On the evening of February 8th local time, the Directors Guild of America (DGA) Awards and the Producers Guild of America (PGA) Awards were both announced, and the highest honors of both awards were won by "Anora" by coincidence.
Poster of Anora
At the Directors Guild Awards held earlier, Sean Baker, director of Anora, Jacques Audiard (Emilia Perez), Edward Berg (The Conclave), Brady Corbett (Brutalist), and James Mangold (Nobodies) won the Best Director Award for a Cinema Film. Jacques Audiard and James Mangold are also Sean Baker's competitors for the Oscar for Best Director, and this award also marks that he is one step closer to the Oscar.
Another highlight of the entire award ceremony was when director Ang Lee received the Lifetime Achievement Award. The award was presented to him by Michelle Yeoh, who had worked with him on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Ang Lee (left) and Michelle Yeoh worked together on the 2000 film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
The Producers Guild Awards have always been considered the strongest indicator of the Academy Award for Best Picture. In the past 15 years, 12 of the winners of the Academy Award for Best Picture first won the Zanuck Award, the highest honor of the Producers Guild Awards, which is the Best Cinema Film Producer Award. "Anola" won two important weathervane awards in one night, and it also won the Critics' Choice Award for Best Picture the day before, thus becoming a seed player leading the awards season. Its biggest competitor, "Emilia Perez", seems to have plummeted after the controversy over the discriminatory remarks made by the lead actress, Carla Sofia Gascón.
Maggie Madison, the star of "Anola", and director Sean Baker (right)
Directors Guild Award winners:
Best Cinema Film Director: Sean Baker, Anora
Best First Theatrical Film Director: LaMell Ross, Nickelback
Best Documentary Feature Director: Brandon Bellomo, Slava Leontyev, "The Porcelain Wars"
Best Directing for a Drama Series: Frederick E. O. Toyer, Shogun
Best Directing for a Comedy Series: Lucia Aniello, The Writers
Best Directing for a Limited Series or Television Movie: Steven Zaillian, "Ripley"
Lifetime Achievement Award: Ang Lee
Producers Guild Award winners:
Best Cinema Film Producer: Anora
Best Producer of Animated Theatrical Film: "Wild Robots"
Best Documentary Filmmaker: "Superman: The Christopher Reeve Story"
Best TV Movie/Streaming Film Producer: "The Most Famous Night in Pop"
Best Producer for a Drama Series: Shogun
Best Producer for a Comedy Series: The Writers
Best Producer for a Limited or Anthology Series: "Reindeer Baby"
Best Nonfiction Television Program Producer: Steve
Best Game/Competition Program Producer: "The Betrayer"
Lifetime Achievement Award: Chris Meledandri (Founder of Illumination Entertainment)
