LOS ANGELES: The long takes of Alejandro Inarritu’s “Birdman” won out over the long production of Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood” at the Directors Guild Awards Saturday.

Both formally ambitious in very different ways, “Boyhood” and “Birdman” have been neck-in-neck throughout the awards race. But after dominating the acting and producing guild awards, Inarritu’s tale about a washed-up actor looking for some authenticity on the New York stage appears to have the edge in the lead up to the Oscars.

There are no sure things when it comes to Hollywood awards, but a DGA win at least makes Inarritu’s ascent to Oscar dominance nearly inevitable. The guild dispenses awards to directors in TV and movie categories, and only seven times in the history of the DGAs has a director not gone on to win the Academy Award.

“If this is considered a great film, it has nothing to do with me,” Inarritu said. “It is a miracle.”

In addition to Linklater, Inarritu beat out feature film nominees Wes Anderson (“The Grand Budapest Hotel“), Morten Tyldum (“The Imitation Game“) and Clint Eastwood (“American Sniper“) to win the film directing trophy. They’ll face off again Feb. 22 for the best director Oscar, with the exception of Eastwood, who was not nominated. Instead, “Foxcatcher” filmmaker Bennett Miller is up for that honor at the Academy Awards.

While the feature film category was undeniably male-dominated, women took the top prize in four of the evening’s 10 categories. Winners included Jill Soloway for the TV comedy “Transparent,” Lisa Cholodenko for the TV movie/minizeries “Olive Kitteridge,” Laura Poitras for the documentary “Citizenfour” and Lesli Linka Glatter for the TV drama “Homeland.”


“It’s been a good night for gals,” said Linka Glatter backstage. “I think when you see women get up to bat, they do pretty well.”