While the 'Roma' director collects his second prize from the DGA, the actor/helmer behind 'A Star Is Born' also loses Best First-Time Director honor to Bo Burnham of 'Eighth Grade'.
- Feb 4, 2019
AceShowbiz - Moviemaker Alfonso Cuaron is one step closer to Oscars glory after "Roma" was named best feature film at the 2019 Directors Guild of America Awards.
The drama, which pays homage to his childhood in Mexico, helped him beat out Bradley Cooper ("A Star Is Born"), Peter Farrelly ("Green Book"), Adam McKay ("Vice"), and Spike Lee ("BlacKkKlansman") to land Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film at a ceremony in Los Angeles on Saturday, February 02.
Cuaron was presented with the accolade by 2018's winner, "The Shape of Water"'s Guillermo del Toro, and during his acceptance speech, the 57-year-old heaped praise on his leading ladies.
"Roma simply doesn't exist without the generosity of spirit and effortless grace of Yalitza (Yalitza Aparicio) and Marina (Marina de Tavira)," he said. "They somehow, with the rest of my beautiful cast, managed to bring to life this film from my memory."
It's Cuaron's second such honour, having previously taken home the same prize for "Gravity" in 2014, when he went on to also win Best Director at the Academy Awards, just like del Toro did last year (18).
It was also a good night for "Eighth Grade"'s Bo Burnham, who triumphed over Cooper, Matthew Heineman ("A Private War"), Carlos Lopez Estrada ("Blindspotting"), and Boots Riley ("Sorry to Bother You") to claim the title for Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director.
Stunned by his win, Burnham confessed he hadn't prepared a speech, telling the crowd, "I really didn't think this was mathematically possible, so please forgive my lack of preparation."
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary was awarded to Tim Wardle for "Three Identical Strangers", about triplets separated at birth as part of an undisclosed scientific study, with the boys only discovering they had siblings when they were 19.
In the TV categories, there were a string of other first-time winners. Ben Stiller earned the trophy for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Miniseries for "Escape at Dannemora", funnyman Bill Hader picked up Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series for the "Chapter One: Make Your Mark" episode of his hit show "Barry", and Adam McKay picked up the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series honour for the Celebration episode of "Succession".
Meanwhile, Spike Jonze was feted for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials for the Apple HomePod: Welcome Home ad, and industry veteran Don Mischer received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Distinguished Achievement in Television Direction.
Here is a list of winners:
- Outstanding directorial achievement in a feature film – Alfonso Cuaron ("Roma")
- Outstanding directorial achievement in dramatic series – Adam McKay ("Succession", Celebration)
- Outstanding directorial achievement in first-time feature film – Bo Burnham ("Eighth Grade")
- Outstanding directorial achievement in comedy series – Bill Hader ("Barry", Chapter One: Make Your Mark)
- Outstanding directorial achievement in movies for television and limited series – Ben Stiller ("Escape at Dannemora")
- Outstanding directorial achievement in documentary – Tim Wardle ("Three Identical Strangers")
- Outstanding directorial achievement in children's programmes – Jack Jameson ("Sesame Street", When You Wish Upon A Pickle: A Sesame Street Special)
- Outstanding directorial achievement in reality programmes – Russell Norman ("The Final Table", Japan)
- Outstanding directorial achievement in variety/talk/news/sports, special – Louis J. Horvitz (60th Grammy Awards)
- Outstanding directorial achievement in variety/talk/news/sports, regularly scheduled programming – Don Roy King ("Saturday Night Live", Adam Driver; Kanye West)
- Outstanding directorial achievement in commercials – Spike Jonze ("Welcome Home", Apple Homepod)
