The Empire Award for Best Director is an Empire Award presented annually by the British film magazine Empire to honor directors working within the film industry. The Empire Award for Best Director is one of five ongoing awards which were first introduced at the 1st Empire Awards ceremony in 1996 (the others being Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Film and Best British Film) with Danny Boyle receiving the award for his direction of Shallow Grave. Winners are voted by the readers of Empire magazine.