Orson Welles
Citizen Kane (1941)
◄ IMDb Polls
Poll: Best Oscar-nominated Directorial Debut
Emerald Fennell became the 25th director to score a Best Director nomination for her first film. She is the first woman to achieve this honor. Let's have a look at all 25 first-time directors who earned a Best Director nomination for their first film.
In your opinion, which director made the most impressive debut?
Make Your Choice
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Delbert Mann
Marty (1955) WINNER -
Sidney Lumet
12 Angry Men (1957) -
Jack Clayton
Room at the Top (1959) -
Jerome Robbins
West Side Story (1961) WINNER Co-director -
Frank Perry
David and Lisa (1962) -
Mike Nichols
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) -
Warren Beatty
Heaven Can Wait (1978) Co-director (w/Buck Henry, also making his directorial debut) -
Robert Redford
Ordinary People (1980) WINNER -
Hugh Hudson
Chariots of Fire (1981) -
James L. Brooks
Terms of Endearment (1983) WINNER -
Roland Joffé
The Killing Fields (1984) -
Kenneth Branagh
Henry V (1989) -
Kevin Costner
Dances with Wolves (1990) WINNER -
John Singleton
Boyz n the Hood (1991) -
Chris Noonan
Babe (1995) -
Peter Cattaneo
The Full Monty (1997) -
Spike Jonze
Being John Malkovich (1999) -
Sam Mendes
American Beauty (1999) WINNER -
Rob Marshall
Chicago (2002) -
Tony Gilroy
Michael Clayton (2007) -
Benh Zeitlin
Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) -
Jordan Peele
Get Out (2017) -
Emerald Fennell
Promising Young Woman (2020)
