Martin Scorsese and Steve McQueen among DGA award nominees

Martin Scorsese earned his ninth Directors Guild of America Award nomination Tuesday morning for outstanding directorial achievement in feature film for “The Wolf of Wall Street,” his controversial dark comedy about a hedonistic stockbroker.

Scorsese, 71, received his first DGA feature nomination for 1976’s “Taxi Driver,” and won the honor for his 2006 crime film “The Departed.”

Earning his first nomination Tuesday is Alfonso Cuaron for his lost-in-space blockbuster “Gravity.” Cuaron, 52, was named best director by the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. for the thriller and is nominated for a Golden Globe Award.

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British filmmaker Paul Greengrass, 58, also is a first-time nominee for “Captain Phillips,” a fact-based thriller about a container ship hijacked by Somali pirates. Greengrass is also nominated for a Golden Globe for his direction of the film.

Steve McQueen, the 44-year-old British director, is also another first-time nominee for “12 Years a Slave,” an unflinching look at slavery in the U.S. McQueen is only the second black director to have received a DGA nomination in this category. Lee Daniels was the first to earn a DGA bid for feature film for 2009’s “Precious.” McQueen received best director honors from the New York Film Critics Circle and is nominated for Golden Globe and Independent Spirit awards.

Rounding out the DGA feature nominees is David O. Russell for his Abscam-influenced con-comedy “American Hustle.” Russell, 55, was nominated in this category for 2010’s “The Fighter.” He is also nominated for a Golden Globe for directing “Hustle.”

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Missing from the list are Spike Jonze for “Her”; Joel and Ethan Coen for “Inside Llewyn Davis”; and Alexander Payne for “Nebraska.”

The DGA and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have disagreed seven times on top director choices, including last year when the DGA selected Ben Affleck for best director for “Argo” and the academy, which didn’t even nominate Affleck in the director category, chose Ang Lee for “Life of Pi.”

The winner will be announced at the 66th awards dinner on Jan. 25 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

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