[6] That rule has since been amended, although the only director who has received multiple nominations in the same year was Steven Soderbergh for Erin Brockovich and Traffic in 2000, winning the award for the latter.

[7][8] The award has been criticised in recent years for failing to recognise female directors.

As of the 96th Academy Awards ceremony, British-American filmmaker Christopher Nolan is the most recent winner in this category for his work on Oppenheimer.

[12] For the first five ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned twelve months from August 1 to July 31.

[13] Since the 7th ceremony held in 1935, the period of eligibility became the full previous calendar year from January 1 to December 31.