MOVIES

Alfonso Cuaron's 'Roma' wins Directors Guild's top prize, fueling Oscar momentum

The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES – "Roma" director Alfonso Cuaron has won the top honor from the Directors Guild of America and solidified his spot as the Oscar front-runner.

Cuaron won out over Spike Lee for "BlacKkKlansman," Bradley Cooper for "A Star Is Born," Peter Farrelly for "Green Book" and Adam McKay for "Vice" at the 71st DGA Awards Saturday night in Los Angeles.

Since 1948, there has been only seven times that the DGA winner did not take the Academy Award for directing.

It's the second DGA Award for Cuaron, who won for "Gravity" in 2013, and the second foreign-language winner, after Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."

Alfonso Cuaron took the top prize at Saturday's Directors Guild of America Awards. Next stop: The Academy Awards.

McKay did win a prize for his HBO show "Succession," and "Eighth Grade" director Bo Burnham received the first-time feature award.

"Roma" leads the Academy Awards nominations with 10, including best picture, director, actress and supporting actress, tying with 18th-century costume farce "The Favourite."

Contributing: Kim Willis