Oscar nominees should've won the Academy Award for Best Director

1927/8: (Comedy/Drama) King Vidor, Lewis Milestone: 2 Arabian Knights
1929/30: Lewis Milestone, All Quiet on the Western Front
1934: W.S. Van Dyke- The Thin Man/Frank Capra- It Happened One Night
1935: Frank Lloyd- Mutiny on the Bounty
1937: Frank Capra- Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
1938: William Deterle- The Life of Emilie Zola
1939: John Ford- Stagecoach
1940: John Ford- The Grapes of Wrath
1941: Orson Welles- Citizen Kane
1942: William Wyler– Mrs. Miniver
1943: Michael Curtiz– Casablanca
1944: Alfred Hitchcock- Lifeboat
1945: Alfred Hitchcock- Spellbound
1946: Frank Capra- It's a Wonderful Life
1947: Elia Kazan- Gentleman's Agreement
1948: John Huston- Tale of the Sierra Madre
1949: William Wyler- The Heiress
1950: Joseph L. Mankiewicz– All About Eve
1951: Carol Reed- The Third Man
1952: Fred Zinnermann- High Noon
1953: George Stevens- Shane
1954: Alfred Hitchcock- Rear Window
1955: Elia Kazan- East of Eden
1956: George Stevens- Giant
1957: Sidney Lumet- 12 Angry Men
1959: George Stevens- The Diary of Anne Frank
1960: Alfred Hitchcock- Psycho
1961: Federico Felini- La Dolce Vita
1962: David Lean- Lawrence of Arabia
1963: Federico Felini- 8 1/2
1964: Stanley Kubrick- Dr. Strangelove
1965: Hiroshi Teshigahara- The Woman in the Dunes
1966: Michelangelo Antonioni- Blowup
1967: Mike Nichols- The Graduate
1968: Stanley Kubrick- 2001: A Space Odyssey
1969: John Schlesinger- Midnight Cowboy
1970: Federico Felini- Satyricon
1971: Peter Bogdanovich- The Last Picture Show
1972: Francis Ford Coppola- The Godfather
1973: William Friedkin- The Exorcist
1974: Roman Polanski- Chinatown
1975: Stanley Kubrick- Barry Lyndon
1976: Sidney Lumet- Network
1977: George Lucas- Star Wars
1978: Michael Cimino- The Deer Hunter
1979: Francis Ford Coppola- Apocalypse Now
1980: Martin Scorsese- Raging Bull
1981: Steven Spielberg- Raiders of the Lost Ark
1982: Steven Spielberg- E.T. The Extra Terrestrial
1983: Mike Nichols- Silkwood
1984: Milos Forman- Amadeus
1985: Akira Kurosawa- Ran
1986: David Lynch- Blue Velvet
1987: Lasse Hallstrom- My Life as a Dog
1988: Martin Scorsese- The Last Temptation of Christ
1989: Peter Weir- Dead Poets Society
1990: Martin Scorsese- Goodfellas
1991: John Singleton- Boyz n the Hood
1992: Clint Eastwood- Unforgiven
1993: Steven Spielberg- Schindler's List
1994: Krysztof Kieslowski- Three Colors: Red
1996: Joel Coen - Fargo
1997: Gus Van Sant- Good Will Hunting
1998: Terrence Malick- The Thin Red Line
1999: Sam Mendes- American Beauty
2000: Ridley Scott- Gladiator
2001: David Lynch- Mulholland Drive
2002: Pedro Almodovar- Talk to Her
2003: Sofia Coppola- Lost in Translation
2004: Martin Scorsese- The Aviator
2005: Steven Spielberg- Munich
2006: Alejandro Gonzalez Irriantu- Babel
2007: Paul Thomas Anderson- There Will Be Blood
2008: Ron Howard- Frost/Nixon
2009: Quentin Tarantino- Inglourious Basterds
2010: Darren Aronofsky- Black Swan
2011: Terrence Malick- The Tree of Life
2012: Benh Zeitlin- Beasts of the Southern Wild
2013: Martin Scorsese- The Wolf of Wall Street