The Directors Guild of America (DGA) nominations are out, and Denis Villeneuve is nowhere to be found.


  • A Complete Unknown – James Mangold
  • Anora – Sean Baker
  • Conclave – Edward Berger
  • Emilia Pérez – Jacques Audiard
  • The Brutalist – Brady Corbet


Because Dune: Part Two was such a blockbuster, some might dismiss it, and thus Villeneuve, from awards consideration. But that feels a bit foolish.


The Artist And The Technician

Directors tend to fall into two categories. You have artists and you have technicians. Stanley Kubrick? Artist. The Russo Brothers? Technicians. Jane Campion? Artist. Shawn Levy? Technician.

One isn’t better than the other, as they’re usually two completely separate skill sets. Artists tend to make more nuanced, thoughtful pictures that push boundaries with their creativity and dynamism. While technicians manage huge blockbuster films that have a million moving parts, tremendous budgets, and cater to mass-appeal.

The uniqueness of the artistic approach tends to earn those movies more award recognition (though less audience interest) than the often safer product that is the blockbuster.


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The Parallel Between Villeneuve And Nolan

The thing about Denis Villeneuve is that he started quite firmly in that “artist” category. His early films, like Polytechnique, Incendies, Prisoners, Enemy, and Sicario were all artful works that earned him an incredible amount of loyalty from movie fans.

Much like Christopher Nolan, Villeneuve brought his artistic sensibilities to the blockbuster. First with Arrival. Then Blade Runner 2049, Dune, and Dune: Part Two. Nolan won Best Director at the 76th DGA Awards because Oppenheimer was a perfect combination of the two approaches. Mass-appeal, big-budget, nuanced, creative.

That combination of qualities is the same reason James Cameron won the award at the 50th (Titanic), Spielberg at the 51st (Saving Private Ryan), and Peter Jackson at the 56th (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King).

Our Take On Villeneuve’s Lack Of Nomination

For Villenueve to not be nominated is actually kind of crazy. Especially since the DGA nominated Dune in 2022. I would argue that Part Two is superior in almost every way.


Personally, I’d remove Emilia Pérez and Conclave from the nominations and replace them with Dune: Part Two and Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance. Pérez has come under continued criticism for its portrayal of its subjects. And while Conclave is a solid film, it just pales in comparison to the scope and scale of Dune: Part Two and the madness and creativity of The Substance. I still view The Substance as the best movie of 2024.

Overall, the DGA not including Dune: Part Two feels like a reminder of how disrespected genre films still are. Whether it’s sci-fi, horror, fantasy, action, or superhero movies. When The Lord of the Rings won Best Picture at the Oscars, it seemed like maybe things could change. But award voters continue to overlook and disrespect genre pictures. If Dune: Part Two doesn’t merit consideration, what will?