Mexican director Alejandro Inarritu has won the top feature film directing award from the Directors Guild of America for his work on The Revenant.

Inarritu won the same award last year for this direction of Birdman, a film about the struggles of a Hollywood actor. He won an Oscar for best directing for that film.

Inarritu competed against Tom McCarthy (Spotlight), Adam McKay (The Big Short), George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road) and Ridley Scott (The Martian).

The annual Directors Guild of America Awards can herald the eventual Oscar winners in the best director and picture categories.

The ceremony also offered a telling look at who is working behind the camera in Hollywood amid the industry's ongoing discussion about diversity.

Women comprise about 28% of nominees for the awards that recognise achievement in directing in various formats, from commercials to TV shows to feature films. There are 14 women and eight non-white nominees among the slate of 47 directors.

"I'm the only woman on both of the feature lists, so that feels like a lot of responsibility," said Marielle Heller, who joined the Directors Guild after making The Diary Of A Teenage Girl, for which she is nominated for achievement by a first-time feature filmmaker.

"I'm hoping that next year we'll be at least half of that list, and then by the next year, there shouldn't be any men on that list, right?"

Heller lost to Ex-Machina director Alex Garland in the inaugural category.