LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Steve McQueen has gained his first Directors Guild nomination for his grimly historic saga, “12 Years a Slave,” substantiating the British director’s place as a top contender at the Academy Awards.

If McQueen is the DGA winner, he will be the first black director to earn the guild’s feature film accolade.

Other first-time nominees announced Tuesday were Alfonso Cuaron for his lost-in-space odyssey “Gravity” and Paul Greengrass for his Somali pirate thriller “Captain Phillips.”

Past nominee David O. Russell also received a bid for his con-artist tale “American Hustle.”

Earning his eleventh DGA nomination, Martin Scorsese gained a nod for his high-finance extravaganza, “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

Winners of the 66th annual Directors Guild Awards will be announced at a dinner Jan. 25 in Los Angeles.