Oscars 2025: All you need to know about the first-time nominees for Best Director at the Academy Awards

As the race to win the most coveted Best Director Award at the Academy Awards begins, many stand by their favourite movies and director’s from the list of nominations while others predict what can be the outcome. But what is interesting to note is that the names under the Best Director nomination list have made it there for the first time this year. From Jacques Audiard for Emilia Perez to Sean Baker for Anora, we give you a lowdown about all you need to know about these Oscars 2025 nominated directors.

All you need to know about the first time Best-Director Oscars 2025 nominees 

Starting with Jacques Audiard, who’s directorial Emilia Perez has been nominated to several categories, Audiard is not a new nominee at the Academy Awards as a whole. In 2010, his movie, A Prophet had reached the nominations for the Best Foreign Language Feature Film, but in 2025 Emilia Perez became one of the most loved movies bagging 13 nominations including Best Director and Best Actress. Interestingly, Audiard adapted his own opera libretto which went by the same name to direct this Spanish language, French crime musical starring Karla Sofia Gascon, Zoe Saldana, Selena Gomez and others in pivotal roles. His original libretto was inspired from a novel called Ecoute by Boris Razon. Emilia Perez follows the transition of a cartel leader into a woman as he prepares to go underground.

With a total of 10 nominations received at the Oscars 2025, The Brutalist by Brady Corbet is not far behind. This period drama starring Adrien Brody who is a Hungarian holocaust survivor and migrates to the USA to live his American dream, traverses through the ebb and flow journey of the protagonist to make his identity and achieve his goals, while moving on from the trauma of the past and  embracing the shock of the new. Corbet, himself has been an actor and director juggling both roles with finesse. He has been a part of films like Melancholia, Mysterious Skin etc and made his directorial debut with The Childhood of a Leader in 2015.

James Mangold’s versatility in treating several genres have given rise to films like Heavy, Cop Land, Girl, Interrupted, Logan, The Wolverine and others. In fact, he has been previously nominated to the Academy Awards for the Best Adapted Screenplay for Logan. This time around, Mangold’s latest directorial A Complete Unknown secured its place in the Oscars 2025 with eight nominations in different categories. A Complete Unknown is a musical biographical drawing from the life and works of celebrated musician Bob Dylan. Timothee Chalamet who also doubles up as producer stars as Dylan in the movie which traverses through his journey as a musician from the world of folk to the use of electronic instruments to produce music. Interestingly, the name of the movie, A Complete Unknown is also taken from Dylan’s 1965 song ‘Like a Rolling Stone’.

Earning itself six Academy Awards nominations Anora by Sean Baker is next on the list. This American comedy has been written, directed and produced and edited by Baker himself. Sean, who is an established voice in the field in upholding the narratives of the marginalized, has done it again by directing the movie about a sex worker and the son of a Russian Oligarch. The cast includes Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Yura Borisov, Karren Karagulian, Vache Tovmasyan, and many others.

Exploring one of the most interesting yet under-explored genres of film-making is Coralie Fargeat’s body-horror The Substance which is in the Oscars 2025 list with five notable nominations. Bringing into limelight the truth a lot about the life of a celebrity, The Substance traces the journey of a fading celebrity essayed by Demi Moore, who turns to a black market substance in order to create a young version of herself to suit the demands of the industry. However, things take a turn when side effects begin to show up. Fargeat’s attempt to reflect the bitter truth of the society where age isn’t actually just a number but a whole lot of things, earned her much praises and accolades.