Historically, women have made history at the Oscars but this time around, there may be a setback. For the first time in 3 years, there are no female directors nominated at the Academy Awards.
Nominations for the 95th Oscars was announced earlier this week, and although several actresses made history with their first-time nominations in different categories, the director’s category has been dominated by men.
The group of male directors lumped in the category is somewhat of a setback, after having strong female representation in this category over the last few years. In 2021, Chloé Zhao became the second female director and the first-ever woman of colour to win an Oscar for Best Director, for her 2020 feature Nomadland. Her win was followed the next year by Jane Campion for her 2021 film, The Power of the Dog.
Before that, the only other female filmmaker to win an Academy Award for Best Director is Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker in 2010.
The organisation Women in Film (WIF) said:
“Once again, Academy voters have shown that they don’t value women’s voices, shutting us out of the Best Director nominations. An Academy Award is more than a gold statue, it’s a career accelerator that can lead to continued work and increased compensation.”
“That’s why WIF will continue to advocate for the work of talented women directors like Sarah Polley’s Women Talking, Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Woman King, Maria Schrader’s She Said, Chinonye Chukwu’s Till, and Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun to be included.”
Once again, Academy voters have shown that they don’t value women’s voices, shutting us out of the Best Director nominations. An Academy Award is more than a gold statue, it’s a career accelerator that can lead to continued work and increased compensation. #VoteForWomen pic.twitter.com/uCMtPRA8go
— WIF (@WomenInFilm) January 24, 2023
Women who were believed to be the front runners in the Best Director category this year, according to several Oscars prognostication sites, included Sarah Polley for Women Talking and Gina Prince-Bythewood for The Woman King.
The Nominees for Best Director
Martin McDonagh for The Banshees of Inisherin
Steven Spielberg for The Fablemans
The Daniels for Everything Everywhere All At Once
Todd Field for Tár
Ruben Östlund for Triangle of Sadness
Stay tuned for more Oscars buzz!
ALSO SEE:
The story behind the women who are breaking Oscars nomination barriers
Featured Image: Instagram / @tyrese
