Past Academy Award Winners for Best Director
# All Quiet on the Western Front
Year: 2022 | Country: DE
Director: Edward Berger
Cast: Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch, Aaron Hilmer, Moritz Klaus, Adrian Grünewald
Synopsis
Paul Baumer and his friends Albert and Muller, egged on by romantic dreams of heroism, voluntarily enlist in the German army. Full of excitement and patriotic fervour, the boys enthusiastically march into a war they believe in. But once on the Western Front, they discover the soul-destroying horror of World War I.
# Gone with the Wind
Year: 1939 | Country: US
Director: Victor Fleming
Cast: Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland, Leslie Howard, Hattie McDaniel
Synopsis
The spoiled daughter of a Georgia plantation owner conducts a tumultuous romance with a cynical profiteer during the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era.
# Casablanca
Year: 1943 | Country: US
Director: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt
Synopsis
In Casablanca, Morocco in December 1941, a cynical American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications.
# All About Eve
Year: 1950 | Country: US
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Cast: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Gary Merrill
Synopsis
From the moment she glimpses her idol at the stage door, Eve Harrington is determined to take the reins of power away from the great actress Margo Channing. Eve maneuvers her way into Margo's Broadway role, becomes a sensation and even causes turmoil in the lives of Margo's director boyfriend, her playwright and his wife. Only the cynical drama critic sees through Eve, admiring her audacity and perfect pattern of deceit.
# On the Waterfront
Year: 1954 | Country: United States of America
Director: Elia Kazan
Cast: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, Pat Henning
Synopsis
Terry Malloy dreams about being a prize fighter, while tending his pigeons and running errands at the docks for Johnny Friendly, the corrupt boss of the dockers union. Terry witnesses a murder by two
# Ben-Hur
Year: 1959 | Country: US
Director: William Wyler
Cast: Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith, Jack Hawkins, Haya Harareet
Synopsis
In 25 AD, Judah Ben-Hur, a Jew in ancient Judea, opposes the occupying Roman empire. Falsely accused by a Roman childhood friend-turned-overlord of trying to kill the Roman governor, he is put into slavery and his mother and sister are taken away as prisoners.
# The Apartment
Year: 1960 | Country: United States of America
Director: Billy Wilder
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Jack Kruschen
Synopsis
Bud Baxter is a minor clerk in a huge New York insurance company, until he discovers a quick way to climb the corporate ladder. He lends out his apartment to the executives as a place to take their mi
# West Side Story
Year: 2021 | Country: US
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez, Mike Faist
Synopsis
Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.
# Lawrence of Arabia
Year: 1962 | Country: GB
Director: David Lean
Cast: Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Omar Sharif, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins
Synopsis
The story of British officer T.E. Lawrence's mission to aid the Arab tribes in their revolt against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. Lawrence becomes a flamboyant, messianic figure in the cause of Arab unity but his psychological instability threatens to undermine his achievements.
# Tom Jones
Year: 1963 | Country: United Kingdom
Director:
Cast:
Synopsis
Tom loves Sophie and Sophie loves Tom. But Tom and Sophie are of differering classes. Can they find a way through the mayhem to be true to love?
# The Sting
Year: 1973 | Country: United States of America
Director:
Cast:
Synopsis
A novice con man teams up with an acknowledged master to avenge the murder of a mutual friend by pulling off the ultimate big con and swindling a fortune from a big-time mobster.
# The Godfather Part II
Year: 1974 | Country: United States of America
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Cast: Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro, John Cazale
Synopsis
In the continuing saga of the Corleone crime family, a young Vito Corleone grows up in Sicily and in 1910s New York. In the 1950s, Michael Corleone attempts to expand the family business into Las Vega
# One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Year: 1975 | Country: US
Director: Miloš Forman
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Brad Dourif, Louise Fletcher, Danny DeVito, William Redfield
Synopsis
A petty criminal fakes insanity to serve his sentence in a mental ward rather than prison. He soon finds himself as a leader to the other patients—and an enemy to the cruel, domineering nurse who runs the ward.
# Rocky
Year: 1976 | Country: US
Director: John G. Avildsen
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith
Synopsis
An uneducated collector for a Philadelphia loan shark is given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fight against the world heavyweight boxing champion.
# Ordinary People
Year: 2018 | Country: KR
Director: Im Jin-soon
Cast: Don Lee, Kim Sae-ron, Jang Gwang, Lee Sang-yeob, Shin Se-hwi
Synopsis
A gym teacher and his female student look for her missing friend. But as they investigate, they find that her disappearance is a part of a larger conspiracy.
# Gandhi
Year: 1982 | Country: IN
Director: Richard Attenborough
Cast: Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen, Edward Fox, John Gielgud, Trevor Howard
Synopsis
In the early years of the 20th century, Mohandas K. Gandhi, a British-trained lawyer, forsakes all worldly possessions to take up the cause of Indian independence. Faced with armed resistance from the British government, Gandhi adopts a policy of 'passive resistance', endeavouring to win freedom for his people without resorting to bloodshed.
# Amadeus
Year: 1984 | Country: US
Director: Miloš Forman
Cast: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge, Simon Callow, Roy Dotrice
Synopsis
Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the hedonistic and remarkably talented young Viennese composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
# Platoon
Year: 1986 | Country: GB
Director: Oliver Stone
Cast: Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe, Tom Berenger, Kevin Dillon, Forest Whitaker
Synopsis
As a young and naive recruit in Vietnam, Chris Taylor faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man.
# Rain Man
Year: 1988 | Country: US
Director: Barry Levinson
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Valeria Golino, Gerald R. Molen, Jack Murdock
Synopsis
When car dealer Charlie Babbitt learns that his estranged father has died, he returns home to Cincinnati, where he discovers that he has a savant older brother named Raymond and that his father's $3 million fortune is being left to the mental institution in which Raymond lives. Motivated by his father's money, Charlie checks Raymond out of the facility in order to return with him to Los Angeles. The brothers' cross-country trip ends up changing both their lives.
# Born on the Fourth of July
Year: 1989 | Country: United States of America
Director: Oliver Stone
Cast: Tom Cruise, Raymond J. Barry, Caroline Kava, Holly Marie Combs, Kyra Sedgwick
Synopsis
Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, Ron Kovic becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country he fought for.
# Dances with Wolves
Year: 1990 | Country: GB
Director: Kevin Costner
Cast: Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, Rodney A. Grant, Floyd "Red Crow" Westerman
Synopsis
Wounded Civil War soldier John Dunbar tries to commit suicide—and becomes a hero instead. As a reward, he's assigned to his dream post, a remote junction on the Western frontier, and soon makes unlikely friends with the local Sioux tribe.
# Unforgiven
Year: 1992 | Country: US
Director: Clint Eastwood
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Jaimz Woolvett, Richard Harris
Synopsis
William Munny is a retired, once-ruthless killer turned gentle widower and hog farmer. To help support his two motherless children, he accepts one last bounty-hunter mission to find the men who brutalized a prostitute. Joined by his former partner and a cocky greenhorn, he takes on a corrupt sheriff.
# Schindler's List
Year: 1993 | Country: United States of America
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall, Jonathan Sagall
Synopsis
The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.
# Forrest Gump
Year: 1994 | Country: United States of America
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Cast: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson, Sally Field
Synopsis
A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events—in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. But despite all he has
# Braveheart
Year: 1995 | Country: US
Director: Mel Gibson
Cast: Mel Gibson, Catherine McCormack, Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan, Angus Macfadyen
Synopsis
Enraged at the slaughter of Murron, his new bride and childhood love, Scottish warrior William Wallace slays a platoon of the local English lord's soldiers. This leads the village to revolt and, eventually, the entire country to rise up against English rule.
# The English Patient
Year: 1996 | Country: United Kingdom, United States of America
Director: Anthony Minghella
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Kristin Scott Thomas, Naveen Andrews
Synopsis
In the 1930s, Count Almásy is a Hungarian map maker employed by the Royal Geographical Society to chart the vast expanses of the Sahara Desert along with several other prominent explorers. As World W
# Titanic
Year: 1997 | Country: US
Director: James Cameron
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane
Synopsis
101-year-old Rose recalls her voyage on the Titanic, from its departure to its sinking on April 15, 1912.
# Saving Private Ryan
Year: 1998 | Country: United States of America
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Vin Diesel, Tom Sizemore, Barry Pepper
Synopsis
As U.S. troops storm the beaches of Normandy, three brothers lie dead on the battlefield, with a fourth trapped behind enemy lines. Ranger captain John Miller and seven men are tasked with penetrating
# American Beauty
Year: 1999 | Country: US
Director: Sam Mendes
Cast: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, Mena Suvari
Synopsis
Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.
# Traffic
Year: 2000 | Country: Germany, United States of America
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Cast: Michael Douglas, Benicio del Toro, Jacob Vargas, Tomás Milián, Russell G. Jones
Synopsis
An exploration of the United States of America's war on drugs from multiple perspectives. For the new head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the war becomes personal when he discovers his
# A Beautiful Mind
Year: 2001 | Country: US
Director: Ron Howard
Cast: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris, Paul Bettany, Christopher Plummer
Synopsis
From the heights of notoriety to the depths of depravity, John Forbes Nash Jr. experiences it all. As a brilliant but socially awkward mathematician, he made a groundbreaking discovery early in his career and stands on the brink of international acclaim. But as the handsome and arrogant Nash accepts secret work in cryptography, he becomes entangled in a mysterious conspiracy. His life takes a nightmarish turn and he soon finds himself on a painful and harrowing journey of self-discovery.
# The Pianist
Year: 2002 | Country: FR
Director: Roman Polanski
Cast: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Maureen Lipman, Emilia Fox
Synopsis
The true story of pianist Władysław Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he stays behind, works for a while as a laborer, and eventually goes into hiding in the ruins of the war-torn city.
# The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Year: 2003 | Country: NZ
Director: Peter Jackson
Cast: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Andy Serkis
Synopsis
As armies mass for a final battle that will decide the fate of the world--and powerful, ancient forces of Light and Dark compete to determine the outcome--one member of the Fellowship of the Ring is revealed as the noble heir to the throne of the Kings of Men. Yet, the sole hope for triumph over evil lies with a brave hobbit, Frodo, who, accompanied by his loyal friend Sam and the hideous, wretched Gollum, ventures deep into the very dark heart of Mordor on his seemingly impossible quest to destroy the Ring of Power.
# Million Dollar Baby
Year: 2004 | Country: CH
Director: Clint Eastwood
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman, Jay Baruchel, Mike Colter
Synopsis
Despondent over a painful estrangement from his daughter, trainer Frankie Dunn isn't prepared for boxer Maggie Fitzgerald to enter his life. But Maggie's determined to go pro and to convince Dunn and his cohort to help her.
# Brokeback Mountain
Year: 2005 | Country: CA
Director: Ang Lee
Cast: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams, Anne Hathaway, Randy Quaid
Synopsis
In 1960s Wyoming, two men develop a strong emotional and sexual relationship that endures as a lifelong connection complicating their lives as they get married and start families of their own.
# The Departed
Year: 2006 | Country: HK
Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen
Synopsis
To take down South Boston's Irish Mafia, the police send in one of their own to infiltrate the underworld, not realizing the syndicate has done likewise. While an undercover cop curries favor with the mob kingpin, a career criminal rises through the police ranks. But both sides soon discover there's a mole among them.
# No Country for Old Men
Year: 2007 | Country: United States of America
Director:
Cast:
Synopsis
Llewelyn Moss stumbles upon dead bodies, $2 million and a hoard of heroin in a Texas desert, but methodical killer Anton Chigurh comes looking for it, with local sheriff Ed Tom Bell hot on his trail.
# The King's Speech
Year: 2010 | Country: United Kingdom, United States of America
Director: Tom Hooper
Cast: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce, Timothy Spall
Synopsis
The King's Speech tells the story of the man who became King George VI, the father of Queen Elizabeth II. After his brother abdicates, George ('Bertie') reluctantly assumes the throne. Plagued by a dr
# The Artist
Year: 2011 | Country: BE
Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Cast: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell, Penelope Ann Miller
Synopsis
Hollywood, 1927: As silent movie star George Valentin wonders if the arrival of talking pictures will cause him to fade into oblivion, he sparks with Peppy Miller, a young dancer set for a big break.
# Life of Pi
Year: 2012 | Country: IN
Director: Ang Lee
Cast: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Ayush Tandon, Gautam Belur, Adil Hussain
Synopsis
The story of an Indian boy named Pi, a zookeeper's son who finds himself in the company of a hyena, zebra, orangutan, and a Bengal tiger after a shipwreck sets them adrift in the Pacific Ocean.
# Gravity
Year: 2013 | Country: GB
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Cast: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Ed Harris, Orto Ignatiussen, Phaldut Sharma
Synopsis
Dr. Ryan Stone, a brilliant medical engineer on her first Shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The Shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone-tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness of space. The deafening silence tells them they have lost any link to Earth and any chance for rescue. As fear turns to panic, every gulp of air eats away at what little oxygen is left. But the only way home may be to go further out into the terrifying expanse of space.
# The Revenant
Year: 2015 | Country: CA
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Will Poulter, Forrest Goodluck
Synopsis
In the 1820s, a frontiersman, Hugh Glass, sets out on a path of vengeance against those who left him for dead after a bear mauling.
# La La Land
Year: 2016 | Country: US
Director: Damien Chazelle
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, John Legend, Rosemarie DeWitt, J.K. Simmons
Synopsis
Mia, an aspiring actress, serves lattes to movie stars in between auditions and Sebastian, a jazz musician, scrapes by playing cocktail party gigs in dingy bars, but as success mounts they are faced with decisions that begin to fray the fragile fabric of their love affair, and the dreams they worked so hard to maintain in each other threaten to rip them apart.
# The Shape of Water
Year: 2017 | Country: US
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Cast: Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Octavia Spencer, Michael Stuhlbarg
Synopsis
An other-worldly story, set against the backdrop of Cold War era America circa 1962, where a mute janitor working at a lab falls in love with an amphibious man being held captive there and devises a plan to help him escape.
# Parasite
Year: 2019 | Country: South Korea
Director:
Cast:
Synopsis
All unemployed, Ki-taek's family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.
# Everything Everywhere All at Once
Year: 2022 | Country: United States of America
Director:
Cast:
Synopsis
An aging Chinese immigrant is swept up in an insane adventure, where she alone can save what's important to her by connecting with the lives she could have led in other universes.
# Oppenheimer
Year: 2023 | Country: United Kingdom, United States of America
Director:
Cast:
Synopsis
The story of J. Robert Oppenheimer’s role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II.