Damien Chazelle has been named the best feature-film director of 2016 by the Directors Guild of America, a win that reinforces the frontrunner status of his musical “La La Land” at the Oscars. Chazelle was the clear favorite going into the DGA show, where he was competing against his fellow Oscar nominees Barry Jenkins , Kenneth Lonergan and Denis Villeneuve , and against Garth Davis for “Lion.”