Alexander Payne (born February 10, 1961) is an Oscar-winning filmmaker whose work has helped define modern-day American cinema. He is best known for the features Election (1999), Sideways (2004), The Descendants (2011), About Schmidt (2002), Nebraska (2013) and The Holdovers (2023). His movies have ... garnered a total of 24 Academy Award nominations, including four times for Best Picture and three times for Best Director. He has won two Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay (Sideways, The Descendants), and two of his films have won the Golden Globe for Best Picture. His most recent film, The Holdovers, earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Da’Vine Joy Randolph. Five of his movies were shot at least partially in Nebraska, where he continues to live, dividing his time between there and Los Angeles. An Omaha native, Payne studied History and Spanish Literature at Stanford before earning an MFA in Film at UCLA. He serves on the boards of the Telluride Film Festival and The Film Foundation.
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| Organization | Category | Movie | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | Best Director | The Descendants | Nominated |
| Academy Awards | Best Director | Nebraska | Nominated |
| Golden Globes | Best Director | Sideways | Nominated |
| Golden Globes | Best Director | The Descendants | Nominated |
| Golden Globes | Best Director | Nebraska | Nominated |
| BAFTA Awards | Best Director | Sideways | Nominated |
| Spirit Awards | Best Director | Sideways | Won |
| BAFTA Awards | Best Director | The Descendants | Nominated |
| SAG Awards | Best Director | The Descendants | Won |
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