DGA gives boost to Scorsese Oscar® win

By Scott Rosenberg Jan 10, 2007, 12:53 GMT

Director Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon on the set of \'The Departed\' in an image courtesy of Warner Bros Pictures. The Producers Guild of America on Wednesday picked nominees for 2006\'s best film, giving all the movies\' makers a boost in the race for Oscars. REUTERS/Handout

Had enough of movie awards gab yet? Well here comes more.

The Directors Guild of America (DGA), the esteemed union of film directors whose voting membership overlaps that of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the Oscar® guys) announced their top noms on January 9.Scorsese

Top feature nod from DGA have gone on to win the best-director Oscar 52 out of the past 58 years.

On DGA’s list is Martin Scorsese for ‘The Departed.’ Scorsese is a perennial favorite never having received a nomination from the DGA before but nominated five times before (maybe six – we will find out in two weeks) in the Best Director Oscar category for ‘Raging Bull’ (’80); ‘The Last Temptation of Christ’ (’88); ‘Goodfellas’ (’90); ‘Gangs of New York’ (2002) and ‘The Aviator’ (2004).

Surprisingly, the Guild also recognized two freshman directors, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris for ‘Little Miss Sunshine,’ which while receiving critical praise had to this point, not exhibited strong industry support for an Academy Award.

Dayton and Faris are best known for their music videos. They issued a stement saying they were in a “state of shock” over the nomination.

Also earning a nod from DGA was Bill Condon for ‘Dreamgirls,’ Stephen Frears for ‘The Queen’ and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for ‘Babel.’

Guild failed to throw nom to Clint Eastwood for ‘Letters from Iwo Jima’ and/or Paul Greengrass for ‘United 93” both films having received other award nominations.

Noticeably absent from the list were Clint Eastwood, whose Japanese-language World War II drama "Letters from Iwo Jima" has been a critical hit, and Paul Greengrass, director of the 9/11 drama "United 93."
The winner of the 59th annual DGA Awards will be announced on February 3.

Another precursor to the Oscars is The Golden Globes which will be presented January 15. Oscar nominations will be announced on January 23, with the Academy Awards presented on February 25.