Greta Gerwig photographed on the red carpet of the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 05, 2020 in Beverly Hills, California.
Barcroft Media
Only five women have ever been nominated for best director at the Academy Awards. On Monday, that number remained the same.
The slate of 2020 Oscar contenders for the directing prize includes Martin Scorsese (“The Irishman”), Todd Phillips (“Joker”), Sam Mendes (“1917”), Quentin Tarantino (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”) and Bong Joon Ho (“Parasite”), five incredibly talented male directors.
There’s no doubt that their nominations are well-deserved, after all, Scorsese, Mendes and Tarantino are highly regarded in the industry, but, the lack of female directors has been a sore spot for many in recent years.
“Congratulations to those men,” Issa Rae (“Insecure”) said after announcing the nominees for best director on Monday.
In the Academy Award’s 92-year history, only five women have made it onto the ballot — Lina Wertmuller (1976’s “Seven Beauties”), Jane Campion (1993’s “The Piano”), Sofia Coppola (2003’s “Lost in Translation”), Kathryn Bigelow (2009’s “The Hurt Locker”) and Greta Gerwig (2017’s “Lady Bird”). Bigelow is the only one to actually take home the prize.
This year, there were a number of female directors that could have snagged a nomination. Gerwig, whose film “Little Women” received six nominations, was a top contender heading into this year’s Oscar nominations.
Lulu Wang (“The Farewell”), Marielle Heller (“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”), Lorene Scarfaria (“Hustlers”) and Alma Har’el (“Honey Boy”) were also snubbed. Notably, Heller was also snubbed in 2019 when “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” failed to garner a directing nomination.
Wang’s “The Farewell,” which scored numerous nominations at the Golden Globes and led to an acting award for star Awkwafina was also completely shut out from all categories.