The Directors Guild of America Awards are issued annually by the Directors Guild of America. The first DGA Award was an "Honorary Life Member" award issued in 1938 to D.W. Griffith.
The DGA award for "Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures" was first awarded in 1949 to Joseph L. Mankiewicz for A Letter to Three Wives.
The DGA Award for Feature Film has traditionally been a near perfect barometer for the Best Director Academy Award. Only six times since the DGA Award's inception has the DGA Award winner not won the Academy Award; in 1968 (Carol Reed won the Oscar for directing Oliver!); 1972 (Bob Fosse won the Oscar for directing Cabaret); 1985 (Sydney Pollack won the Oscar for directing Out of Africa); 1995 (Mel Gibson won for directing Braveheart); 2000 (Steven Soderbergh won the Oscar for directing Traffic); and 2002 (Roman Polanski won the Oscar for directing The Pianist).
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