Look at this year’s Oscar nominations for Best Director. Do you see any female directors?
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released the full list of nominees last night, Jan. 13, on Twitter. While many celebrated the nominations of films like “Joker” (11 nominations) and “Parasite” (six nominations), some were mad that Greta Gerwig was snubbed in the Best Director category.
Gerwig directed “Little Women,” which was nominated for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. Lead actress Saoirse Ronan (who plays Jo March) was “scratching [her] head a bit” when she saw that Gerwig was snubbed, telling Deadline, “I’m really happy that the Academy recognized [Gerwig] for Adapted Screenplay and Picture, and I feel like if you’ve been nominated for Best Picture, you have essentially been nominated for Best Director. But to me, Greta, since she started, has made two perfect films, and I hope when she makes her next perfect movie, she gets recognized for everything, because I think she’s one of the most important filmmakers of our time.”
Florence Pugh (Amy March) also weighed in, saying that it’s “a big blow, especially because she created a film that is so her and so unique.” She adds, “I can’t believe it happened again, but I don’t really know how to solve it. I don’t know what the answer is, other than we’re talking about it.”
Meanwhile, Gerwig is still grateful to have received Oscar nominations this year. “I am brimming with happiness,” she said in a statement. “This film of ‘Little Women’ has been over 30 years in the making, from the very first time Louisa May Alcott and Jo March reached across time and space and made me believe I could be a writer and creator.”
This isn’t the first time the Academy snubbed female directors. In the 92-year history of the Oscars, only five female directors have been nominated. Melissa Silverstein of Women and Hollywood said last year that the Academy often favors directors who create “big, showy, flashy films.” This seriously needs to change.
Nonetheless, we want to congratulate the cast and crew of “Little Women,” as well as the other nominees, for the Oscar nod.
Photo courtesy of @timmytchalametfp’s Instagram account
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