All three key Oscar contenders have been named in the five-strong shortlist for this year’s Directors Guild of America awards. The DGAs have diverged from the Academy Awards’ top prize only seven times since 1948, meaning the victor this year will be cemented as the Oscars frontrunner.

Damien Chazelle is up for La La Land, alongside Barry Jenkins for Moonlight, Kenneth Lonergan for Manchester By the Sea, Denis Villeneuve for Arrival and Garth Davis for Lion – with the first two being the most heavily tipped to win.

Davis is also named in the debut directors list, alongside Tim Miller for Deadpool, Kelly Fremon Craig for The Edge of Seventeen, Dan Trachtenberg for 10 Cloverfield Lane and Nate Parker for The Birth of a Nation.

Parker’s inclusion has raised some eyebrows: the writer/director/star of The Birth of a Nation had been predicted to progress to major awards glory, until the resurfacing of rape allegations last summer was thought to have all but kiboshed his chances.

Notable snubs were Martin Scorsese and Clint Eastwood (who were both also overlooked by the Globes and Baftas), as well as Denzel Washington for Fences and Mel Gibson for Hacksaw Ridge.

Last year’s DGA award went to Alejandro González Iñárritu for The Revenant; Iñárritu went on to win the best director Oscar, but The Revenant was pipped at the post for best picture by Tom McCarthy’s Spotlight. The 2016 best debut director award went to Alex Garland for Ex Machina.

The winners will be announced on 4 February.

Full list of nominations

Best director

Damien Chazelle, La La Land

Garth Davis, Lion

Barry Jenkins, Moonlight

Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester By the Sea

Denis Villeneuve, Arrival

Best debut director

Garth Davis, Lion

Kelly Fremon Craig, The Edge of Seventeen

Tim Miller, Deadpool

Nate Parker, The Birth of a Nation

Dan Trachtenberg, 10 Cloverfield Lane

Best director, documentary

Otto Bell, The Eagle Huntress

Ezra Edelman, OJ: Made in America

Josh Kriegman & Elyse Steinberg, Weiner

Raoul Peck, I Am Not Your Negro

Roger Ross Williams, Life, Animated

Best director, TV series (drama)

The Duffer Brothers, Stranger Things

Ryan Murphy, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

Jonathan Nolan, Westworld

Miguel Sapochnik, Game of Thrones

John Singleton, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

Best director, TV series (comedy)

Alec Berg, Silicon Valley

Donald Glover, Atlanta

Mike Judge, Silicon Valley

Becky Martin, Veep

Dale Stern, Veep

Best director, TV movie or mini-series

Raymond De Felitta, Madoff

Thomas Kail and Alex Rudzinski, Grease Live!

Kenny Leon & Alex Rudzinski, Hairspray Live!

Jay Roach, All the Way

Steven Zaillian, The Night Of

Best director, variety/talk/news/sports TV series

Paul G. Casey, Real Time With Bill Maher

Nora Gerard, CBS Sunday Morning

Jim Hoskinson, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert

Don Roy King, Saturday Night Live

Best director, variety/talk/news/sports TV special

Paul Pennolino, Full Frontal With Samantha Bee

Jerry Foley, Tony Bennett Celebrates 90 – The Best is Yet to Come

Tim Mancinelli, The Late Late Show With James Corden

Linda Mendoza, Smithsonian Salutes Ray Charles: In Performance at the White House

Paul Myers, Full Frontal With Samantha Bee

Glenn Weiss, The 70th Annual Tony Awards

Best director, reality TV show

Ken Fuchs, Shark Tank

John Gonzalez, Live PD

Brian Smith, Strong

J. Rupert Thompson, American Grit

Bertram van Munster, The Amazing Race

Best director, children’s TV show

Liz Allen, The Kicks

Althea Jones, Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street

Michael Lembeck, A Nutcracker Christmas

Tina Mabry, An American Girl Story – Melody 1963: Love Has to Win

John Schultz, Adventures in Babysitting

Best director, TV commercials

Lance Acord

Dante Ariola

Fredrik Bond

Derek Cianfrance

AG Rojas