Alfonso Cuaron was named best director by his peers on Saturday for semi-autobiographical film Roma, cementing his front-runner status before the Oscars in three weeks.
In one of the last major Hollywood ceremonies before the Oscars on February 24, the Directors Guild of America (DGA) awarded its top prize to the Mexican director for his critically acclaimed black-and-white movie about a domestic worker in 1970s Mexico.
Roma has 10 Oscar nominations, including Best Director and Best Picture.
The DGA award is one of the top indicators of Oscar glory. All but seven of the DGA winners since 1948 have gone on to win the Best Director Oscar and often the top prize of Best Picture.
The DGA ceremony proved another disappointing night for Bradley Cooper, the actor-turned-director behind musical romance A Star is Born.
Cooper made his directorial debut with the movie, as well as acting in it, but on Saturday he lost both the DGA award for Feature Film as well as the prize for First-Time Feature Film director, which went to Bo Burnham for young adult drama Eighth Grade.
A Star is Born has garnered multiple nominations, including eight Oscar nods, but neither Cooper nor lead actress Lady Gaga have secured any major awards so far.
Hollywood's long awards season has often proved contradictory and inconsistent this year.
The Screen Actors Guild, many of whose voters are also members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, last month selected Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody for its top award. But Roma and British historical comedy The Favourite, which also has 10 Oscar nominations, were not among the SAG choices.
The Producers Guild, also a reliable bellwether of Oscar success, in January chose 1960s road-trip film Green Book as its top movie.
The Directors Guild also handed out prizes for television directing, with Adam McKay chosen for Dramatic Series for corporate family drama series Succession, Bill Hader for Comedy Series with Barry and Ben Stiller for Movies for Television and Limited Series for Escape at Dannemora.
