Wilson Webb/Columbia Pictures
The2020 Oscar nominationswere announced Monday morning, and the Best Director nominees were lacking in diversity … again. Issa Rae, who announced the nominees with John Cho,put it perfectly when she said, “Congratulations to those men.”
The nominees for the award are majority white and all-male. The contenders for one of Hollywood’s most coveted awards include Bong Joon-ho forParasite,Sam Mendes for1917,Martin ScorseseforThe Irishman,Quentin TarantinoforOnce Upon a Time … in Hollywoodand Todd Phillips forJoker.
Noticeably absent from the list: women.
Greta Gerwig’sLittle Womenpicked up six nods, but Gerwig failed to land a directing nomination, even though her film was nominated for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. Additionally, Lulu Wang was not nominated for her direction ofThe Farewell, despite receiving critical acclaim throughout the 2020 awards season. Also snubbed? Lorene Scafaria forHustlers, Melina Matsoukas forQueen & Slimand Marielle Heller forA Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.
via GIPHY
Had the women been nominated for the category, they would have joined the sole five female nominees inthe Oscars‘ 92-year history. Here’s a look at the women who’ve been nominated for the award — and the one woman who took it home.
Lina Wertmüller was the first woman ever nominated for Best Director, for 1977’sSeven Beauties.
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Seventeen years later, in 1993, Jane Campion was nominated forThe Piano.
VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty
After almost two decades without a female directing nominee, the Academy nominated Campion for her work onThe Piano. Campion did not win the Best Director award, but did win for Best Screenplay.
(Fun fact: The film was a young Anna Paquin’s very first acting role, and she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance.)
Ten years later, Sofia Coppola was nominated forLost in Translationin 2003.
The film, which stars Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray, earned Coppola Best Director, Best Picture and Best Screenplay nods, making her the third woman nominated for the directing award. She did not take home the prize for Best Director, but did win for Best Screenplay.
Six years later, in 2010, Kathryn Bigelow won Best Director forThe Hurt Locker.
The first woman in Academy Awards history to take home the prize did so 82 years after the first Oscar was handed out.The Hurt Lockerwas nominated for nine awards that year. It walked away with six in total: Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Editing. When Barbra Streisandannounced Bigelow’s win, she aptly said, “Well, the time as come.”
Eight years later, in 2017, Greta Gerwig was nominated forLady Bird.
source: people.com
