Directing Award Dramatic

This is a list of winners for the Sundance Film Festival Directing Award for dramatic features.

Winners

1990s

• 1997: Morgan J. Freeman – Hurricane Streets^[1]
• 1998: Darren Aronofsky – Pi^[2][3]
• 1999: Eric Mendelsohn – Judy Berlin

2000s

• 2000: Karyn Kusama – Girlfight^[4][5]
• 2001: John Cameron Mitchell – Hedwig and the Angry Inch^[6][7]
• 2002: Gary Winick – Tadpole
• 2003: Catherine Hardwicke – Thirteen^[8]
• 2004: Debra Granik – Down to the Bone
• 2005: Noah Baumbach – The Squid and the Whale^[9]
• 2006: Dito Montiel – A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
• 2007: Jeffrey Blitz – Rocket Science
• 2008: Lance Hammer – Ballast
• 2009: Cary Joji Fukunaga – Sin Nombre

2010s

• 2010: Eric Mendelsohn – 3 Backyards
• 2011: Sean Durkin – Martha Marcy May Marlene
• 2012: Ava DuVernay – Middle of Nowhere^[10][11]
• 2013: Joey Soloway – Afternoon Delight
• 2014: Cutter Hodierne – Fishing Without Nets
• 2015: Robert Eggers – The Witch
• 2016: Daniels - Swiss Army Man^[12]
• 2017: Eliza Hittman – Beach Rats
• 2018: Sara Colangelo – The Kindergarten Teacher
• 2019: Joe Talbot – The Last Black Man in San Francisco^[13]

2020s

• 2020: Radha Blank – The Forty-Year-Old Version^[14]
• 2021: Sian Heder – CODA^[15][16]
• 2022: Jamie Dack – Palm Trees and Power Lines
• 2023: Sing J. Lee – The Accidental Getaway Driver
• 2024: Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio – In the Summers^[17]
• 2025: Rashad Frett – Ricky^[18]

International winners