Best Director

Best Director is one of the most prestigious and anticipated awards in the entire Oscar telecast. It is typically handed out as the second-to-last award of the night and often predicts which film will win the statuette for Best Picture if the winning director's film is also nominated. http://www.filmsite.org/bestdirs.html

In 2010, the category was filled with rare nominees. Kathryn Bigelow, who won for her work on The Hurt Locker, is the fourth woman to ever be nominated by the Academy and the first one to win the Oscar for her directing chops.

Lee Daniels, who was nominated for Precious, is only the second black filmmaker to be up for the award. At age 32, Jason Reitman was one of the youngest directors to be nominated for Up in the Air. The nominations also pitted former spouses against one another. Bigelow is the ex-wife of James Cameron, who is nominated for Avatar. http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=9731300

2010 Academy Award Nominees for Best Director:

• Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker (winner)
• James Cameron, Avatar
• Lee Daniels, Precious
• Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
• Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

During the first Oscars ceremony, Best Director was broken up into two separate categories: one for drama and another for comedy. The next year, the Academy axed the genre distinctions in favor of just one nod for overall achievement in directing. http://www.filmsite.org/bestdirs.html

Past winners of the Academy Award for Best Director include:http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/oscarlegacy/2000-present/index.html

• 2009: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
• 2008: Joel Cohen and Ethan Cohen, No Country for Old Men
• 2007: Martin Scorsese, The Departed
• 2006: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
• 2005: Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby
• 2004: Peter Jackson, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
• 2003: Roman Polanski, The Pianist
• 2002: Ron Howard, A Beautiful Mind
• 2001: Steven Soderbergh, Traffic
• 2000: Sam Mendes, American Beauty