Silver Bear for Best Director

• Name — Silver Bear for Best Director • Subheader — Silberner Bär/Beste Regie • Awarded For — Best Achievement in Direction • Presenter — Berlin International Film Festival • Country — Germany • Year — 1956 • Holder — Grant Gee Everybody Digs Bill Evans (2026) • Website — http: www.berlinale.de/

The award was first presented in 1956. The prize was not awarded on five occasions (1969, 1971, 1973–74, and 1981). In 1970, no awards were given as the festival was called off mid-way due to the controversy over official selection film, o.k. by Michael Verhoeven, which led to the resignation of the international jury. At the 6th Berlin International Film Festival held in 1956, Robert Aldrich was the first winner of this award for his work on Autumn Leaves, Mario Monicelli has received the most awards in this category, with three. Satyajit Ray is the only director to win the award in consecutive years, for Mahanagar (1964) and Charulata (1965). One directing team has shared the award: Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross for The Road to Guantánamo (2006). Astrid Henning-Jensen became the first woman to win the award, for Winterborn (1979).

• Illustration — Akira Kurosawa won for The Hidden Fortress (1956) • Illustration — Satyajit Ray won twice for Mahanagar (1964) and Charulata (1965) • Illustration — Mario Monicelli won thrice Fathers and Sons (1957), Caro Michele (1976), and Il Marchese del Grillo (1982) • Illustration — Carlos Saura won twice for The Hunt (1966) and Peppermint Frappé (1968) • Illustration — Eric Rohmer won for Pauline at the Beach (1983) • Illustration — Richard Linklater won twice for Before Sunrise (1995) and Boyhood (2014) • Illustration — Paul Thomas Anderson won for There Will Be Blood (2007) • Illustration — Asghar Farhadi won for About Elly (2009) • Illustration — Wes Anderson won for Isle of Dogs (2018) • Illustration — Claire Denis won for Both Sides of the Blade (2022) • Illustration — Nelson Carlo De Los Santos Arias won for Pepe (2024) • Illustration — Huo Meng won for Living the Land (2025)

• Year — Director — English Title — Original Title • 1956 — Robert • 1957 — Mario • 1958 — Tadashi — Jun'ai Monogatari • 1959 — Akira — Kakushi toride no san akunin

• Year — Director — English Title — Original Title • 1960 — Jean-Luc • 1961 — Bernhard • 1962 — Francesco • 1963 — Nikos • 1964 — Satyajit — Mahānagar • 1965 — Satyajit — Cārulatā • 1966 — Carlos • 1967 — Živojin • 1968 — Carlos

• Year — Director — English Title — Original Title • 1972 — Jean-Pierre • 1975 — Sergei — Sto dney posle detstva • 1976 — Mario • 1977 — Manuel Gutiérrez • 1978 — Georgi • 1979 — Astrid

• Year — Director — English Title — Original Title • 1980 — István • 1982 — Mario • 1983 — Éric • 1984 — Costas • Ettore — Le Bal • 1985 — Robert • 1986 — Giorgi — Akhalgazrda kompozitoris mogzauroba • 1987 — Oliver • 1988 — Norman • 1989 — Dušan

• Year — Director — English Title — Original Title • 1990 — Michael • 1991 — Jonathan • Ricky • 1992 — Jan — sort |Il Capitano • 1993 — Andrew • 1994 — Krzysztof • 1995 — Richard • 1996 — Richard • Yim — Taiyang you er • 1997 — Eric • 1998 — Neil • 1999 — Stephen

• Year — Director — English Title — Original Title • 2000 — Miloš • 2001 — Lin • 2002 — Otar • 2003 — Patrice — Son frère • 2004 — Kim — Samaria • 2005 — Marc • 2006 — Michael and Mat • 2007 — Joseph — Beaufort • 2008 — Paul Thomas • 2009 — Asghar — Dar bāre-ye Elly

• Year — Director — English Title — Original Title • 2010 — Roman • 2011 — Ulrich • 2012 — Christian • 2013 — David Gordon • 2014 — Richard • 2015 — Radu • Malgorzata • 2016 — Mia • 2017 — Aki • 2018 — Wes • 2019 — Angela

• Year — Director — English Title — Original Title — Ref. Reference • 2020 — Hong — Domangchin yeoja • 2021 — Dénes • 2022 — Claire • 2023 — Philippe • 2024 — Nelson Carlo De Los Santos Arias — Pepe • 2025 — Huo Meng — Living the Land — 生息之地 • 2026 — Grant Gee — Everybody Digs Bill Evans

The following individuals received two or more Best Director awards: • Number of Wins — Director(s) — Nationality — Films • 3 — Mario Monicelli — Italy — Fathers and Sons (1957), Caro Michele (1976), Il Marchese del Grillo (1982) • 2 — Satyajit Ray — India — Mahanagar (1964), Charulata (1965) • Carlos Saura — Spain — The Hunt (1966), Peppermint Frappé (1968) • Richard Linklater — United States — Before Sunrise (1995), Boyhood (2014)