Paul Thomas Anderson crowned at the DGA Awards, key barometer of the Oscar race

The Directors Guild of America often goes out of its way to honor the future winner of the Academy Award for Best Director…

PTA honored by the DGA.

Paul Thomas Anderson, director of One Battle after anotherwon the supreme prize on Saturday during the 78th edition of the DGA Awards 2026.

The American Directors Union ceremony, which recognizes each year the most notable achievements in cinema and television, was held in Beverly Hills. A trophy long considered one of the most reliable indicators for the Oscar for Best Director. Paul Thomas Anderson beat Ryan Coogler (Sinners), Guillermo Del Toro (Frankenstein) Josh Safdie (Marty Supreme) and Chloé Zhao (Hamnet).

Since its creation, the Directors Guild of America was wrong only eight times in predicting the future winner of the Oscar for best director. Last year, Sean Baker won the DGA’s highest distinction for Anorawhich went on to win four Oscars. The last failure of the DGA Awards dates back to 2019, when Sam Mendes won the DGA for 1917before losing at the Oscars to Bong Joon Ho for Parasitealso crowned best film.

In the rest of the DGA Awards 2026 list, we will note on the television side, the victory of the drama series The Pitt. Director Amanda Marsalis was awarded for directing the episode 6:00 PM. She even beat John Wells, executive producer of the series, who was also nominated.

In comedy, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg won the award for The Studiothanks to the episode The Onea success which had already earned them a directing Emmy last September. The two winners dedicated their award to the memory of Catherine O’Hara, late actress The Studio. “We grew up in Canada and she was and will remain our idol since childhood.” said Evan Goldberg. “She showed that you could be an absolute genius and still be the nicest person in the world.”