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre) |
| 1947 | Elia Kazan (Genltleman’s Agreement) |
| 1946 | William Wyler (The Best Years of Our Lives) |
| 1945 | Billy Wilder (The Lost Weekend) |
| 1944 | Leo McCarey (Going My Way) |
| 1943 | Michael Curtiz (Casablanca) |
| 1942 | William Wyler (Mrs Miniver) |
| 1941 | John Ford (How Green Was My Valley) |
| 1940 | John Ford (The Grapes of Wrath) |
| 1939 | Victor Fleming (Gone with the Wind) |
| 1938 | Frank Capra (You Can’t Take It with You) |
| 1937 | Leo McCarey (The Awful Truth) |
| 1936 | Frank Capra (Mr Deeds Goes to Town) |
| 1935 | John Ford (The Informer) |
| 1934 | Frank Capra (It Happened One Night) |
| 1933 | Frank Lloyd (Cavalcade) |
| 1932 | Frank Borzage (Bad Girl) |
| 1931 | Norman Taurog (Skippy) |
| 1930 | Lewis Milestone (All Quiet on the Western Front) |
| 1929 | Frank Lloyd (The Divine Lady) |
| 1928 | Frank Borzage (7th Heaven) & Lewis Milestone (Two Arabian Knights) |