‘The Revenant’ Wins Big at 2016 DGA Awards, Further Complicating the Oscar Race

After The Big Short took home the top prize at the Producers Guild Awards and Spotlight won the highest honor at the SAG Awards, the Oscar race seemed to be narrowing itself down to these two ensemble dramas. But in case you’ve forgotten that Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu’s The Revenant won Best Director and Best Motion Picture (Drama) at the Golden Globes, Iñárritu’s frontier revenge drama has now taken home the prize for Best Feature Film at the Directors Guild of America Awards, firmly cementing its place in the 2016 Oscar race.

The DGA Awards were held last night, where Iñárritu won top honors for the second year in a row, following his win last year for Birdman. Iñárritu’s showbiz drama starring Michael Keaton went on to win Best Picture at the Oscars not long after. This year’s Oscar race is a bit unpredictable, given Spotlight and The Big Short’s major wins from the PGA and SAG — not to mention that we still have The Martian, Brooklyn and Mad Max: Fury Road in contention for Best Picture, and any of those could still claim a surprise victory on February 28.

Iñárritu wasn’t the only big winner at the DGA Awards last night, with HBO’s Game of Thrones and Veep picking up honors and Alex Garland earning a prize for his directorial debut, Ex Machina. Here’s the full list of 2016 DGA Awards winners:

Feature Film
Alejandro González Iñárritu – The Revenant (WINNER)
Tom McCarthy – Spotlight
Adam McKay – The Big Short
George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road
Ridley Scott – The Martian

 

Documentary
Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi — Meru
Liz Garbus – What Happened, Miss Simone?
Alex Gibney – Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
Matthew Heineman – Cartel Land (WINNER)
Asif Kapadia – Amy

 

First-Time Feature Film Director
Fernando Coimbra – A Wolf at the Door
Joel Edgerton – The Gift
Alex Garland – Ex Machina (WINNER)
Marielle Heller – The Diary of a Teenage Girl
Laszlo Nemes – Son of Saul

 

Dramatic Series
Michael Engler – Downton Abbey, “Episode 8"
Leslie Linka Glatter – Homeland, “The Tradition of Hospitality”
David Nutter – Game of Thrones, “Mother’s Mercy” (WINNER)
Steven Soderbergh – The Knick, “Williams and Walker”
Matthew Weiner – Mad Men, “Person to Person”

 

Comedy Series
Chris Addison – Veep, “Election Night” (WINNER)
Louis C.K. – Louie, “Sleepover”
Mike Judge – Silicon Valley, “Binding Arbitration”
Gail Mancuso – Modern Family, “White Christmas”
Jill Soloway – Transparent, “Kino Hora”

 

Movies for TV and Miniseries
Angela Bassett – Whitney
Laurie Collyer – The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe
Paul Haggis – Show Me a Hero
Kenny Leon, Matthew Diamond – The Wiz Live!
Dee Rees – Bessie (WINNER) 

 

Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Regularly Scheduled Programming
Paul G. Casey – Real Time with Bill Maher, “#1334"
Dave Diomedi – The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, “Episode #325" (WINNER)
Don Roy King – Saturday Night Live, “Host: Tracy Morgan/Musical Guest: Demi Lovato”
Ryan McFaul and Amy Schumer – Inside Amy Schumer, “12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer”
Chuck O’Neil – The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, “Episode #20142"

 

Variety/Talk/News/Sports — Specials
Sofia Coppola – A Very Murray Christmas
Hamish Hamilton – The 87th Academy Awards
Don Roy King – Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special (WINNER)
Beth McCarthy Miller – Adele Live in New York City
Chris Rock – Amy Schumer: Live at the Apollo

 

Reality Programs
Brady Connell — The Great Christmas Light Fight, “Episode 304"
Ken Fuchs – Shark Tank, “702"
Steve Hryniewicz — Cutthroat Kitchen, “Superstar Sabotage Finale: It’s Raining Ramen”
Bertram Van Munster – The Amazing Race, “Bring the Fun, Baby”
Adam Vetri – Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Challenge, “Gods of War” (WINNER)

 

Children’s Programs
Paul Hoen – Invisible Skull
Joseph Mazzarino – Sesame Street, “The Cookie Thief”
Kenny Ortega – Descendants (WINNER)
Amy Schatz – Saving My Tomorrow, “Part 3"
Sasie Sealy — Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street, “Gortimer and the Vengeful Violinist”

 

Commercials
Juan Cabral, MJZ
Miles Jay, Smuggler
Tom Kuntz, MJZ
Andreas Nilsson, Biscuit Filmworks (WINNER)
Steve Rogers, Biscuit Filmworks