64th annual DGA awards nominees- WOODY ALLEN Midnight in Paris (Sony Pictures Classics)
- DAVID FINCHER The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Columbia Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures)
- MICHEL HAZANAVICIUS The Artist (The Weinstein Company)
- ALEXANDER PAYNE The Descendants (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
- MARTIN SCORSESE Hugo (Paramount Pictures)
Only six times since the DGA Awards began in 1948 has the winner not gone on to win the corresponding Best Director Oscar.
Big names missing out are Steven Spielberg (War Horse), Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life), Bennett Miller (Moneyball) and Tate Taylor (The Help).