Director Alfonso Cuaron, center, poses in the press room holding a plaque for his feature film award for "Roma" with actors from the film Marina De Tavira, left, and Yalitza Aparicio at the 71st annual DGA Awards at the Ray Dolby Ballroom on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019, in Los Angeles. (Photo:AP)

Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron won the top film award for the monochromatic drama film "Roma" at the 71st Directors Guild of America (DGA) Awards held at the Hollywood and Highland Center here on Saturday night.

Cuaron picked up the Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film, beating out fierce rivals, including Bradley Cooper for "A Star Is Born," Spike Lee for "BlacKkKlansman," Adam McKay for "Vice," and Peter Farrelly for "Green Book."

Written and directed by Cuaron, the critically acclaimed autobiographical drama "Roma" follows the life of a live-in housekeeper to an upper middle-class family. The film won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival last year and took home two wins last month at the 76th Golden Globe Awards, including best foreign language film and best director. It also won four awards, including best director, at the 24th Critics' Choice Awards last month.

Cuaron is widely considered one of the front-runners in the best director category in this year's Academy Awards race. "Roma" led the race for the 91th Academy Awards, or the Oscars, with 10 nominations.

The DGA Awards are issued annually by the Directors Guild of America to honor outstanding directorial achievements in feature films, documentaries, television and commercials. The Directors Guild of America represents the interests of more than 17,500 film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad.