structural:expansion, quality:correction
1969–1979: Transition as a film director

Fosse directed five feature films. His first, Sweet Charity (1969) starring Shirley MacLaine, is an adaptation of the Broadway musical he had directed and choreographed. In 1972, Fosse directed his second theatrical film, Cabaret, starring Liza Minnelli, Michael York and Joel Grey. The film is based on the 1966 musical of the same name. In the traditional manner of musical theater, called an "integrated musical", every significant character in the stage version sings to express his or her own emotion and to advance the plot. In the film version, the musical numbers are entirely diegetic. The film focuses on a romance between Sally Bowles (Minnelli), who performs at the Kit Kat Klub, and a young British idealist, Brian Roberts, played by York. The story is set during the final decline of Weimar Germany. The film was an immediate success among audiences and critics alike. The film won eight Academy Awards, including Best Director. Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey both won Oscars for their roles in Cabaret. That same year they collaborated on the concert film Liza with a Z, earning Fosse an Emmy Award for both direction and choreography.

In 1973, Fosse's work on Pippin won him the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical. He was director and choreographer of Chicago in 1975, which also starred Verdon. In 1974, Fosse directed Lenny, a biographical film about the controversial standup comedian Lenny Bruce portrayed by Dustin Hoffman. Fosse was again nominated for Best Director, Hoffman also received a nomination for Best Actor. Fosse performed a song and dance in Stanley Donen 's 1974 film version of The Little Prince. According to AllMusic, "Bob Fosse stops the show with a slithery dance routine." In 1977, Fosse had a small role in the romantic comedy Thieves.

In 1979, Fosse co-wrote and directed a semi-autobiographical film All That Jazz (1979), starring Roy Scheider, which portrayed the life of a womanizing, drug-addicted choreographer and director in the midst of triumph and failure. Ann Reinking appears in the film as the protagonist's lover, protégée and domestic partner. All That Jazz won four Academy Awards, earning Fosse his third Oscar nomination for Best Director. It also won the Palme d'Or at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival. Vincent Canby of The New York Times described the film as "Mr. Fosse's answer to 8½ in which Federico Fellini wittily examined his own life at a point when he feared his creativity was at an end".