Ben Affleck Nominated for Highest Director's Honor

The nominations for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2012 have been announced by the Director's Guild of America, and Argo helmer Ben Affleck has found himself amid some very distinguished company. Read on to see who else was nominated…

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In addition to Affleck's first-ever DGA affirmation for his third directorial outing, Steven Spielberg was nominated for Lincoln (his eleventh nomination; he won the DGA Award three times for Saving Private Ryan (1998), Schindler's List (1993) and 1985's The Color Purple), Kathryn Bigelow was nominated for Zero Dark Thirty (her second nom; she won in 2009 for The Hurt Locker), Tom Hooper was nominated for Les Misérables (also his second nom; he won for The King's Speech in 2010), and Ang Lee earned his fourth nom for Life of Pi (he in 2005 for Brokeback Mountain and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in 2000).

Of the nominations, Guild President Taylor Hackford said, "DGA members have chosen an incredibly rich and varied group of filmmakers to nominate for this year's Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film Award. These directors represent the highest standard of filmmaking, and their films are a testament to artistic achievement, innovative storytelling and the passion that filmmakers share with their audiences. Being nominated by their peers is what makes this award particularly meaningful for directors, and I congratulate all of the nominees for their outstanding work."

In response to his nom, Spielberg tells ET, "The privilege of making Lincoln, combined with this absolutely tremendous recognition from my peers, is humbling. I thank everyone for including me on this short list of extremely unique and gifted filmmakers."

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The top director will be named at the 65th Annual DGA Awards Dinner on Saturday, February 2, 2013 at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland in Los Angeles.