Which Best Picture winner was directed by Ben Affleck but did not earn him a Best Director nomination? The answer is Argo.
Argo is Ben Affleck’s 2012 historical thriller about the “Canadian Caper,” a real CIA operation during the Iran hostage crisis. Affleck directed the film and played Tony Mendez, the CIA technical operations officer who devised a plan to disguise six American diplomats as members of a science-fiction film crew scouting locations in Iran.
At the 85th Academy Awards, Argo won Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing. Affleck was not nominated for Best Director, despite receiving major directing honors elsewhere, including the Directors Guild of America award and the Golden Globe for Best Director.
That omission made Argo a famous Oscar anomaly. It became only the fourth Best Picture winner to win without a corresponding Best Director nomination, following Wings, Grand Hotel, and Driving Miss Daisy. The film’s tense airport escape is dramatized, and several historical details were altered for suspense.