The Directors Guild of America bestowed its top prize on Joel and Ethan Coen Saturday night for the filmmaking duo's gritty crime story No Country for Old Men.

The guild presented its best feature film trophy to the brothers at its annual gala in Los Angeles, giving the siblings a healthy lead toward a similar trophy at the upcoming Academy Awards.

Directors Ethan Coen, left, and Joel Coen pose with presenter Martin Scorsese after winning the best-picture prize for No Country for Old Men at Saturday's Directors Guild of America Awards in Los Angeles.
(Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press)

Since the directors union began presenting its annual awards more than 50 years ago, only a handful of times has its best feature film winner not gone on to win the best-director Oscar. No Country for Old Men, based on the Cormac McCarthy novel, is nominated for eight Academy Awards.

The Coens became only the second directing duo to win the guild honour, the first being Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise's shared trophies for 1961's West Side Story.

"It's nice to get the acknowledgment of critics and even audiences, but there is something about being acknowledged by people who do the same thing you do," said Joel Coen, who also revealed that he and his brother keep any film honours they receive in an "ego corner" in their office.

If Ethan is having a bad day, Joel continued, he will go and polish his medals "for an hour or two."

"This is a really big one, in every respect," he said of the directors guild trophy. "It's going to keep him busy."

Other winning directors celebrated at the untelevised ceremony included:

• Documentary: Asger Leth, Ghosts of Cité Soleil.
• Comedy series: Barry Sonnenfeld, Pushing Daisies.
• Dramatic serial: Alan Taylor, Mad Men.
• TV movie/miniseries: Yves Simoneau, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.
• Musical variety: Glenn P. Weiss, The 61st Annual Tony Awards.
• Reality program: Bertram Van Munster, The Amazing Race.
• Children's program: Paul Hoen, Jump In.
• Daytime serial: Larry Carpenter, One Life to Live.

The film awards season continues Sunday evening with the Screen Actors Guild Awards, which, unlike Saturday's directors ceremony, will be televised and a much glitzier affair.

The SAG Awards are one of just a few events this season granted waivers to allow currently striking Hollywood screenwriters to work on the show and to avoid picketing by the Writers Guild of America.

Though the striking writers and the major Hollywood studios returned to informal talks last week, the state of the upcoming Oscar broadcast — one of the biggest events on the U.S. television calendar each year — is still in question.

With files from the Associated Press