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The Directors Guild of America on Saturday night handed its top prize for feature-film directing to Christopher Nolan<\/a> for his hit biopic, \u201cOppenheimer<\/a>,\u201d starring Cillian Murphy as the physicist who helped design the atomic bomb. This is the latest major trophy Nolan\u2019s film has won, after taking top honors from the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards last month.<\/p>\n \u201cThe idea that my peers would think that I deserve this means everything to me,\u201d the 53-year-old director said in his acceptance speech.<\/p>\n Though this is Nolan\u2019s first DGA win, he is a favorite of the guild and has received four other nominations that stretch back to his 2001 breakthrough, \u201cMemento.\u201d This year he was up against the filmmakers Greta Gerwig (\u201cBarbie\u201d), Yorgos Lanthimos (\u201cPoor Things\u201d), Alexander Payne (\u201cThe Holdovers\u201d) and Martin Scorsese, whose nod for \u201cKillers of the Flower Moon\u201d \u2014 his 11th from this group \u2014 made him the guild\u2019s second-most-nominated filmmaker after Steven Spielberg.<\/p>\n Nolan is widely considered the front-runner for the best director Oscar, a bid that was only strengthened by his victory here, since the DGA winner has gone on to take home the Oscar 18 of the last 20 times. At the Academy Awards next month, he\u2019ll once again face off against Scorsese and Lanthimos, though Oscars voters swapped Gerwig and Payne for Justine Triet (\u201cAnatomy of a Fall\u201d) and Jonathan Glazer (\u201cThe Zone of Interest\u201d).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Judd Apatow, who hosted the DGA Awards, alluded to Gerwig\u2019s headline-making Oscar snub<\/a> in a joke about how things could have been worse: \u201cI\u2019ve never even been mentioned in an article about the people who got snubbed!\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The DGA prize for the best first-time director went to Celine Song, whose romantic drama, \u201cPast Lives<\/a>,\u201d was nominated for best picture at the Oscars. This award has gone to a female filmmaker three years in a row, a first for this organization, with Song following in the footsteps of Charlotte Wells (\u201cAftersun\u201d) and Maggie Gyllenhaal (\u201cThe Lost Daughter\u201d).<\/p>\n \u201cThe best way I can honor this incredible recognition for my very first film is to promise that I\u2019ll keep directing films as best as I can for as long as I can,\u201d Song said. \u201cI\u2019m going to keep going. Thank you so much!\u201d<\/p>\n Here are the top winners. For the complete list, including reality shows and children\u2019s programming, go to dga.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n Feature<\/strong><\/p>\n Christopher Nolan, \u201cOppenheimer\u201d<\/p>\n Read an interview with the director.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n First-Time Feature<\/strong><\/p>\n Celine Song, \u201cPast Lives\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Read our review.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Documentary<\/strong><\/p>\n Mstyslav Chernov, \u201c20 Days in Mariupol\u201d<\/p>\nFilm<\/span><\/h3>\n