10 Best Directors That Have Never Won An Oscar

10. David Lynch

David Lynch makes some seriously weird movies. They aren’t going to break box office records or spawn multi movie franchises; they’re just engaging, compelling tales which demand your full attention.

In short, he makes the kind of movies the Academy really should be recognising. Movies which take effort, craft, dedication, and a little bit of bonkers brilliance to pull off. Unfortunately though, despite making some of the greatest cult movies ever, David Lynch has never been awarded Best Director at the Oscars.

He’s been nominated for Best Director three times, but even that ignores some of his greatest movies. Mulholland Drive, Blue Velvet and The Elephant Man earned him nods, with his writing for The Elephant Man also getting nominated without winning.

Eraserhead is not the Academy’s type of movie, and Dune was terribly received at the time before going on to critical acclaim later. Wild At Heart though seemed to be the type to pique the Academy’s interest, but alas not.

David Lynch isn’t the kind of director who seems to care much about awards; if he did, he’d make movies geared towards them. Still, it seems grossly unfair that the Academy have ignored him.