Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón won the top honour from his peers at the Directors Guild of America for his blockbuster ‘Gravity’, cementing his position as an Oscar frontrunner.
“Well, this is truly an honour, I’m humbled, being recognised by your peers. Around directors – directors I’ve known for a long time – I still have this kind of teen crush and I get very nervous talking to them,” said Cuarón.
The award comes on top of director’s trophies Cuarón picked up at the Golden Globes and the Critics’ Choice.
He was up against Paul Greengrass for ‘Captain Phillips’, Steve McQueen for ’12 Years a Slave’, David O Russell for ‘American Hustle’ and former DGA laureate Martin Scorsese for ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’.
Oscar nominee Jehane Noujaim picked up an award for her highly praised documentary ‘The Square’, which documents the Egyptian Revolution.
“I’d like to dedicate this award to our fellow Egyptians, who are still in the streets fighting. Yesterday, our sound guy was arrested. People, as I speak, are still struggling,” she said.
The Oscar-nominated documentary has already been rewarded at the Sundance and Toronto film festivals.
The Directors Guild Awards is generally considered one of the most reliable barometres ahead of the Oscars, which will be announced on 2 March.
