Cuaron wins at the Directors Guild for "Roma"; Cooper empty-handed

LOS ANGELES – Alfonso Cuarón was named best director by his peers on Saturday for his semi-autobiographical film "Roma", reinforcing his status as a favorite among others before the Oscars in three weeks.

At one of the last major Hollywood ceremonies before the Oscars on February 24, the Directors Guild of America (DGA) awarded the Mexican director his first prize for his critically acclaimed black-and-white film about an employee of house in the 1970s in Mexico.

"Roma" has 10 Oscar nominations, including Best Director and Best Picture.

The DGA Award is one of the best indicators of Oscar fame. Since 1948, all the winners of the DGA, with the exception of seven of them, have won the best director, Oscar, and often the first prize for the best film.

The DGA ceremony was another disappointing night for Bradley Cooper, the actor turned director of musical romance "A Star is Born".

Cooper made his debut as a director with the film, but also lost on Saturday the DGA Award for best feature film as well as that of the first director. The first director's award went to Bo Burnham for the "Eighth Grade" drama for young adults.

"A star is born" has received many nominations, including eight Oscar nominations, but neither the actress nor the main actress, Lady Gaga, have yet won major awards.

The long season of Hollywood awards has often proved contradictory and inconsistent this year.

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG), which many voters are also members of the Academy of Arts and Film Science, last month chose the musical "Bohemian Rhapsody" for its prize. But "Roma" and the British historical comedy "The Favorite", which also has 10 Oscar nominations, were not among the SAG's choices.

In January, the Producers Guild, also known for its success at the Oscars, chose the film "Green Book" of the 1960s, "The Green Paper", as the best film.

The DGA also awarded prizes for the television production, Adam McKay being chosen for the family drama series "Succession", Bill Hader for the humorous series "Barry" and Ben Stiller for the limited television series "Escape at Dannemora".