European Film Award for Best Director
| European Film Award for Best Director | |
|---|---|
The 2025 recipient: Joachim Trier | |
| Awarded for | Best Achievement in Directing |
| Presented by | European Film Academy |
| First award | Wim Wenders Wings of Desire (1988) |
| Currently held by | Joachim Trier Sentimental Value (2025) |
| Website | europeanfilmacademy |
The European Film Award for Best Director is an award given out at the annual European Film Awards to recognize a director who has exhibited outstanding directing while working in a film industry. The award is presented by the European Film Academy (EFA) and was first presented in 1988 to German director Wim Wenders for Wings of Desire.
Michael Haneke is the director with most wins in the category with three, followed by Pedro Almodóvar, Paolo Sorrentino, Paweł Pawlikowski and Ruben Östlund, with two wins each. Almodóvar is the most nominated director with seven nominations for the award. Danish director Susanne Bier was the first female director to receive the award, winning for In a Better World in 2011.