MUMBAI: The Directors Guild of America (DGA) has awarded Ben Affleck for helming the film Argo, a thriller that centers around the rescue of American hostages in Iran. French director Michel Hazanavicius presented the award to the 40-year-old director.

Also competing for the top director‘s award were Steven Spielberg for Lincoln, Kathryn Bigelow‘s Zero Dark Thirty, Tom Hooper for Les Miserables and Ang Lee for Life of Pi.

Affleck said, "I worked really hard to try to become the best director that I can be. I don‘t think that this makes me a real director but I think it means I‘m on the way."

Usually, the winner of the DGA prize also wins the Oscar for best director, but Affleck has not been nominated for an Oscar in this category though Argo has received as many as seven Oscar nominations including that of best picture.