Though his name is absent from the list of nominees for the Best Director Oscar,** Argo**'s Ben Affleck was clearly the favoured choice of his peers at Saturday’s Directors Guild of America Awards.
"I don't think this makes me a real director, but I think it means I'm on my way," he quipped as he accepted the trophy. He beat out the likes of Kathryn Bigelow, Tom Hooper, Ang Lee and Steven Spielberg for the award. Also successful last night was Searching For Sugar Man’s Malik Bendjelloul.
On the TV front, Looper director Rian Johnson scored a welcome win for Breaking Bad (he’ll return to direct one more episode during the show’s final run) and Lena Dunham took home the comedy-directing prize for Girls.
Check out the list below.
FILM
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures
**Ben Affleck – **Argo
Kathryn Bigelow – Zero Dark Thirty
Tom Hooper – L**es Miserables
Ang Lee –* Life Of Pi*
Steven Spielberg – Lincoln
**Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary **
**Malik Bendjelloul – **Searching For Sugar Man
Alison Klayman – Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
David France – How To Survive A Plague
Kirby Dick – The Invisible War
Lauren Greenfield – The Queen Of Versailles
TV
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series
**Rian Johnson – *Breaking Bad
*Michael Cuesta – Homeland
Lesli Linka Glatter – Homeland
Jennifer Getzinger – Mad Men
Greg Mottola – The Newsroom
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series
**Lena Dunham – **Girls
Mark Cendrowski – The Big Bang Theory
Louis CK – Louie
Bryan Cranston – Modern Family
Beth McCarthy-Miller – 30 Rock
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Mini-series
**Jay Roach – **Game Change
Michael Rymer – American Horror Story: Asylum
Kevin Reynolds – H**atfields & McCoys
Philip Kaufman – Hemingway & Gellhorn
Greg Berlanti – Political Animals
Head to the DGA site for the full list of winners.