The San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Director is an award given by the San Diego Film Critics Society to honor the finest directing achievementes in filmmaking.
| Year | Winner | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Joel Coen | Fargo |
| 1997 | James Cameron | Titanic |
| 1998 | John Madden | Shakespeare in Love |
| 1999 | David Lynch | The Straight Story |
| Year | Winner | Film |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Cameron Crowe | Almost Famous |
| 2001 | Terry Zwigoff | Ghost World |
| 2002 | Jill Sprecher | Thirteen Conversations About One Thing |
| 2003 | Peter Jackson | |
| 2004 | Clint Eastwood | Million Dollar Baby |
| 2005 | Bennett Miller | Capote |
| 2006 | Clint Eastwood | Letters from Iwo Jima |
| 2007 | Paul Thomas Anderson | There Will Be Blood |
| 2008 | Danny Boyle | Slumdog Millionaire |
| 2009 | Quentin Tarantino | Inglourious Basterds |
| Year | Winner | Film | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Darren Aronofsky | Black Swan | |
| 2011 | Nicolas Winding Refn | Drive | |
| 2012 | Ben Affleck | Argo | |
| 2013 | Alfonso Cuarón | Gravity | |
| 2014 | Dan Gilroy | Nightcrawler | |
| 2015 | George Miller | ||
| 2016 | David Mackenzie | Hell or High Water | |
| 2017 | Greta Gerwig | Lady Bird | |
| 2018 | Debra Granik | Leave No Trace | |
| 2019 | Benny and Josh Safdie | Uncut Gems |
| Year | Winner | Film | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Chloé Zhao | Nomadland | |
| 2021 | Jane Campion | The Power of The Dog | |
| 2022 | Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert | Everything Everywhere All at Once | |
| 2023 | Martin Scorsese | Killers of the Flower Moon |