Linklater, Eastwood among US director award contenders

Fresh from his Golden Globes triumph, Boyhood filmmaker Richard Linklater is among the nominees for the Directors Guild of America awards announced on Tuesday, along with Clint Eastwood for American Sniper.

Wes Anderson, whose Grand Budapest Hotel won best musical/comedy film Globe recently, was also on the five-strong list, as well as Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman) and Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game).

The DGAs are seen as a reliable indicator of prospects for the Academy Awards, the climax of Hollywood's annual awards season, which is in full swing. In the last decade, all but one of the winners of the DGA's top prize went on to win the best director Oscar.