Paul Thomas Anderson won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film.
He received a standing ovation after being presented with the DGA medallion by Leonardo DiCaprio.
Charlie Polinger, Mstyslav Chernov and others also won awards.
The 78th Directors Guild Awards (DGA) ceremony was held Saturday (February 7) night at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California. Paul Thomas Anderson won the top honour at the 2026 DGA Awards for One Battle After Another, which means he can win his first Oscar this year.
For the unversed, nine DGA winners, including Sean Baker and Christopher Nolan, have won the best director award at the Oscars. So, there is a clear chance of PTA clinching the prestigious award at the 2026 Oscars.
Paul Thomas Anderson wins top prize at DGA Awards 2026
The Directors Guild of America recognised the best film, TV and commercial directors of the year 2025. Anderson won the DGA award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film, beating Ryan Coogler (Sinners), Guillermo Del Toro (Frankenstein), Josh Safdie (Marty Supreme) and Chloé Zhao (Hamnet).
He received a standing ovation after One Battle After Another star Leonardo DiCaprio presented him with the DGA medallion.
Paul Thomas Anderson's speech at DGA Awards
Anderson, in his speech, said, “This is an incredible, incredible honour. We’re going to take it with the love that it’s given and the appreciation of all our comrades in this room,” and paid tribute to the late assistant director Adam Somner, who passed away from cancer in November 2024. “Obviously,” he said, “we are up here minus one.”
Hosted by Kumail Nanjiani, the DGA 2026 awards were first presided over by the Directors Guild of America's new president, Christopher Nolan. He started his speech acknowledging “very hard times” for filmmakers.
“In 2024, our employment in our guild was down about 40%, and that was followed by another decline in ’25,” said the filmmaker. “The amount of money that people spend on our work, on entertainment, is very, very stable. Audiences are invested in us; we have to be sure that we’re able to repay that investment.”
Here's the full list of DGA Awards 2026 winners
Theatrical Feature Film
WINNER: Paul Thomas Anderson - One Battle After Another
Ryan Coogler - Sinners
Guillermo Del Toro - Frankenstein
Josh Safdie - Marty Supreme
Chloé Zhao - Hamnet
Michael Apted First Time Directorial Feature
WINNER: Charlie Polinger - The Plague
Hasan Hadi - The President’s Cake
Harry Lighton - Pillion
Alex Russell - Lurker
Eva Victor - Sorry, Baby
Documentary Film
WINNER: Mstyslav Chernov - 2000 Meters to Andriivka
Geeta Gandbhir - The Perfect Neighbor
Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni - Cutting Through Rocks
Elizabeth Lo - Mistress Dispeller
Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus - Cover-Up
Dramatic Series
WINNER: Amanda Marsallis - The Pitt, “6:00 PM”
Liza Johnson - The Diplomat, “Amagansett”
Janus Metz - Andor, “Who Are You?”
Ben Stiller - Severance, “Cold Harbor”
John Wells - The Pitt, “7:00 A.M.”
Comedy Series
WINNER: Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg - The Studio, “The Oner”
Lucia Aniello - Hacks, “A Slippery Slope”
Janicza Bravo - The Bear, “Worms”
Christopher Storer - The Bear, “Bears”
Mike White - The White Lotus, “Denials”
Limited & Anthology Series
WINNER: Shannon Murphy- Dying for Sex, “It’s Not That Serious”
Jason Bateman - Black Rabbit, “The Black Rabbits”
Antonio Campos - The Beast in Me, “Sick Puppy”
Lesli Linka Glatter - Zero Day, “Episode 6”
Ally Pankiw - Black Mirror, “Common People”
Movies for Television
WINNER: Stephen Chbosky - Nonnas
Jesse Armstrong - Mountainhead
Scott Derrickson - The Gorge
Michael Morris - Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
Kyle Newacheck - Happy Gilmore 2
Variety
WINNER: Liz Patrick - SNL50: The Anniversary Special
Yvonne De Mare - The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, “Julia Roberts; Sam Smith”
Andy Fisher - Jimmy Kimmel Live!, “Stephen Colbert; Kumail Nanjiani; Reneé Rapp”
Beth McCarthy-Miller - SNL50: The Homecoming Concert
Paul Pennolino- Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “Public Media”
Sports
WINNER: Matthew Gangl - 2025 World Series – Game 7
Steve Milton - 2025 Masters Tournament
Rich Russo - Super Bowl LIX
Reality/Quiz and Game
WINNER: Mike Sweeney - Conan O’Brien Must Go, “Austria”
Lucinda M. Margolis - Jeopardy!, “Ep. 9341”
Adam Sandler - The Price is Right, “10,000th Episode”
Documentary Series/News
WINNER: Rebecca Miller - Mr. Scorsese, “All This Filming Isn’t Healthy”
Marshall Curry - SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night, “Written By: A Week Inside the SNL Writers Room”
Susan Lacy and Jessica Levin - Billy Joel: And So It Goes, “Part Two”
Alexandra Stapleton - Sean Combs: The Reckoning, “Official Girl”
Matt Wolf - Pee-Wee as Himself, “Part 1”
