Best Director is one of the main category of Shanghai Film Critics Awards.
| Year | Winner | For | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Gao Qunshu Chen Kuo-fu | Messages | |
| 2008 | Feng Xiaogang | Assembly | |
| 2007 | Yin Li | The Knot | |
| 2006 | Peter Chan | Perhaps Love | |
| 2005 | Lu Chuan | Mountain Patrol | |
| 2004 | Peng Xiaolian | Shanghai Story | |
| 2002 | Saifu Mailisi | Heavenly Grassland | |
| 2000 | Xie Fei | Song of Tibet | |
| 1999 | Zhang Yimou | Not One Less | |
| Feng Xiaoning | The Legend of the Yellow River | ||
| 1998 | Li Shaohong | The Red Suit | |
| 1997 | Feng Xiaoning | A Tale of the Sacred Mountain | |
| 1996 | Xie Fei | A Mongolian Tale | |
| Huo Jianqi | Winner | ||
| 1995 | Zhou Xiaowen | Ermo | |
| 1994 | Li Qiankuan Xiao Guiyun | Chongqing Negotiation |