Directors Guild Award nominations announced 2017

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Feature Film for 2016

• Damien Chazelle "La La Land" (Lionsgate)
• Garth Davis "Lion" (The Weinstein Company)
• Barry Jenkins "Moonlight" (A24)
• Kenneth Lonergan "Manchester by the Sea" (Amazon Studios and Roadside Attractions)
• Denis Villeneuve "Arrival" (Paramount Pictures)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director for 2016

• Garth Davis "Lion" (The Weinstein Company)
• Kelly Fremon Craig "The Edge of Seventeen" (STX Entertainment)
• Tim Miller "Deadpool" (Twentieth Century Fox)
• Nate Parker "The Birth of a Nation" (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
• Dan Trachtenberg "10 Cloverfield Lane" (Paramount Pictures)

Nate Parker's "The Birth of a Nation" was virtually shut out of every award nomination for 2016. His film was the early Oscar front runner, one year ago, when it debuted at "Sundance" to rave reviews and a $17 million distribution deal. An old rape charge and acquittal from Nate's college days surfaced and damaged the film. It opened in theaters last October 2016 nabbing $15 million on an $8 million dollar budget. (I saw it 4 times and glad Parker was nominated). The 69th annual DGA awards will be handed out Saturday Feb. 4, 2017.