NEW YORK (AP) — Paul Thomas Anderson won the top prize at the 78th Directors Guild Awards, putting the “One Battle After Another” filmmaker on track to potentially win his first Oscar.

The DGA Awards, held Saturday night at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, are one of the most reliable bellwethers of the Academy Awards. In the last ten years, nine DGA winners have won best director at the Oscars. In the union's nearly eight-decade history, only eight times has the union not predicted the Oscar winner.

The award adds to a virtual awards-season sweep for “One Battle After Another,” which has won with critics groups, the Gotham Awards and the Golden Globes. It is considered the favorite for best picture at the Oscars on March 15. Academy voting begins February 26.

The other nominees were Ryan Coogler of “Sinners,” Guillermo Del Toro of “Frankenstein,” Josh Safdie of “Marty Supreme,” and Chloé Zhao of “Hamnet.”

Anderson, as he has often done during awards season, in his brief speech paid tribute to the late assistant director Adam Somner, who died in 2024. “Obviously,” he said, “we're up here, minus one.”

The awards, presented by Kumail Nanjiani, were the first under the leadership of new Directors Guild of America president Christopher Nolan. He began the ceremony by acknowledging “very difficult times” for filmmakers.

“In 2024, employment in our union was down about 40%, and that was followed by another decline in '25,” Nolan said. “The amount of money that people spend on our work, on entertainment, is very, very stable. Audiences are interested in us, we have to make sure we can return that investment.”

Other winners on Saturday included “The Plague” filmmaker Charlie Polinger as first-time director; director of the PBS and Associated Press Frontline documentary “2000 Meters to Andriivka” Mstyslav Chernov for best documentary direction; and “The Studio” directors Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg for comedy series.