The BAFTA Award for Best Direction, formerly known as David Lean Award for Achievement in Direction, is a British Academy Film Award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to a film director for a specific film. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) is a British organisation that hosts annual awards shows for film, television, children's film and television, and interactive media. Since 1968, selected films have been awarded with the BAFTA award for Best Direction at an annual ceremony. In the following lists, the titles and names in bold with a gold background are the winners and recipients respectively; those not in bold are the remaining nominees. The winner is also the first name listed in each category.

History

The award was originally known as David Lean Award for Achievement in Direction, in honour of British director David Lean. There are no records showing any nominations, or a winner, for this award at the 39th British Academy Film Awards, presented in 1986 for films released in 1985.

Winners and nominees

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1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Multiple wins and nominations

Multiple nominations

Multiple wins