First African-American nod for DGA awards
First African-American nod for DGA awards
Friday, 08, Jan 2010 10:11
By Lewis Bazley.
Precious director Lee Daniels has become the first African-American to be nominated for the Directors' Guild of America (DGA) award.
Daniels, along with The Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow and Up in the Air's Jason Reitman, is one of three filmmakers earning their first DGA nomination, the guild announced on Thursday.
Quentin Tarantino - not a DGA member but nominated for Pulp Fiction in 1994 - and Avatar director James Cameron are also up for this year's prize.
Cameron won the prize in 1998 for multiple Oscar-winner Titanic.
This year's nominees were informed of their shortlisting by DGA president Taylor Hackford, with Daniels describing the phone call as a "surreal, humbling out-of-body experience".
Reitman, receiving his first DGA nomination with only his third film, told Variety: ""I can't even begin to explain how thrilled I am to be nominated by my fellow directors.
"I wanted to join the DGA from the moment I saw the membership card in my father [Ivan]'s wallet as a kid."
A nomination for the DGA award is typically a strong indicator of possible Oscar success, with only six winners failing to also claim the best picture Academy award since the DGA award's 1948 inception.
"The DGA Award is especially meaningful to directors because it is decided solely by their peers - the men and women who have been in the same trenches and know exactly what goes into the crafting of a unique motion picture," commented Hackford.
"The five nominees for this year have each expressed an indelible vision that transported audiences to vivid vistas of cinematic art."
The DGA feature award, as well as the guild's television, documentary and commercial prizes, will be presented at a Los Angeles ceremony on January 30th.