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The Directors Guild of America announced the winners of the 2001 Outstanding Directorial Achievement Awards at a ceremony held on March 9, 2002 at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. The 54th Annual DGA Awards was hosted by Carl Reiner and attracted a record number of guests. Presenters at the Awards Ceremony included Russell Crowe, Halle Berry, Josh Hartnett, Ang Lee, Sir Ian McKellen, Will Smith and Nicole Kidman.

This year's winner for Best Directorial Achievement in a Feature Film went to "A Beautiful Mind" helmer, Ron Howard. Howard had stiff competition for the honor, going against Peter Jackson ("The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring"), Baz Luhrmann ("Moulin Rouge"), Christopher Nolan ("Memento"), and Ridley Scott ("Black Hawk Down").

The DGA Awards are a strong barometer of who will walk away with the year's Academy Award^® for Best Director. Since the DGA Award's inception in 1949 only five times has the winner not gone on to receive the Best Director Oscar: