Clint Eastwood has earned himself a nomination for the Directors Guild of America awards with his real-life Iraq war drama American Sniper. The film has been praised by critics but until now had not been considered an awards season heavyweight. Recognition from the DGA could mean that 84-year-old Clint is also named when the Oscar nominees are announced on Thursday 15 January.
© Photo: Getty ImagesTwo-time DGA winner Clint joins fellow nominees Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel), Richard Linklater (Boyhood), Alejandro González Iñárritu (Birdman) and Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game). Noticeably absent from the list are Ava DuVernay for Selma and David Fincher for Gone Girl.
EXCLUSIVE AMERICAN SNIPER CLIP
The DGAs have correctly predicted the best director Oscar for 10 of the last 11 years. The winner of the prestigious prize will be announced on 7 February, ahead of the Academy Awards on 22 February.
Clint is no stranger to award success. He previously won Best Director Oscars for Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby and has directed five actors in Academy Award-winning performances; Gene Hackman in Unforgiven, Tim Robbins and Sean Penn in Mystic River and Morgan Freeman and Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby.
