The Saturn Award for Best Director (or Saturn Award for Best Direction) is one of the annual awards given by the American

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films is an American non-profit organization established in 1972 dedicated to the advancement of science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Academy is headquarter ...

. The

Saturn Awards The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films be ...

, which are the oldest film-specialized awards to reward

genre fiction Genre fiction, also known as popular fiction, is a term used in the book-trade for fictional works written with the intent of fitting into a specific literary genre, in order to appeal to readers and fans already familiar with that genre. A num ...

achievements, in particular for

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

, and horror (the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation is the oldest award for science fiction and fantasy films), included the Best Director category for the first time at the 3rd Saturn Awards, for the 1974/1975 film years.

History

The award is also the oldest to honor film directors in science fiction, fantasy and horror. It has been given 36 times, including a tie for the 1977 film year. James Cameron holds the record of the most wins with five (for six nominations), while Steven Spielberg is the most nominated director with fourteen nominations (for four wins). Only three other directors have won the award more than once: Peter Jackson (three times),

Bryan Singer Bryan Jay Singer (born September 17, 1965) is an American filmmaker. He is the founder of Bad Hat Harry Productions and has produced almost all of the films he has directed. After graduating from the University of Southern California, Singer ...

and Ridley Scott (two times). At the 22nd Saturn Awards (for the 1995 film year),

Kathryn Bigelow Kathryn Ann Bigelow (; born November 27, 1951) is an American filmmaker. Covering a wide range of genres, her films include '' Near Dark'' (1987), '' Point Break'' (1991), '' Strange Days'' (1995), '' K-19: The Widowmaker'' (2002), ''The Hurt Loc ...

became the first woman to win the award, 15 years before becoming the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director. Spielberg was also the first to win Best Director from both the Saturn Awards and the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

at the same year, but for different movies (Saturn Award for '' Jurassic Park'', and Academy Award for ''

Schindler's List ''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the 1982 novel ''Schindler's Ark'' by Australian novelist Thomas Keneally. The film f ...

'', both in 1993); Peter Jackson was the first to win both for the same film ('' The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'', in 2003) while Alfonso Cuarón was the second (for ''

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'' in 2013).

Winners and nominees

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Multiple nominations

;14 nominations * Steven Spielberg ;8 nominations * Bryan Singer ;7 nominations * Peter Jackson * Robert Zemeckis ;6 nominations * J. J. Abrams * James Cameron * Christopher Nolan ;5 nominations * Tim Burton * Guillermo del Toro ;4 nominations * George Lucas * Sam Raimi * Matt Reeves * Ridley Scott * Quentin Tarantino * Paul Verhoeven ;3 nominations * John Badham * Kathryn Bigelow * Alfonso Cuarón * Joe Dante * William Dear * Clint Eastwood * David Fincher * Terry Gilliam * Ron Howard * George Miller * Jordan Peele * Anthony and Joe Russo * David Yates ;2 nominations * Woody Allen * Chris Columbus * David Cronenberg * Frank Darabont * Roland Emmerich * Jon Favreau * William Friedkin * Rian Johnson * Randal Kleiser * Ang Lee * Frank Marshall * Nicholas Meyer * Leonard Nimoy * Alex Proyas * Guy Ritchie * Martin Scorsese * Zack Snyder * Denis Villeneuve * Peter Weir * John Woo * Zhang Yimou

Multiple wins

;5 wins * James Cameron ;4 wins * Steven Spielberg ;3 wins * Peter Jackson ;2 wins * J. J. Abrams * Ridley Scott * Bryan Singer

References

{{Saturn Awards

Director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

Awards established in 1974 Awards established in 1975