In recent weeks the Director race has really started to shape up, with the race realistically narrowing down to eight filmmakers. Absolute shoe-ins for a nomination at this point are the directors who have helmed the three frontrunners, Paul Thomas Anderson (“One Battle After Another”), Chloe Zhao (“Hamnet”), and Ryan Coogler (“Sinners”).
The final two slots are become increasingly difficult to predict, as during my last predictions back in September I had International filmmakers Joachim Trier and Jafar Panahi rounding out the nominees. However, in recent weeks, the pair have both missed out on DGA nominations, with Josh Safdie and Guillermo Del Toro proving to be more successful with the guilds, plus Panahi remarkably missed out on the BAFTA longlist, as well as Del Toro. I would consider the aforementioned filmmakers to be the top seven, but I cannot rule out Kleber Mendonca Filho for “The Secret Agent” which is surging at the right time ahead of the nominations, having won Golden Globes for International Feature and Drama Actor last week.
Final Director predictions:
Strong Contenders
- Paul Thomas Anderson “One Battle After Another”
- Chloe Zhao “Hamnet”
- Ryan Coogler “Sinners”
- Joachim Trier “Sentimental Value”
- Josh Safdie “Marty Supreme”
Possible Contenders
- Jafar Panahi “It Was Just an Accident”
- Guillermo del Toro “Frankenstein”
- Kleber Mendonca Filho “The Secret Agent”
- Yorgos Lanthimos “Bugonia”
- Park Chan-wook “No Other Choice”
Nominations for the 98th Academy Awards are announced Thursday 22nd January
Dan Loves Film 
Leave a comment