David di Donatello for Best Director

The David di Donatello Award for Best Director (Italian: David di Donatello per il miglior regista) is a film award presented annually by the Accademia del Cinema Italiano (ACI, Academy of Italian Cinema) to recognize the outstanding direction of a film director who has worked within the Italian film industry during the year preceding the ceremony.

[2] Nominees and winners are selected via runoff voting by all the members of the Accademia.

[3][4] Francesco Rosi is the record holder with six awards in the category, received from 1965 to 1997, followed by Mario Monicelli and Giuseppe Tornatore with four.

Below, winners are listed first in the colored row, followed by other nominees.

[1] The following individuals have won multiple Best Director awards:

Gianni Franciolini (right) was the first holder of the award, winning in 1956 for Roman Tales .
Federico Fellini won the award three times from 1957 to 1974, for Nights of Cabiria , La dolce vita , and Amarcord .
Michelangelo Antonioni won in 1961 for La notte .
Ermanno Olmi was nominated five times, winning three times over a span of four decades.
Vittorio De Sica won twice, in 1963 and 1965.
Pietro Germi (left) won twice for Seduced and Abandoned and The Birds, the Bees and the Italians .
Franco Zeffirelli won in 1969 for Romeo and Juliet and in 1972 for Brother Sun, Sister Moon .
Luchino Visconti won twice, for Death in Venice in 1971 and Ludwig in 1974.
Dino Risi won in 1975 for Scent of a Woman .
Mario Monicelli won four times from 1976 to 1990, every year he was nominated.
Ettore Scola won three times from 1978 to 1987, being nominated six times.
Marco Bellocchio won twice in 1980 and 2010.
Paolo and Vittorio Taviani won twice in 1983 and 2012.
Bernardo Bertolucci won in 1988 for The Last Emperor .
Giuseppe Tornatore won four times from 1996 to 2013, being nominated six times.
Roberto Benigni won in 1998 for Life is Beautiful .
Pupi Avati won in 2003 after six nominations.
Paolo Sorrentino won in 2005 for The Consequences of Love and in 2014 for The Great Beauty .
Nanni Moretti won in 2006 for The Caiman , after seven nominations.
Matteo Garrone won three times, in 2009, 2016 and 2019, for Gomorrah , Tale of Tales and Dogman .
Francesco Rosi won the award six times, more than everyone else, from 1965 to 1997.
Ferzan Özpetek is the most nominated director without any wins, being nominated six times from 2003 to 2017.