Alfonso Cuaron

Cuaron took home the Oscar for best director (as well as best film editing) in 2014 for his space epic, Gravity.

See more Oscars: 10 Most Nominated Actors

Ang Lee

Lee has won the Oscar for best director twice — in 2006 for Brokeback Mountain and in 2013 for Life of Pi.

Anthony Minghella

The British director took home the gold statuette in 1997 for his work on The English Patient.

Clint Eastwood

The actor-director has scored the Oscar for best director twice: Unforgiven in 2003 and Million Dollar Baby in 2005.

See more Oscars: 10 Most Nominated Movies (Photos)

Joel and Ethan Coen

The Coen brothers snagged a best director win for No Country for Old Men in 2008.

Danny Boyle

Boyle won the Oscar for best director in 2009 for Slumdog Millionaire.

James Cameron

Cameron nabbed the trophy for best director for his work on the 1997 classic Titanic, which scored a total of eleven Oscars at the 1998 ceremony.

Jonathan Demme

Demme's iconic thriller Silence of the Lambs earned him the Oscar for best director in 1992.

See more Oscars: 10 Animals Who Deserve Academy Awards (Photos)

Kathryn Bigelow

Bigelow became the first woman to ever win the Academy Award for best director when she took home the title in 2010 for The Hurt Locker.

Martin Scorsese

Scorsese took home the award for best director in 2007 for his work on the thriller film The Departed.

Mel Gibson

The actor and filmmaker scored the Oscar for Braveheart, which he both directed and starred in.

Michel Hazanavicius

The French director was awarded the gold statuette in 2012 for The Artist.

See more Oscars: 20 Best Actor Winners of Past Years (Photos)

Peter Jackson

Best known for his work on the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Jackson won the Oscar for best director for the third and final installment The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2004.

Robert Zemeckis

Zemeckis won the Oscar for best director for Forrest Gump in 1995. 

Roman Polanski

The Polish filmmaker won the Oscar for best director for his war film The Pianist in 2003. Though he wasn't physically present at the awards ceremony that year, presenter Harrison Ford accepted the award on his behalf.

See more Oscars: 10 Record-Holding Winners and Nominees (Photos)

Ron Howard

Howard was awarded the Oscar in 2002 for the biographical film A Beautiful Mind.

Sam Mendes

Mendes' first feature film, American Beauty, earned him his first Academy Award in 2000.

Steven Soderbergh

Soderbergh took home the trophy in 2001 for his role as director of the crime drama Traffic.

Steven Spielberg

Spielberg has won the Oscar for best director on two occasions — in 1994 for Schindler’s List and in 1999 for Saving Private Ryan.

See more Oscars: 10 Films With a Ton of Nominations That Won Zero (Photos)

Tom Hooper

Hooper's first nomination and first win in the category came in 2010 for The King’s Speech.