Another award’s season, another year of inevitable outrage over the biggest Academy Award snubs. Annoyance over who the academy chose to honor with an Oscar nomination has become commonplace at this point, namely due to the lack of diversity often presented in the nominations. This year’s biggest snubs include Jennifer Lopez for her role in Hustlers, a part that many consider to be her career-best work, Awkwafina, who became the first Asian-American woman to take home the Golden Globe for best actress in The Farewell, and Taron Egerton, who also took home a Golden Globe for his incredible leading performance in Rocketman.
However, nothing has sparked quite as much animosity as the Best Director category. Though Martin Scorcese, Todd Phillips, Sam Mendes, Quentin Tarantino, and Bong Joon Ho each produced remarkable work in their respective films, the fact remains that not a single woman was nominated for Best Director. The lack of female representation in this category is nothing new; only five women have ever been nominated, and Kathryn Bigelow is the only one who has taken home the award for 2009’s The Hurt Locker. But the backlash regarding this year’s nominations are more than warranted considering that some of the year’s most critically acclaimed films were directed by women. Here are just a few of some of the incredible female directors that deserved far more recognition for their exceptional work in the past year.
- Greta Gerwig, Little Women
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Probably one of, if not the most shocking snubs this year was Greta Gerwig. Gerwig’s directorial prowess is unquestionable; the first movie that she ever directed alone was 2018’s Lady Bird, for which she became one of the few women to receive an Oscar Nomination for Best Director. The irony in her snub for Little Women lies in the fact that the film racked up a total of 6 nominations: Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Music Score, Best Costume Design, and Best Adapted Screenplay, for which Gerwig herself was nominated. Yet, despite the clear critical merit of the film, Gerwig was notably left out of the race for Best Director. Throughout Little Women, Gerwig crafts the story in such a way that capitalizes on the emotional and truly human story that is being told. Her direction is what makes the film such a triumph, and it is what should have scored her a nomination.
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- Lorene Scafaria, Hustlers
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In theory, the Academy should have been all over Hustlers. Based on a true story? Check? A narrative centered around a controversial profession? Check. Wall Street, sex, money, drugs, the stock market crash of 2008? Check, check, check, and check. The only thing missing from this movie was Leonardo Decaprio reprising his role as Jordan Belfort. Oh, and male protagonists, submissive female characters that only serve as sex appeal, and a predominantly caucasian cast. Oops. Under Scafaria’s direction, Hustlers became not just a story about a group of strippers exploiting men, although there is plenty of that. Hustlers is a story about female friendships that arise in the face of hardship and in the absence of men towering over them. Scafaria’s music choices alone should have been enough to earn her an Oscar nod, not to mention the fact that the film was shot in just 29 days. Hustlers is a gritty, nerve wracking, beautifully shot, and incredibly directed film that should have received more praise from the academy, especially for Scafaria.
- Lulu Wang, The Farewell
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Though not as well known as Little Women and Hustlers, The Farewell is considered to be one of the best films of the year, and deservedly so. Based on a true story, or, as director Lulu Wang puts it, “based on a true lie”, The Farewell delivers some of the best and most emotional performances(*cough* Awkwafina) of this award season. One of its most notable feats is the fact that even though a good portion of the dialogue is in mandarin, the viewer still manages to connect with the story. For Wang, making this film was therapeutic, and also a way for her to express her cultural identity. Wang is an expert storyteller, and she beautifully explores the ties of family, tradition, and what it is like to be an Asian-American woman. For directing one of the most deeply moving movies of the past year, Lulu Wang deserved a nomination.
These three directors are far from the only women whose work was ignored by the academy this year. Olivia Wilde(Booksmart), Melina Matsouka(Queen & Slim), Marielle Heller(A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood), Kasi Lemmons(Harriet), and so many other incredible female directors deserved a nomination this year. Despite the disappointment though, many remain optimistic about the future of women in film. The academy may not be ready for stories about powerful women told by equally powerful women, but there is no doubt that after this year’s backlash, the women in film will no longer be seen as little.